Dave Cartee, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 4 of 12

2 lost rings in Orange Beach – Found!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Jordan for the first time after finding her beautiful canary diamond engagement ring and her diamond wedding band a month ago in Orange Beach. I usually have lots to say but I think in this case, I will let Jordan’s comments speak for themselves. Great advice!  Im so happy that I could help. 😃👍💍

“Ben and I had a much needed weekend getaway! The main reason for our weekend trip though was to get my wedding rings back. About a month ago, we went to the beach with our family and friends. While I was in the ocean throwing the football with Ben, the football hit my left hand and my engagement ring and wedding band went flying through the air into the ocean. We looked for it forever. We had even random people from the beach trying to help us find it, but no luck. I had seen where someone with an underwater metal detector had found someone’s engagement ring in the water so I went back to where I had lost it and saved my coordinates hoping I could find someone with an underwater metal detector. One of our friends had sent us a website called the https://theringfinders.com. That’s where I contacted Dave. He went out there 4 days after I had lost my rings and didn’t find just one ring, but both! I was so excited and Ben was in disbelief because he said there wasn’t anyway that guy was going to be able to find it 😂.  So if you are ever in my situation, save your coordinates and contact Pensacola Ring Finders”

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Lost Ring in Gulf Shores, AL – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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Bill and Sarah reached out to me earlier in July. Bill had lost his platinum wedding band in the Gulf while vacationing in Gulf Shores. I made plans to go help but unfortunately it was a terrible lightning storm and it was just not safe to go that afternoon. They had already gone back to their home in Auburn but I wasn’t giving up. I got up the next morning to beat the storms and also so I could get it done before having to be at work. The Gulf was a mess and it was all I could do to hold a line in the rough seas. They had put out the red and purple flags overnight. Luckily, I didn’t have to go far when I heard a great tone and quickly scooped up Bill’s ring before the sun even peeked over the horizon. I sent a picture and briefly spoke to Sarah on the phone. I told her that I was coming to Montgomery in a few days for work and she was thrilled because Bill’s Dad lives there. I battled some more storms on the way up which seemed only fitting but I was able to drop it into the hands of Bill’s father and smile as he checked it out. I think Bill and Sarah were a little camera shy but they sent this picture of both of their hands with Bill’s ring where it is supposed to be. They entitled it “Reunited” which I think says it all. 😃

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Lost Ring Gulf Shores, AL – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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Yesterday, I had already been in the water in Gulf Shores for hours and I was worn out.  I got into some dry clothes in the parking lot and started to head back towards my wife in Orange Beach when I looked at my phone.  When I saw that I had several missed calls from the same Arkansas number, I knew someone needed help.  Before I left the parking lot I listened to one of the voice mails and then called back Whitney who was very nice and very concerned.  She was down from Arkansas with her husband Doug and they had recently celebrated their 10th anniversary.  In fact, he had just given her a beautiful diamond wrap ring to go around her main ring as a gift and they had just had it soldered on.  So you can imagine her dismay when she was messing with a boogie board on the second sandbar and the rope quickly snatched her ring off sending it flying into the gulf. I ended up only being a few miles away and told them that I would come immediately.  When I got there, the tide was going out and they were really concerned because the sandbar was obviously moving.  They only had hours until that sand swallowed up her heavy ring and it had already been three since she lost it. Luckily Doug had acted quickly when he saw Whitney panicked in the Gulf and called out for her not to move.  He came out and got a great frame of reference off a building and even threw out a few quarters as markers.  When I got set I quickly found the quarters but unfortunately the ring was nowhere to be found.  I started to see everyone get really down as I made lap after lap but I tried to keep them positive and told them with moving sand and waves, sometimes you just have to put your time and effort in.  I had about one or two laps left until I knew Whitney would know we were out of space and I could see it in her eyes that they were resigned that they were going to lose her precious ring.  That’s when I heard that beautiful sound in my ears.  I looked up and saw that it was close to as far out as they thought but a bit west.  I couldn’t help but get my hopes up as I realized this could be it.  I very gently placed my scoop so I wouldn’t scratch it and as soon as I saw the flash of a diamond I reached down in the scoop and grabbed it letting the sand rush off in the water.  I held it up with a big smile and Doug came running first.  He held it out to Whitney and I got to watch tears of joy show just how special it was to them.  I’m so glad I could fix the first day of this trip Doug and Whitney and I wish you many more happy decades together.

