Paris Police’s Evidence Staff Leaving No Stones Unturned

On July 18, 2010, an individual turned the ring into the Paris Police Department as found property. She stated that she had been throwing trash into a dumpster behind her residence in the 4500 block of SE Loop 286 and noticed a gold class ring lying on the ground next to the dumpster.

Having no leads as to who the ring belonged to, Police secured it in the Department’s Evidence Vault, which remained there until May 2021. At that time, Evidence Technician Michelle Melton prioritized returning as many “lost and found” items as possible to their rightful owners. She and two co-workers, Beverly Phillips and Jennifer Bacorn, along with their supervisor, Captain Terry Bull, have collectively reunited approximately four hundred property items with their owners.

While auditing an old box of evidence, Michelle recently came across a 1984 Senior Ring of Plano East High School and began a quest to identify and locate the owner. Several weeks later, a gentleman named Randy called the police department in response to a Facebook post about the ring by Jennifer Bacorn.

Randy could describe the ring and was thrilled to learn that his senior ring, which they lost 13 and a half years ago, would be returned to him. He did not recall a year but said he had sold ATMs in Paris briefly. Evidence Technician Michelle Melton later met with and produced the senior ring for Randy.

The undertaking of reuniting property with the owners did not stop with Randy’s High School ring. They discovered more exciting treasures in the nooks of the EvidenceVault. After cleaning away decades of dust, Michelle uncovered and subsequently researched the names engraved on a few ancient grave-marker headstones. Her investigative prowess and unrelenting resolve resulted in locating the unmarked graves where the headstones belonged.