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LITTLETON — “Even homeless people have cellphones.”

Evan Todd laughs and shakes his head at the notion, calling it “bizarre.” But he knows a little bit about it.

Todd, 31, was the first one shot and wounded in the library at Columbine High School in the massacre on April 20, 1999 — at the time, the worst shooting in the history of the American school system, claiming 12 students and teacher-coach Dave Sanders. Todd was shot in the back by one of the two student gunmen and was hit with shrapnel in his face.

Last month, he was contacted out of the proverbial blue by a homeless veteran of the Vietnam War, a total stranger living in California who found Todd’s lost championship ring from the Rebels’ football team that won the Class 5A crown in 1999, a heartwarming achievement in the aftermath of the tragedy.

A guy named Bobby Smith was on the phone and wanted to return the ring.

Pardon Todd for being skeptical, even after his brother, Brian, the girls soccer coach at Columbine, and head football coach Andy Lowry had let him know he would be getting a call.

“I definitely thought it was a hoax because I’ve had some interesting situations over the years, and I’ll leave it at that,” Todd said.

As he began talking with Smith, though, Todd, who said not many people knew he had lost his ring, realized this was no hoax.

“(He) started describing the ring. There are so many small details about it that unless you’re actually holding it, you wouldn’t know. So I was like, he’s got my ring!”

As they were talking, Todd got to know more about Smith, 60, a former U.S. Army gunner who moved to California from Bangor, Maine, and had been living out of his car or in low-income housing as he attempted to scrape by.

And the story got better.

Todd said he’s not sure when or where he lost his ring. He guesses it was in either 2003 or 2004. Smith said he found the ring, which included Todd’s name, in February “while looking for arrowheads” in a creek bed in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Todd acknowledges the setting sounds right as he traveled extensively in the years following the Columbine tragedy to talk about what happened. And his ring was a big part of the presentation.

“It’s bizarre,” Todd said. “He found it in some river, and I know I was on that trip. We were doing two to three high schools per day, one- to two-hour presentations. Then we’d go back to the hotel and it was exhausting. Emotionally. Mentally. So I have no idea how I lost it. I was pretty cavalier with the ring when I had it. People would ask about it, I would take it off and pass it around. But I would never take it off at a restaurant. … I just don’t know what happened to it.”

Todd had considered having the ring replaced as most companies keep the templates for years, but just never got around to it.

Smith discovered the ring among stones and other items in the mud of a creek bed. And he knew what he had found.

“You’d have to be from Mars not to know Columbine High School,” he said. “I instantly recognized the name of it.”

Smith, who has alternated between staying in low-incoming housing or living on the street, promptly took the ring to a couple of sports shops for verification. One owner offered $2,000. Another shop wanted to sell it on eBay and split the profits. Smith admitted that he thought briefly about trying to make money with his find — “I said ‘yes-no,’ ” he recalled — but decided the right thing to do was to find its owner.

“He was just trying to get it back, which is pretty awesome,” Lowry said.

Todd, who works for a company that builds high-end homes, sent Smith money to have the ring shipped to Colorado.

A starter at defensive tackle as a junior on the 1999 championship team that defeated Cherry Creek in the title game, Todd was overwhelmed with emotion.

“I was thrilled, but because it was something I do wish I had over the years, a reminder of that season,” he said. “And that season was, I think, obviously from a personal perspective with my teammates, unparalleled to any other championship.

“I’d take mine over a Super Bowl any day.”

Smith said: “It’s a simple act of doing the right thing, nothing really special. You never know what you’ll do in life. You learn a lot about yourself. I’m just glad he got it back.”

Lowry said: “I don’t know what I’d do if I was homeless and somebody offered me that kind of money.”

Former Columbine principal Frank DeAngelis appreciated Smith doing what he did.

“Columbine is just synonymous with so many things, some good, some bad. It would have been interesting if Columbine’s name wasn’t on that ring. I know cases where there were people, unfortunately, who took advantage of Columbine’s stuff and put it on eBay. I had heard owning a Columbine yearbook would get you hundreds of dollars or just filming Columbine High School. This is directly opposite and just a great story.”

Todd and Smith met for the first time on Thursday as guests in New York on “Fox & Friends.” Todd, while proudly displaying his ring for the first time in more than a decade, also announced he had set up a fund at gofundme.com/championvet. As of Saturday, some $102,500 had been pledged. Half is to go to Smith, the other half is to help those in similar situations as Smith.

“I’m not asking for anything; I just wanted to do the right thing,” Smith said. “I’m blessed. God works in mysterious ways.”

However, Smith has had issues getting his VA vouchers cashed, and there are concerns he may lose his military disability and other benefits if he accepts the donated money.

“Our system is messed up for these guys,” Lowry said.

Todd, who didn’t play football as a senior because of an ankle problem, reflected on friend and former teammate Matthew J. Kechter, a victim of the shootings, when talking about that championship season.

“We went through so much together as a team and community. The ups and downs, the adversity, the microscope we were under. Those challenges were unlike any other that we had to deal with. It was a magical season for sure. But that ring had all of those emotions tied up in it.”

That’s the reason he set up the online fund — sharing his story and helping Smith, who helped him.

“I think we have some type of connection,” Todd said of Smith. “I wanted to show these types of small decisions are the little things that make everyday heroes.

“And this is a story that needs to be told.”

Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or twitter.com/neildevlin