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Lost Ring in the Waves! – Found!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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Yesterday afternoon I was wrapping up a nice weekend when I got a call from Marcus. He was out at Pensacola Beach and had dropped his large, solid gold class ring out in the Gulf while throwing football with his friend. This is a problem anytime but it was made bigger because Marcus said that he was between 4.5-5.5 feet deep. This is about my limit without scuba diving because it is so hard to set the scoop in deep water when you keep floating off in the current and waves. Marcus had a really good mark where he was though and seemed like a very nice guy so I decided to give it a try. My wife decided to tag along and she is always good luck. When we got there and walked out to the west side of the pier where the surfers go, we met Marcus and recapped where he thought he had dropped it. He had counted seven pilings of the pier out and had marked about 200ft west with his chairs. I had a good starting point as I waded out. I noticed that the water was just gorgeous and it was so clear I could easily see the shells on the bottom. As I made my way to the 7th piling I started to worry a bit because I was taking quite a few large swells that were well over my head. I got set and started my grid trying my best to stay online. I tweaked my machine a bit for the conditions and as soon as I put it back to the sand I heard a screaming gold tone. I knew that had to be his big gold ring and tried to set my feet to scoop it. I started to panic as I kept getting pushed off the spot and I worried I would lose the mark. As soon as I heard it again I put my scoop down and tried to push down. That didn’t work as the next wave rolled me inshore. I made my way back out and heard it again and told myself to relax. Marcus had given me great directions and this ring was so large that I knew I would find it again so I took my time. I waited for a lull in the waves and then set the tip of the scoop where I knew I wouldn’t scratch the ring. I looked up to double check that I had time between the next incoming wave. I blew all the air out of my lungs to make myself as heavy as possible and jumped up to forcefully land on the scoop driving it into the sand. I fell backwards to lift up the scoop under where I hoped Marcus’ ring would be just as the next wave put me under water again. I held on for dear life and as I came up I didn’t even need to look down into the scoop. I could see that big gold ring shining through the holes in the side. 😃👍 I left the ring in the scoop and concentrated on keeping it out of the waves as I half body surfed and half tumbled my way to shore. It had been less than 10 minutes but I was worn out. My wife gave me the “did you find it shrug” but I was scared to let go of anything until I got to about knee deep water. I finally gave them all a thumbs up and a huge smile and Marcus came running in disbelief. He pulled his ring out of the scoop and said “that’s amazing, you are the man!”  That made it all worth it. Congratulations on getting your ring back Marcus. I’m so glad I could help!

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Lost Grandfather’s Ring -FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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Last weekend, I got a text late in the evening from Samuel’s Mom asking about whether or not I could help her son.  He was out in the water at that very second searching frantically for his Grandfather’s ring that he had accidentally slung into the Gulf while skipping sand dollar pieces with his friends.  I realized that this was an important one so I gave her a call and she patched in Samuel so I could ask him some questions.  I went over some info and asked him some questions about water depth and how the ring had come off.  Most importantly, I had him drop a Google Maps pin where he was on the beach and then where he thought it might have landed.  I told him that I would reach out the next day when I got to the beach.  We got our signals a bit crossed and when I called, he was still about 45 mins away.  I told him that with his permission, I would go ahead and start searching.  I thoroughly did the area where I thought it might be and even found another ring.  Unfortunately, I knew that it wasn’t Samuel’s so I prepared to keep looking.  About that time, one of Samuel’s friends walked up and said that she thought it was a bit farther west.  I promptly relocated and began doing my grid search there.  I spent a lot of time in that area and found all kind of things that were not what I was looking for.  I spoke to Samuel’s friend again and she mentioned a sign that was a little back towards where I had been earlier.  Samuel had also mentioned the sign.  I decided to go out deeper and make that my center point.  I started heading towards the beach and about the time I did, I saw what had to be Samuel jogging across the dune trail heading my way.  Samuel’s friend told him that we hadn’t found it as he waded out.  As he was walking out to me I got another good tone.  I scooped it up and looked inside the scoop and told him that maybe he was good luck and held it out to him.  He looked in the scoop and couldn’t see because of all the shells. He said, “is there something in here?”  I told him to take another look and watched as he saw it. I love watching people go from concerned to absolutely thrilled in a split second. 😃. Congratulations Samuel!  I’m so honored that you and your Mom trusted me to go find your Grandfather’s ring for you. 👍

