Dave Milsted, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 8 of 10

Lost Keys in Haddonfield NJ, Found By Dave Milsted the Metal Detecting Man

  • from South Jersey (New Jersey, United States)
Contact:

LeafPileKeys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of weeks ago, My son was contacted via text message, asking if I still hunt for missing items. He told them that I still enjoyed the HUNT and would contact them shortly.

I got a hold of the dad and we decided on a time to meet at the possible location. Early on a Sunday morning we arrived. There were some very large piles of leaves at the side of the road.

The story goes that some high school buddies were leaving a party to walk home. They saw all of the large piles of leaves and started to rough-house, push and roll in the leaves. When Ian got home he realized that his very expensive key to his vehicle was missing.

I started to search and found out that there was a drainage pipe running along the road under the piles of leaves, causing a constant beep on my machine. I kept searching hoping for a different tone. I did manage to find a large piece of iron railing and some soda cans.

We went to a different pile. Same pipe setting my machine off. After about 15 minutes I heard a different sound. I dug down in the pile & discovered a karabiner with some keys attached. It was them. Another successful hunt!! I saved the owner about $300 for a replacement key.

If you have lost something metal, contact a professional metal detectorist. If you try renting or buying your own machine, it takes a very long time to learn how to use it. I can find items on land and in shallow water. If you need it found, I’m your man, The Metal Detecting Man

Deceased Mother’s Ring Found in Gloucester Twp NJ

  • from South Jersey (New Jersey, United States)
Contact:

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My wife received a message, in late September, from a friend who has been reading some of my recovery stories. Apparently her mom, who passed away late last year, lost a gold ring about this time last year. Her mom insisted that it was lost near the driveway at her house. She asked if I could look for it.

I am always up for a new search. I had some time to spare this week so I got the address for her dad’s house and packed my truck with 3 detectors and assorted other necessities.

I arrived at the house and it looked like no one was home. I started to search the very thick Zoysia grass. I was thinking to myself that there is no way a ring could penetrate this carpet, it would just sit on top.

I searched the area and received 2 possible targets. I moved the grass around to see if the ring was under the grass. Nope I marked them both to check after I finished the area, because it would take a little work to look in the ground with the thick root system of the Zoysia.

After finishing the search of the area I went to the first mark. Carefully with out destroying the grass I was able to probe and pop out a nickle. I was about 2 inches down in the dirt. After the recovery I fixed the ground & no one will ever know that the ground was disturbed.

I went to the 2nd target that I marked. I was probing the area with a 10 inch flat head Craftsman screw driver that I use a a probe. After a few tries I hit something that wasn’t a root. I tried to pop the target out of the ground, no luck. I then dug a very small hole in the dirt. I see the sparkle of GOLD. It was the ring, but it was intertwined in thick roots of the Zoysia. With in a minute I had the ring in my possession. I was amazed at how deep the ring was in the dirt after only being there about 1 year.

I fixed the ground and you can’t tell that anyone was there. I took the ring home, and cleaned it up. I took a few pictures and then sent a text with just the picture to Denise. I got a message back saying “OMG!I Love u!!! Ur making me cry!!!”

The whole searching of the area and the recovery of the ring only took about 10 minutes. It took longer to pack my truck…

A post from Denise:

If you don’t believe in miracles then read this!!! I appreciate
Dave finding it more than he’ll ever know. It’s an only child ring – my stone is in the middle and my parents’ stone on either side then my mom added each of the boys’ stones. I want her to be buried with it but I guess she wanted me to have it.2015-09-27 14.26.01Paint

Lost Engagement & Wedding Ring Found in Haddon Twp NJ by Dave Milsted

  • from South Jersey (New Jersey, United States)
Contact:

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I received a call earlier in the week from Rob, asking if I was the guy who finds lost rings. I told him that I was and asked how I could help. He said that there are 2 missing rings in front of his residence in the flower bed.

He was out of town on business until the weekend, so we planned to meet up on Saturday morning. I assumed that they lost them while planting the flowers. So it should be an easy find.

I arrived and met Rob. I asked him to show me where he thought that they were. I asked him how long ago that the flowers were planted and about how deep were the holes when they planted them.

He said they were lost about a week ago during an argument and were thrown there. Well there ya go you know what happens when you assume. They spent a couple of hours looking for them with flashlights.

