CV Intermediate shaft and went to replace with new one when I noticed it would not go in all the way?

I removed my old CV Intermediate shaft and went to replace it with a new one when I noticed it wouldn't go in all the way. After a day of investigating why I noticed the old Intermediate shaft was missing a part and it was stuck in PTU. I've pulled some pictures of the line to save me from crawling under the car at 4:30 AM. I've tried about every possible method (slide hammer, bearing pullers, homemade rigs, etc, ) to remove ring from PTU with no luck. It's in so tight there's nothing to grab onto front, middle or back. Local O'Reilly, AutoZone or anybody I know have never encountered or heard of that happening. Appreciate any advice, Thank you.