High School Class Ring worn for 30 years Huntsville, Alabama…lost, but now…FOUND!

I received a voicemail and text message from Matthew on Friday, 8 May 2020.  I called him back and he told me that the day prior, he lost his very sentimental high school class ring that he’s worn every day for the past 30 years!  Matthew explained that he was doing some yard work, and he saw his ring fly off while tossing a stick over his fence and into the wood line.  He rented a metal detector and tried to find his ring, but quickly realized the detector was not top notch.  He went back on Google and came across The Ring Finders.  I told him that I would be able to come out that Sunday for a search, since I was helping a local flower shop deliver Mother’s Day orders on Friday and Saturday.

My husband, Lindell, and I went out on Sunday afternoon armed with our Equinox 800, AT Pro, and Garrett carrots (pin pointers).  We thought that the ring should be behind the fence based on Matthew’s story and test ring throw.  Matthew remembered one item flying straight and one item flying towards the right and into the woods.  The search was fairly difficult based on the amount of brush, old fence posts, and trees to detect around.  There were also a lot of signals to check from random items being discarded over the years.  We did our best to detect around everything while trying to keep a tight gridline going.  We also used our pin pointers where our detector coils wouldn’t fit.  After about 2-3 hours we had to call it quits.  Matthew thanked us, but based on my persistence, I knew I would be back out.  He lived close by in Huntsville, so the drive was fairly short.

I went back out in the morning that next Friday, 15 May 2020, so that I would have plenty of time to search.  I decided to check the yard first in case the ring didn’t make it over the fence.  No ring, so I headed back out in the woods.  I thoroughly searched around all the fence debris in case the ring bounced down in one of the gaps.  After another 2 hours, I felt confident that the ring was not in that area.  I decided to try back out in the yard.

One of the last areas I searched in the yard was where Matthew was standing when he threw the stick, which I didn’t check earlier in the day (lesson learned lol).  The grass was very short, and I thought we would’ve been able to eyeball a large gold class ring.  I checked a couple of surface targets with my pin pointer and started to see a gold outline of a ring move that was barely sticking out of the ground.  Matthew’s lost ring!!!  The ring had definitely been stepped on and was flush with the ground.  Barely visible and couldn’t be seen by just eyeballing it.  I jumped up and started celebrating!  I ripped off my gloves, tossed up my hat, and thanked the Lord!  I was so happy, relieved, and honestly shocked that the ring was right under my nose the entire time.  Matthew was probably standing on the ring when he did the test throw.  A great reminder to always think outside of the box, because rings sometimes end up where we least expect them to.

Matthew had to work that day, but his wife and daughter were in the house.  They didn’t hear me celebrating, so I calmly took the ring to the front door for the surprise reveal.  This is the best part of the job and it never gets old!  It’s hard to put their reaction into words, but I would say it’s pretty close to pure joy, happiness, and amazement!  Matthew’s wife and daughter then decided to surprise him at work.  I can only imagine his reaction.  Matthew’s ring has a 30-year story attached to it, and now that story gets to continue.

I’ve been waiting for Matthew to send a smile photo before I posted this blog, but haven’t received it yet.  I really wanted to get this posted before Memorial Day.  I should’ve had his wife or daughter take a photo while I was there.  Or I should’ve taken a selfie with the ring.  Until I receive his photo, I’ll just post one of me with a big smile and a thumbs up for another successful ring find!

 

 

If you or someone you know has lost a ring, jewelry, or other metal item, please contact a member of The Ring Finders.

 

8 Comments »

8 Replies to “High School Class Ring worn for 30 years Huntsville, Alabama…lost, but now…FOUND!”

  1. Jeff Morgan says:

    Way to go and persistence wins the race! Great recovery Christina!

    Cheers,
    #SeattleRingHunter

    1. Thanks Jeff!!! Yes, we need to just keep thinking outside the box!

  2. gregg edward LARABEL says:

    Great find Christina, I hope you are feeling okay.

    1. Thank you Gregg!!! I’m going in for my surgery tomorrow morning. I’m feeling good and very positive!

  3. Brian Rudolph says:

    Awesome search-and-recovery Christina! So proud of your successful recovery! Your article is fantastic and I cannot thank you enough for sharing all of that detail. It made me feel like I was right there watching the search both times that you went out to the property! Also, you have taught all of us a big lesson and reminder regarding the behavior of some people. You did a wonderful and an amazing act of professionalism and a good human service for someone who is desperate to get his ring back and yet he never responded back to give you that picture. Nor did he keep his end of the agreement regarding some other things I learned. You are teaching us and reminding us to capture what we can capture at that moment because we don’t know how other people’s behaviors will alter what we expect to be only blissful expressions of kindness and follow up with the photo request when they were not there at the time of the recovery.

    Congratulations again! What a whopper of a ring! I thought it looked like a super bowl ring!!!

    Thanks for a fantastic article and for inspiring all the rest of us to keep doing what you just did with flying colors!

    1. Brian, thank you so much for your very thorough and thoughtful response!!!! Yes, sometimes we just never know how people will react in the end. Either way, I was and am just still so happy I could find Matthew’s ring for him!!! That’s all that matters to me in the end 😃

  4. Mike McInroe says:

    Nice work there Christina and nice shirt! Mike in sunny Florida

    1. Thank you very much Mike!!!

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