EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A woman found a ring at an East St. Louis gas station around April 16 that originally belonged to the editor and publisher of what is known as the oldest sporting publication in the country.
Christie McKinney said she stopped at the BP in East St. Louis at 306 Riverpark Drive across the street from the City of East St Louis Council. When she got out of her car, she said she spotted a ring lying on the ground that read "CCS 1935" right next to her front driver's wheel.
"I just grabbed it and looked at it, and I just stuck it on my finger. I actually truly forgot it was there. … When I got home, I realized it was on my finger."
After further inspection, McKinney noticed the 89-year-old ring's characteristics, like the name "C.C Johnson Spink" engraved inside.
5 On Your Side discovered that the engraving stood for Charles Claude Johnson Spink II, who owned The Sporting News Company in St. Louis.
According to the Sporting News Holdings website, Alfred Henry Spink founded the company in 1886 in St. Louis. For nearly a century, the publication was regarded as "The Bible of Baseball," serving baseball fans near and far.
C.C. Johnson Spink, the founder's great-nephew, was the fourth and last generation of the Spink family to manage the publication from 1961 to 1971. C.C. Johnson Spink sold The Sporting News in 1977.
He decided to make the publication inclusive.
C.C. Johnson Spink died in 1992. He and his wife Edith never had any children. Edith died in 2011.
The ring McKinney found at the gas station came from Spink's time at the Culver Military Academy in Indiana. The ring can be described high school class ring.
So the question remains: Who had the ring at the gas station, and why did it surface 32 years after Spink's death?
If you have information about this, send 5 On Your Side a text message at 314-425-5355.
