After I had returned from an earlier search in Hermosa Beach today my wife and I watched “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray. Right after the movie ended my phone rang with a number I did not recognize. It was Darius who was asking if I could find an iPhone in Hermosa Beach. I thought, in the words of Yogi Berra, “it was deja vu all over again”. I told Darius I would help him, and would be there in half an hour. When I got there he was with a friend, and it was explained to me that the lost phone was his friend Alex’s phone which was lost through a bit of friendly rough housing. The two of them had searched the area for about an hour, and I could see the drag lines that had been made by the two of them dragging their feet through the sand in search of the phone. I thought it quite interesting that they knew the phone was still there, because it was showing up in the area on a “find my iPhone” App. I set out to grid the area making sure to go “out of the box” a bit to insure I thoroughly covered the search area. I made one and a half passes (about 10 minutes) and found Alex’s phone right under the lines that had been made from the two of them as they searched earlier. They both erupted in shouts of joy and victory, and “high fived” and hugged me. I understood why when Alex explained that he was here for the next week on a business trip from Atlanta, GA, and everything he needed to conduct his business away from the job was on that phone. What a great opportunity to be able to provide the kind of relief, I was able to provide for Alex. What a great smile.
Alex sent the following email to include here:
The outpouring of appreciation for Steve you see on his blog in the form of email responses is certainly shared by me. In fact, there should without a doubt be a statue of Steve by the Hermosa Beach peir. At the very least they could rename the airport after him. Steve is the type of person that renews your faith in humanity. I’ve been known to lose things from time to time as a general personality flaw and few things these days is worse than losing your phone. For a change, this wasn’t ADD but my buddy Darius attempting an impromptu sneak attack / tackle as we were walking in to wrap up an otherwise phenomenal beach day. As is well known 85% of attacks happen from behind so I’m at fault here too for not picking up on it sooner. Leveraging some college rugby skills I didn’t know I still had I spun out of the tackle feeling pretty invincible. Unfortunately I immediately noticed the wait in my pocket was gone where my phone had been. Inexplicably it had vanished beneath the sand. Doubt set in, had it been stolen earlier? We confirmed on find my iphone it was somewhere nearby and not moving away or powered off. That lead to our amateur search and rescue efforts described in Steve’s write-up that were obviously unsuccessful. After 30 mins or so of searching it really started to set in. I was in LA early for a business trip. That business trip was going to be nearly impossible without my phone which is consequently required to access my company VPN. Not to mention the guys I was supposed to pickup at the airport the next day getting straight to voicemail service from my lost/dead phone. I literally sat down on the sand, head hung low, sorting through the impossibility of solving this predicament. Enter a friendly lifeguard with Steve’s card. Sadly even when calling Steve I wasn’t entirely sure if he would be willing or able to help or if he was someone I could trust. Steve turned out to be all of those things in spades. From here, Steve’s blog tells the rest of the story. Thank you again Steve!
If you lose your ring or other metal item of value, call as soon as possible. I will work hard to help you find what you thought might never be found again. I search, Beverly Hills, Hermosa Beach, Huntington Beach, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, Newport Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Santa Monica, Seal Beach, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Torrance, Venice Beach, and all parks, yards, gardens, and ponds (to 5 foot depths) in all of Orange County, all of Los Angeles County, and Ventura County.
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Way to save the day and his job…Amazing how fast a phone can get lost in the sand!