I asked where she was standing when she threw them. He said that he threw them. There ya go another assumption! He showed me the direction. I went back to my truck to get my equipment.

I had to fight the sounds from the sprinkler system in the ground. After about 20 minutes I got a good repeatable signal. Looked through the flowers and found the wedding band. Rob was amazed.

We were now looking for the engagement ring. I continued with my machine and Rob then jumped into the flower bed and started hand searching the bushes. He said that he thought one went farther then the other and that one made it to the bushes.

After about 10 more minutes I hear Rob Shout, “I got it!!” And there it was. A few high fives were thrown. He stated you saved my life!

I took a few pictures and gave him my business card just in-case there was a need in the future. He was a happy man… My wife said after I got home was “I knew it! I knew they were thrown!”

I have responded to so many lost rings because they were thrown in the heat of the moment. Call me 1st, I’ll take the ring off of your hands and save the time for a search later…

Ring Lost For Years Found By Dave Milsted In Collingswood NJ

  • from South Jersey (New Jersey, United States)
Contact:

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Paul contacted me back in November 2012 about his wedding ring he lost. He thought that he lost it in his backyard while raking leaves.

Our schedules didn’t line up for many reasons. We both forgot about it.

I was checking/deleting my old emails when I came across the ones from Paul. I saw that I didn’t have an outcome listed for this missing ring. So I emailed Paul to see if it had been found. He said it is funny that you are asking about my ring. My wife & I were just discussing it the other night at dinner. It is still lost.

A few back & forth emails and we set a date & time the I would go over and search, Saturday August 15th.

I arrived and Paul & his son David were in the driveway replacing breaks on a car. Paul showed me the backyard and the area he thought it was lost. He then stated, if it is not here then its in the neighbors yard, because I was throwing items into their yard. I can get you permission to search there too.

I asked Paul about the ring. He said it was a plain wedding band. OK I thought I know what range on my detector that should register.

I started searching & noticed a lot of iron in the ground, not good. I searched the area Paul suggested and found pieces of metal garden dividers, pull tabs and other assorted junk. Not one good item. I decided to continue to search the rest of the yard.

About an hour into the search I finally got a good signal. It was above the range That it should be in. I dug about 2 inches down and found a very large gold ring with 2 turquoise stones in it. Well this isn’t the ring, because this isn’t a plain wedding band.

I searched the rest of the yard and found nothing else. I went to talk to Paul. I asked him, “you said a plain wedding band, correct?”

He said “oh it has 2 turquoise stones in it.”

“Like this one?” I said as I pulled the ring out of my pouch. He stood there with his mouth wide open. He couldn’t believe that I had found it. It was very large, I don’t know how he could have lost it without realizing it.

I went to the hose and cleaned it up a bit. We took some pictures and shared some stories. He said that he designed this ring and his wife’s matching ring. They have been married for 29 years. I apologized for dropping the ball and not finding this ring back in 2012.

I am just amazed by the different expressions on peoples faces when I am able to return things!!

Lost wedding band found in Philadelphia by Dave Milsted

  • from South Jersey (New Jersey, United States)
Contact:

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I’m home from vacation unpacking & cleaning my metal detectors, and I get a phone call from Kate. She says that her husband was in the backyard watering the flowers when he lost his wedding ring.

I ask the usual questions when was it lost? Today Is there any metal fencing around? No Has anyone else looked? No. She said it was lost a few hours ago, they believe that it is in the neighbors yard, but its un-kept. They live in Philly. The thought about renting a detector and while searching for detectors my site came up. I looked up the address and said that I could be there in 45 minutes. She said make sure you come prepared, there are a lot of mosquitoes.

After searching for a parking spot for about 20 minutes I found one about a block away. I took 1 detector with me and walked to their house. I met Brett at the door. He showed me out back and where he was. He said he was watering the plants when a mosquito buzzed by his ear. He swatted at the bug an his ring flew off. He didn’t hear it land so it had to be in the neighbors yard. His yard is covered by a wooded deck.

The neighbors yard was a mess. It hasn’t been taken care of in years. The only way in was to climb over a 5 foot cement wall. Brett said that the neighbor game him permission to search, but he had to figure out how to get in & out.

The bugs were worse than I imagined. I had to go back to my truck and get a send detector with a smaller coil because of all of the trash. I also put on a long sleeve shirt and a hat that not only covers my head but mu neck too.