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Family Heirloom, lost ring Navarre – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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This weekend was the Blue Angels show so I assumed that Sunday morning I would have a lost ring call from Pensacola Beach.  In reality, the call came from Stefanie, just down the road in Navarre.  When I spoke to Stefanie, I immediately knew that I had to go look for this ring and when I hung up I looked over at my wife Jeannie and she said “I want to go with you”.  It’s always a good sign when my lucky charm wants to go so I started getting excited as I packed up my gear.  When we got to Navarre, we quickly parked and headed to the beach.  As we walked along on the sand, I saw a woman waving at me about 100yds away.  When we got to her she explained that her name was Nicole and she was the actual owner of the ring.  She had Stefanie call because she was too upset to talk when she lost it.  As we walked over to the rest of her family she explained that her mother received this ring 65 years ago and had left it to Nicole when she passed away 14 years earlier.  Nicole was actually raised by her Grandparents and refers to them as her mother and father. It made it even more important because her Father, who was a Police Officer passed away in the line of duty seven years ago.  This ring was a symbol of the two of them and Nicole had every intention to pass it down to her oldest daughter, Josie who was also looking on expectantly as I prepared to hit the water.  Nicole had been knocked down by a wave a few hours before and when she came up from all fours in the shallow water, her precious family heirloom was no longer on her hand.  She had a good general idea where she was but with the tide coming in quickly and the waves getting bigger every minute, she was rightly concerned.  I told her that I would grid out the entire area and that if it was there, I would find it.  It only took about fifteen minutes before I heard a very deep signal up on the shelf before the sand drops down.  I happened to be right in front of Jeannie and she quickly started videoing for prosperity.  I made one deep scoop and looked down to see the beautiful diamond ring with so much history at the bottom of the scoop.  Nicole was a short way down the beach but I motioned to her that I had it.  She came over and in disbelief pulled out the ring and gave me a huge hug.  As Josie and Stefanie came over, I got to see the smiles and happy tears and once again be reminded why I do this.  Congratulations to you all, I am glad I got to be a part of the story for such an important part of your family’s history. God Bless!

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Lost Gold Ring and a Special Dime!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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Saturday night I was about to turn in when I got a message from Megan.  I quickly read it and knew I had to help her so I asked her to give me a quick call.  She immediately called and explained that earlier in the day she was swimming in the Gulf when the ring that was on her pinky finger slipped off.  This ring had been her father’s and she had it resized to fit on her finger.  She was frantic to get it back.  Megan knew exactly where she had been sitting on the beach so after a quick Google Map pin to mark the area, we made plans to meet in the morning.  I got there a little before she did and had already made a few passes in the Gulf when she arrived, said hello and sat down to watch.  I went back and forth with zero targets for a long time until I finally heard a good tone.  It was too high pitched for the gold band I was looking for but I never pass up a good tone so I quickly dug it up.  I called out to Megan that “it was just a dime” and kept going.  I didn’t go two steps until I heard a perfect low tone and I signaled to Megan to watch.  Sure enough, I had her delicate gold ring in the scoop and I started walking towards her.  I held it out to her and I could see that she was crying a little when to my surprise the first thing she asked was if I still had the dime.  I said that I did and gave it to her and she smiled with a tear in her eye.  She went on to explain that her family had “this thing with dimes”.  It started back in 2014 when her Grandfather passed away.  Before he left, Megan’s Grandmother asked him to “drop a dime” to let them know he was okay.  Dimes started appearing for the whole family and the stories have continued for years.  Megan’s Grandmother passed in April and she dropped dimes for Megan and her cousin within hours.  So you can imagine that after over an hour and a half of watching me find nothing, the words “it’s just a dime” made her perk up and take notice.  Megan said that when within 60 seconds later she had her ring back, all she could think was “OMG, no way Grandma”.  I love this hobby!!!  I’m so glad you got your ring back Megan and I’m very glad I could help deliver a dime!  God Bless!

