DENVER, Co. – A Colorado officer is being celebrated for using his detective skills to locate the owner of a wedding ring he found.
He also had the ring -- which had been outside for a year -- cleaned up to make a perfect Christmas gift.
When it comes to working Christmas Eve, often times patrol is slow for officers like Dane Stratton with the Fort Collins Police Department.
But, last week, the Fort Collins officer was responding to a call, when a coworker's flashlight shined on something.
"On the ground, we saw a ring, it was dingy, it was dirty, it was scratched, scuffed. it's obvious, it had been outside a long time," said Stratton.
Officer Stratton noticed a faint message inscribed on the inside of the wedding band.
It was a love message to someone named "Natniel."
"Natniel is not a very common name," said Stratton.
Stratton tracked down Natniel and surprised him Christmas morning.
"Did you lose a ring? and he was like, 'yeah, a year ago,'" said Stratton.
Before handing over the Christmas surprise, Stratton went above and beyond, teaming up with Sather's jewelers.
"They graciously helped us out. they got it all cleaned up, looking really good. They polished it,"
All for free.
The next day, Stratton would meet up with Natniel and snapped a photo of the reunion.
"Nati was all smiles when i showed up with that ring," said Stratton.
Officer Stratton said this was a pure example of Coloradans coming together, all for a stranger.
"Right there, that's an example of two agencies, or businesses, wanting to do the right thing for someone else," said Stratton.