Courtesy of the Thorsen family

A beloved family heirloom was returned to a family this week, thanks to a stranger’s generosity and Facebook.

Jean Daly’s engraved gold ring bearing the names of her five children - Becky, Debbie, Dan, Carl and John - had been missing for 20 years. It’s especially poignant because Jean died two years ago, her daughter says.

"Seeing my mother’s ring at this time makes my family feel as if our mother is still watching over us and loves us," Becky Thorsen tells Yahoo Parenting. "She loved this ring so much because she loved us so much."

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Michael Whiting spotted the ring in a car he recently purchased and posted a photo of it his Facebook page.

Courtesy of the Thorsen family

“The dealer I bought the car from got it at auction, but I found some papers in the car that lead me to believe the original owners lived in Arizona,” he wrote on his Facebook page on January 6th. The Facebook message ended up being shared over 325,000 times.

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And, when ABC15 aired a photo of the ring during a nightly newscast, some family members were watching and instantly recognized this sentimental piece of jewelry.

Courtesy of the Thorsen family

For Daly’s daughters, Whiting is a true hero.

“This guy, instead of going and hocking it at a pawn shop or selling it, he wants to find the owner, and he’s gone to great lengths to do that,” Debbie Horner, one of Daly’s daughters, told ABC15.

Having the ring back has also helped the family to heal.

"My brothers and sister and I felt like somehow our mother orchestrated that this ring would be found at this time," Thorsen tells Yahoo Parenting. "She has been gone for two years and we just sold the family home and miss her very much."

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