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Lost Ring from the Boat – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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Bryan is a Police Officer from Tennessee and brought his whole family down to Perdido Key to enjoy a well deserved vacation.  They decided to rent a boat and headed down the waterway to the East and finally settled at a place where a lot of boats pull up close to the shore and enjoy the water and sun and sand.  Bryan’s wife took her ring off to apply sunscreen and put it down on the boat and quickly forgot that it was there.  It was only later in the day after they had moved the boat a couple of times and started to head back to the boat rental place that she had the panicked realization that she didn’t have her ring on and it was nowhere to be found.  Thankfully, when they got back, a kind soul saw them distressed and suggested that they reach out to me.  Bryan wasn’t completely sure of the name of the place and as he described it, I got a knot in my stomach.  All National Parks, National Seashores and Florida State Parks have made it illegal to metal detect.  To make matters worse, this was very close to a National Historic area and that makes it crazy illegal.  I explained to Bryan that I couldn’t go there and of course he understood.  Over the years, I have had this happen a few times and I’ve learned that the best way to approach it is to have the person who lost the ring reach out to the Park services.  We spent the next few hours googling and ultimately finding some contact info.  It wasn’t long until a contact that Bryan spoke to in Ohio of all places was able to put him in touch with the Chief Ranger here in FL and before you knew it, we had written permission to go on an adventure.  Bryan lamented that they no longer had the boat and were leaving for home on Saturday.  I was so vested in this ring now that I told him I would not only take vacation from work on Friday but I would also take him out there in my own personal boat.  We made plans to meet Friday morning and I called my Father-in-law, Tom and asked him if he wanted to go on a big search.  As always, Tom was ready to go.  The three of us headed out this morning in my boat and enjoyed the calm water and the dolphins rolling.  We even had a big spinner shark put on a show in the air off the starboard bow.  We were on a mission though and as soon as we dropped anchor we all piled off into the water.  Bryan had a pretty good idea where they started the day but as I mentioned before, they had moved the boat a few times and weren’t sure where it had fallen off.  I told Tom that I would start on the right and he took off to the left.  We both started our grid searches and it wasn’t long until we realized just how big this area was.  I learned more about Bryan though as we walked along and determined that regardless of how things went, I would consider him a friend.   After about an hour, I sent Bryan over to check on Tom.  I saw from a distance that Tom had a signal and I stopped to watch since targets had been few and far between out here. Tom gently scooped a couple of times so I knew it was deep.  He held out the scoop to Bryan and pulled something out that I couldn’t see from that distance.  I yelled “Did you find it” but I needn’t have bothered.  Even at that distance I could see Bryan’s expression change to one of shock and disbelief and gratitude all rolled into one.  Bryan had his wife’s ring back!  It was an awesome ride back with more dolphins and a huge group of jet skiers but the best part was facetimeing with Bryan’s happy bride.  Bryan, you are a good man and I thank you for all you do for your community.  I’m glad we could make that drive back to Tennessee a little bit easier tomorrow.  Nice Job to you Tom!  I’m glad you are on my team.

