Gregg Larabel's Ring Finders Blog
Gregg Larabel
- Location
- Grand Rapids (Michigan, United States)
- Contact
- 616-406-6653
- Search Locations
Grand Rapids and surrounding areas. If you're outside the general area I will travel to you. Call to discuss...
- Search Types
Beaches, Parks, Lakes & Yards...
Lost Ring, Found in Big Brower Lake, Rockford, Michigan
Aunt Diane is a very happy person.
Gold ring with jade stone inset
Last November Diane Baumann called me from an article about me, that was referred to her from a friend. Her nephew had been visiting from out of town and went swimming at their home. When he jumped off the dock a ring that had belonged to his grandfather and gifted to him came off his finger.
By the time she was able to get ahold of me fall had set in and it was too cold to hunt the lake. I told her I would call her in the Spring, so I gave her a call and arranged to come out as today was a balmy 65 degrees.
The dock wasn’t in from the winter yet but she pointed to about where it would have been lost. While I ventured out to the deeper spot my brother Doug started from the beachfront. After about 30 minutes I came up with 2 quarters, a penny and a green marble. Doug kept digging up washers, a bolt, pull tabs and then the ring half way between the beachfront and where I was.
Lost ring, Lansing, Michigan
front yard
back yard
Lost ring in Lansing Michigan still not found. Mr. Pearson assumed he lost a gold ring, in his yard, with 5 diamonds in it. The dimonds came from his wife and mothers rings and were very special to him. He was trimming a tree in the front yard and started taking the branches to his back yard and throwing them over his fence. It was a cold fall day and he was not wearing gloves.
He got ahold of me and I traveled the 6o miles to his home and searched the front and back yards and the area over the fence. I could not find it and being that it was very cold I told Mr. Pearson that I would be out in the Spring.
It is now Spring and the temp is about 80 degrees today. I brought my brother Doug and a friend Larry with me to do a complete grid search. We searched the fron and back yard, a garden area and the area over the fence that is adjacent to a cemetary. After questioning Mr. Pearson about places that it could be he was not quite certain that it was lost in the yard as it was a couple of days after the tree triming that he noticed it was gone.
I wanted to write this blog today just to show what we do as ringfinders. We question, we search, we question some more and generally we find. In the case of Mr Pearson we wished him well and left this fine gentleman knowing that we gave our best to find his ring.
Lost necklace found! Cascade, MI
After receiving an email from Sandy on Sunday I gave her a call and set up a time to come out and search for a necklace she lost. Sandy has several wild Blackberry patches in her back yard and while she was out picking berries this past summer she discovered her silver necklace was gone. She had a bucket around her neck freeing up both hands to pick berries but because of the thick brush and prickers on the bushes she thinks her necklace must have gotten snag on a branch.
Sandy started to clear as much brush around the bushes as she could and 
searched painstakingly each bunch she cleared but to no avail. Sandy remembered an article in the Grand Rapids Press about me and metal detecting and looked on the internet and the rest is history. I came out to her house today weather was cloudy about 40 degrees and attempted to set up a grid in thick fallen weeds and difficult pricker bushes. After about 15 minutes I got a little beep on my Bounty Hunter detector and moved some grass and sticks laid down from the past months snow storms and there it was.
Another happy recipient of THERINGFIDER.
Lost wedding band in Stevensville, MI
Driving home from Chicago I received a cell call from Kurt D. who lost his wedding ring. He said he lived in Stevensville, Mi and I told him I just past a few miles from there on my way back to Grand Rapids.
Kurt lost his ring in the basement of his duplex. He had placed it on a towel while doing something and when he grabbed the towel the ring popped off and landed somewhere in the basement. He heard it ting when it hit the floor but could not find it after searching for hours. Kurt went and rented a metal detector to no avail. He searched the Internet for lost rings and found theringfinders and my name.
I called him on Sunday night when I got home and discussed his problem and how he searched but could not find the ring. We discussed the $50 travel expense and said I would be coming down the following Friday. I then told him I could save him $50 if he followed a few directions for another search of his basement.
