Andy Murray thanked his Instagram followers for spreading the word Thursday after his missing wedding ring was returned along with his used shoes in the wake of a social media appeal.

"Would you believe it -- ring and the shoes have come back home!" the three-time Grand Slam winner said in a post from Indian Wells, where he's preparing to compete in the WTA and ATP Masters tournament this week.

"They still smell horrific," he added of the sneakers, "but I’m back in the good books"

Murray had asked for help on social media earlier, saying he'd left his tennis shoes -- which were stinky after a day of practice in the California desert -- underneath his car to dry out overnight only to find them vanished when he returned in the morning.

And it was only when his physio asked about his wedding band that he realised he had left the ring tied to his footwear.

"I basically tie my wedding ring to my tennis shoes while I'm playing because I can't play with it on my hand," Murray said.

So, yeah, my wedding ring's been stolen as well. Needless to say, I'm in the bad books at home, so I want to try to find it."

Murray didn't detail precisely how the ring and shoes came to be returned, although he said he'd exchanged "a few calls" with hotel security.

"Huge thanks for all the messages and sharing the story," he said in a video posted on Instagram.