Professional wrestling star Chris Jericho vowed to scour the earth to find his championship belt, which went missing Sunday after his private jet landed in Tallahassee. Turns out, he could have just checked Craigslist.

Frank Price of Tallahassee happened to find the belt on Sunday, his 41st birthday, as he and his wife Katie drove home after a day scalloping with friends in Port St. Joe Bay. It was a present of sorts he never asked for or wanted, one that would plunge him in the middle of pro-wrestling-world intrigue and drama.

“It’s pretty comical,” Price said. “It’s like the start for a great screenplay. This story could have gone in so many other funny directions. There are so many funny twists to it.”

As they pulled into town on Highway 20, Price spotted what appeared to be a velvet bag in the middle of a turn lane near Capital Circle Southwest. The bag was scuffed up and contained something heavy, but the Prices didn’t take a peek inside until they got home. When he finally opened the bag, he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“I think I said something like, ‘Whoa, it’s a huge wrestling belt, check this thing out!’ ” Price said. “I never would have guessed that if I had a lifetime of guesses.”

The back story:

► TPD recovers stolen Chris Jericho championship wrestling belt, but mystery remains

►Chris Jericho scolds Tallahassee PD, sips 'a little bit of the bubbly' after AEW title returned

His wife Googled the gold and leather garment, and it seemed to match the championship belt for All Elite Wrestling. There were knockoffs for sale on eBay. The Prices never dreamed it was the real deal.

“At that time there was nothing in the news about anything being lost or stolen,” said Price, assistant director of the Florida Natural Areas Inventory at Florida State University. “So we thought it was just a replica or a costume or something like that.”

Figuring the belt belonged to a kid or some other wrestling fan, Price listed it under Lost & Found on Craigslist Tallahassee. “I found a pro wrestling championship belt on hwy 20 Sunday afternoon,” the ad said. “Contact me with details and you can come get it.” He also texted photos of the belt to his brother and a friend.

He started getting replies Tuesday night. Some of them pointed to a Tallahassee Democrat article that detailed the belt that went missing after Jericho’s private jet landed at Million Air and the wrestling star took a limo ride to LongHorn Steakhouse on North Monroe Street for dinner. Jericho reported the $30,000 belt stolen that night.

But Price didn’t see any of the messages until Wednesday morning. When he realized what he’d found, he called the Tallahassee Police Department and was told to bring it in. He handed the belt over to an investigator in the lobby and answered questions about how he found it.

While he was there, he bumped into Mike Vaughn, the owner of Mike’s Limousine, which had given Jericho the fancy ride to the restaurant. Price said Vaughn was planning to file an insurance claim for the missing belt and was so pleased it had been found he gave him a $200 reward.

Later that day, TPD investigators called and said they needed to take Price’s sworn statement. They were slightly suspicious about the reward and wondered whether Price had called Vaughn to arrange for their meeting at TPD and the reward. Price assured him the meeting was purely coincidental and the reward unplanned.

Price has texts and emails, receipts, witnesses and GPS data on his cellphone to back up his story and prove he was nowhere near Million Air or LongHorn Steakhouse when the belt went missing. Police haven’t said he’s under investigation, but he said he wouldn’t be surprised if he were.

“I was joking that there would be investigators following me around,” Price said. “I figure the best approach is to just tell the truth and have fun with the whole thing.”

Price, who doesn't follow professional wrestling, doesn’t know how the belt ended up in the road. He doubts, however, that it was actually stolen.

“I think what happened is they just set it on the trunk of the limo and it just fell off,” he said. “The only other possibility is that it was part of a pro-wrestling plot setup. They need all the publicity they can get.”

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.