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Lost Ring Navarre Beach – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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It would be great if every Saturday morning could start out like this one. This one actually started out yesterday with a phone call from Mary from Ohio. Mary explained that their family had been coming to Navarre for decades but this trip had started out on a sour note. That morning her son-in-law was in the gulf throwing the football back and forth when suddenly he realized that his wedding ring was no longer on his hand. To make matters worse, Jason is left handed so when he threw the ball he could have flung the ring off just about anywhere. When Mary told me everything, I explained how I could help and she said that she would call me right back after she talked to her daughter Diana. I was already planning my trip when I got a text saying that they had decided not to look for the ring. I was shocked and asked why, Mary explained that both her husband and Jason felt like there was no way it would be possible to find the ring in that huge body of water and they didn’t want to get their hopes up. I thought to myself that I knew I could find it but I hoped that my words didn’t get in the way of God’s plans for this young couple. After a long conversation, my wife laughed and said that it was different that I was the one trying to convince the other person to let me find the ring. 😊 I must have said something right though because Mary asked me to come the next morning. I drove to Navarre this morning and got there at 7am.  I got to meet everyone and quizzed Jason about the ring and explained what I was going to do. I told him that he was officially allowed to be optimistic now and he gave me a sheepish grin. I waded out about waist deep in the water and started my search. I made a couple of passes and heard the telltale sound of gold. I saw Jason and Diana and Mary all watching me expectantly as I very gently scooped up the ring. I got a huge smile and started wading that way. Diana rushed down to the water’s edge and said that she didn’t even believe it yet. When I presented the scoop and she pulled Jason’s ring out she burst into tears. I asked Jason if he was optimistic yet and he told me that I was amazing. I’d say that’s a good turn of events for the day. I love helping people like this! 😃

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Saving Mother’s Day – 2 rings FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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I got a call from Alan this past Sunday that started out with “we need you to save Mother’s Day.”  Needless to say he had my attention. It turns out that Alan and his family had taken his Mother to the beach to celebrate the day and had a wonderful time until it was time to go. Alan’s mom had wisely taken off both of her rings and put them in the small zippered compartment on her beach chair. When it came time to put them back on, something had happened. These are beautiful rings. One was a present for a previous Mother’s Day and the other had been an anniversary present. These rings were honoring her as a Mom and it just wouldn’t be right to lose them on that day. Alan and his Mom called and explained what happened and where they thought the rings were and I asked my wife if it was ok to go. She has a soft spot for anything to do with rings for marriage and family so not only did she say yes but she joined me on the trip. I always say that Jeannie is my lucky charm on these hunts. She has a great track record. When we got to Orange Beach and met Alan the first thing you notice is that he is really tall. He is a basketball player and makes me feel short. 😃. The second thing that you quickly find out is that Alan has to be one of the nicest people I have ever met while doing this. He showed me where they were and we made our way over. I was just about to introduce myself to the family next to us and apologize for being so close when she said “I recognize you from Facebook and the Ringfinders.”  That made me smile and I took it as a good sign. I started gridding out the area and Alan stayed right with me. He wanted to know all about the machine and how it worked, he asked about the coolest things I’d found while diving and we talked about what it looked like for him to go to Europe to continue his basketball career. He also uses his degree to help people write books and gave me the nicest compliment when he suggested that I should take my stories and write one myself. Meanwhile my wife had an idea and asked Alan if he had any pictures from earlier. He handed her his phone and it wasn’t long until Jeannie found a selfie and triangulated where she thought the chair was. Being a wise man and always listening to my wife, I walked over to the spot she was standing and immediately heard a gold tone. I scooped it up and held it out to Alan and as he started to freak out on the first ring, I could already hear the second one in the sand. When I got it out, Alan was already FaceTiming his Momma. When she saw them she was absolutely beside herself and I came over to wave hello. She was crying happy tears and Alan was ecstatic. Jeannie came over to wave hi and Alan said sorry, she ran off for just a second. When Jeannie looked puzzled, Alan said that she was so happy that she had to run around the house and take a victory lap. Haha, now that is the reaction I want every time!  Alan, it was an absolute pleasure to spend some time with you and I am so glad we got to “Save Mother’s Day!”  ❤️😃 God Bless!

P.S.- my favorite picture is the one he is FaceTimeing his Mom in. 😃

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