I suggested that he clear one side of the basement and then search all the cracks and crevaces, then go to the other side of the basement and take one item at a time, search through it and then place it in the cleared out area. After that is done look up in the floor joyces to see if it lodged up there some place. Finally check around the furnace and air ducts and any other fixtures in the basement.
The next day, (Monday), Kurt texted me and said ” I’m delighted to tell you my beloved wife and her friend actually took your advice and found the ring while I was at work. lol” ” Thank you so, so, so much for your tme and most importantly your expertise”. He told everyone at work what happened and if anyone ever needed a Ring Finder we have one at our disposal.
So another happy husband reunited with his wedding band sans metal detector and physical presence of the RINGFINDER.
Holland, Mi Lost wedding ring found
While searching the Lost and Found ads I came across a “ lost ring” in Holland or Hudsonville so I gave them a call. I talked to Jim Davis and asked him several questions and we decided that the ring might be lost in the lawn while his wife was doing some clipping of the fall plants. She thought she might have lost it at a store in Holland or in Hudsonville but after I heard she was not using gloves to cut the plants I knew it had to be around the yard. Jim showed my brother and I where she was cutting plants both in the back and front yard. After about 30 minutes and going through the flower beds we pretty much gave up and stood by the drive asking questions about where they have looked already. With our detectors still on my brother, Doug, swung the detector over some grass next to the flower bed where we were standing and there it was. Jim’s eyes lite up and gave Doug a big hug then me a hug then a handshake to both of us then another smile. It’s going to take weeks to wipe the smile off his face. I asked him to have someone take a picture of his wife when he showed it to her. I would love to be a fly on the wall. Jim wasn’t sure how he would break the news to her yet.
Jim was apprehensive at first about asking someone he didn’t know to check out his yard but I had him read an article that was in the Grand Rapids Press by Tom Rademacher about my metal detecting service and he felt better when we came out to his house.
Another happy couple reunited with a ring that sealed their marriage 31 years ago. Rosanne, I haven’t met you but I would encourage you to wear gloves when gardening the next time. Congratulations!
Love story in East Lansing, Michigan has happy ending
Drainage ditch at left, walking path at right, ring found in tall grass.
I recieved a call from Russ VanMaele, an Undergrad student at Michigan State, whos girlfriend lost her silver ring with a Tourquoise stone. He said the ring had a lot of sentimental value and wanted to find it for his girlfriend.
It was a stormy week and the running path and drainage ditch that runs along side it was flooding over the path. The young lovers were playing in muddy knee deep water after the storm, with wet hands her ring fell into the water. At that moment Russ had the wherewithall to turn around and note the spot where it dropped was between the ditch and the path and marked by two trees across the path.
I met Russ at Abbot Place Apartments a couple days after his call and after showing me the area I went to work. I used my Bounty Hunter Time Ranger but wasn’t comfortable in the high Elephant grass so I got out my CZ21 which was heavier and has a 10 inch coil. After mowing down the tall grass with my feet and hands and pushing the coil in between heavy clumps of grass I heard a faint beep and started cutting grass and digging up an inch of mud and there it was. It took about twenty minutes to find the ring but I was covered with at least 50 mosquito bites, one cut finger from a sharp piece of grass and sweat from head to toe.
I went over to Russ who was doing some paperwork on his computer for school and showed him the ring. His great big grin was my immediate reward and he said I can’t believe you found it. I said it is amazing that he thought of looking on the internet and than finding me and me driving 50 miles to the center of Michigan to a drainage ditch and finding the ring.
I drove off and saw Russ talking to his girlfriend on his cell and he was still smiling. He waved goodbye. Russ will email me a picture of his girlfriend getting her ring back and putting it on the Book of Smiles.
Ring found on Miller Farm, Cedar Springs, Michigan
Happy again!!
