A special find at the Jersey Shore this weekend turned into a big surprise for the family of a military veteran in Texas in time for Memorial Day.

Joseph Franco was using a metal detector in Cape May Saturday evening despite the rainy weather. He ended up finding a military dog tag with the name Sylvan Schiffman inscribed on it.

Franco says he thought someone would want it returned so he and his wife posted photos on a Cape May Facebook group. A little more than three hours later, the mystery was solved.

"I was pretty surprised, its Memorial Day weekend, the first thing I thought was I should return whomever these may belong to,” Franco says.

His wife, Melanie Franco, says, “It's pretty incredible, we posted a picture, we told them where it was. And within five to 10 minutes, we started receiving messages from folks that actually work at the Coast Guard here in Cape May. One gentleman said, ‘don't worry I'm going to figure this out.’ Figure it out the Coast Guard did.”

They were able to locate the family of the veteran whose dog tag that belonged to.

"I have found rings, I have found silver coins, but this is one of the most personal things I have found so far. And it's going to be a pleasure to give it back," Franco says.

Sylvan Schiffman was stationed in Cape May over 50 years ago. His son said he lost the tag while sailing after the boat he was in overturned.

Schiffman passed away in 2019, but his son is very grateful and says he believes its a sign from his dad and says this memorial day will now be extra special for their family.

Joe and Melanie Franco say as soon as the post office opens, the dog tag will go in the mail to Schiffman's family.