While telling my mom and sister about my latest find up on Muskegon River, I recieved a phone call from Laura Miller. While washing her horses she discovered she had lost her diamond wedding ring and search all over the ground in vain. She got the sissors out and was cutting the grass around the wash rack until late in the night to no avail. I told her I would be there the next morning at 9AM.
I pulled into the drive of a quaint 4 acre, 120 yr old farm. I was
Ring found brings Happy Tears.
greated by there Golden Lab who wanted to catch a ball. Then I met Laura and Jim Miller who once again explained what happened and where it might have fallen. I got out my Bounty Hunter Time Ranger and in a matter of minutes I found her ring. It’s nice to know at 66 years old I can still make women cry. Laura ran to her husband and hug him and cried on his shoulder with happy tears.
After standing around talking about family and Jims time in the Army and mine in the Air Force we bid farewell and was invited back to metal detect the farm any time I would like.
Wedding band recovered in Muskegon River, Michigan
found on Muskegon River
- L to R Anthony Tundo (owner of ring), John Griffith (cousin), Don McCleod White Birch owner
While at work Tuesday July 26, I got a call from Anthony Tundo. He lost his ring while canoeing on the Muskegon River near Houghton Lake. During a bachelor party on the river they got out of the canoes to play some catch with a football and take a rest during the 4 hour trip. When Anthony caught the football he felt his Tungston/Carbide wedding band come off and fall into the river. Although it was shallow in that area and sandy bottom there search was in vain. Anthony’s cousin, John, a former Army soldier had his GPS and quickly got the coordinates.
During the call from Anthony he had given me the coordinates (which I looked up on Google Earth) and found that it would take a canoe trip just to reach the site so we set it up for the next day.
Anthony and his cousin John drove over 200 miles from St Clare, to the White Birch campgrounds and I drove 135 miles from Grand Rapids. Don McCleod, the owner of White Birch, let us use his van and a canoe to go up river. John dropped us off and was going to meet us down river in about an hour and a half. Anthony had the GPS which he wasn’t real familiar with so was given a crash course and we set out on the river. Paddling down the winding river at 5PM nothing looked familiar and Anthony kept losing the GPS signal. We are in the boonies and after an hour we came upon John waiting for us. So the three of us jumped back in the canoe and headed up the river against the current. After one hour we located the site. I located the ring with about five swipes of the CZ21 and found the ring. It was now 7:45PM and I kept thinking of what Don had told us “don’t get caught on the river after dark, you’ll never find your way back”. So we headed back down the river finally reaching our destination at 8:45PM and back to the campground at 9PM.
Van and Canoe = $20.00
Four hours paddling the canoe = Backbreaking
Swating flies and mosquitoes = Useless
Finding the ring in 3 minutes = Priceless
I want to thank Don McCleod for trusting 2 guys from Detroit area and 1 guy from Grand Rapids with his Van and a canoe. It makes you feel good that there are people like Don still around.
Manistee River in Northen Michigan gives up a mans diamond ring
After recieving a call from Nancy Hoyt of Kingsley, Michigan that her husband Jeff lost his wedding band with a large diamond that was passed down to him by his mother, I jumped into action. Searching Google earth I located their remote cabin on the edge of the beautiful Manistee River, just north of Manton, MI
After 30 minutes I located the ring in about 4 feet of fast moving water. Although the water was crystal clear and cool the swirling current made it difficult to locate and scoop the target mixed with sand and one inch size rocks.
Ring Found in Long Lake, Coldwater Michigan
- Wedding ring returned
After an email request to find a lost wedding ring in 5 feet of water, I jumped into action. Traveling 2 hours from my home my brother and I went to Long Lake located in Reading, MI close to Coldwater. The lake had a muddy bottom with about a foot of mucky clay every step was an adventure. After searching around in neck deep water a hit was made and up came the scoop with the wedding band in it.
The owner, Chris P. of Dayton, Ohio, standing in the water with us, yelled up to the people on shore “they found it”.
A yellow gold band with six diamonds was handed to the owner and he said “I can tell my wife now that I lost my ring and found it, this is the second ring I never found the first one”.