With the assistance of a step stool I was able to get into the yard, not sure how I was going to get out because it was much higher on this side. There were so many metal items in this yard my hopes were very low.

I decided to look around 1st. There was no grass, but plenty of weeds and 3-4 foot saplings. Weeds with sticker balls and the like. I searched for about 15 minutes just by looking. Moving the plants & saplings. I was just about to gram a detector when I saw the ring.

It was a beautiful tri-colored gold ring. White gold, yellow gold & rose gold. Brett said when he was looking for rings for the wedding he just couldn’t find one he liked. He told his dad the the only ring here really likes is the one his father wore. His dad without hesitation gave him his ring. So there was a huge sentimental attachment.

I found a milk crate to give me a little height to try to climb out of the yard. It was just enough for me to pull myself up and get over the wall.

We went into the house & took some pictures. I’m not sure if I would have found it with a detector, even with a 3 inch coil to get through the trash. I guess I am getting pretty good at this treasure hunting thing!!

Lost Wedding band Found by Dave Milsted in Ocean City NJ

  • from South Jersey (New Jersey, United States)
Contact:

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Last night (August 5th) while taking a long walk on the beach with my wife, I got a call from fellow jewelry recovery expert Edward Cropski. He received a call about a lost ring. He was unable to come down to the beach to search. He knew I was in Ocean City, so he called me to see if I was available. He gave me the number for Chris.

I called Chris. He said while on the beach today he took his ring off before he went into the water with his kids. He put it in the cup holder of his chair. After swimming they went home for the evening. He remembers flipping his chair over to shake the sand off.

When he got back to where he was staying, he remembered about his ring. He immediately went to the internet to search for help.

He was glad that I called. I told him it would take me about 30 minutes to meet him where he thought he lost it. We only hoped that another person detecting the beach didn’t already find it. The beach he was on is heavily detected.

As I approached Chris & his wife and son, there was another guy in the area with a detector searching the sand.

Chris showed me the area he was in and where he thought that his chair was. I started to search. I thought to my self this should be easy because it was a small area.

I searched the area and came up with 6 bottle caps and 5 pull tabs along with some other junk. Only 1 penny was in the area. Chris’ wife thought that the ring was gone forever.

I expanded the area the Chris thought that he was in. About 2 minutes later I got a good tone & ID number on my machine. It was his ring. When I showed it to them the looks on their faces was priceless. Chris’ wife just stood there with her mouth open in shock.

Chris told me that this was his dad’s ring. His dad died of cancer in 1989. He also said that this was the 4th time he lost the ring.

The 1st time was went he was fishing in a stream. He went to wash his hands in the water, the ring fell off. He grabbed as much of the bottom that he could and found the ring in the muck. The 2nd time was was spreading mulch in his yard. He once again was able to find it. The 3rd time was in Puerto Rico swimming in a pool. He had management clear the pool and searched and found it.

He swears and so does his wife that he will never wear it near water again. He hugged me and shook my hand several times.
Another missing ring returned thanks to teamwork!

Lost Wedding Band Found in Haddonfield NJ By Dave Milsted

  • from South Jersey (New Jersey, United States)
Contact:

Back Yard Troubles!!

Received a call from Katie. She told me that her husband lost his wedding band in their back yard. She found me by searching the internet and found Ring Finders.

I asked several questions about how it was lost. We decided on a date & time for me to search for the ring.

I arrived on a hot & sunny day in May. Katie’s kids were sleeping, so she said that she would be out in a few minutes.

I had Katie show me about where her husband was. She said he was in the driveway, cleaning out his car. He was throwing something when his ring came off. I had her show me the direction that he mad his toss.

I thought that I had enough information to start the search. The detector that I chose for this hunt was my Minelab CTX 3030 with a 11 inch coil. I started my search an the area was clear of trash.

1.5 minutes into the search I got my first signal. I moved the grass around and bingo, I had the wedding band in my hand.

I walked towards Katie & showed her the ring. She was amazed that I had found it so fast.  I took a few pictures and headed home. Another successful recovery!

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1980 Philadelphia Eagles NFC Championship Ring Found & Returned by Dave Milsted NJ

  • from South Jersey (New Jersey, United States)
Contact:

2014-08-14 14.11.30a 2014-08-30 11.05.22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I received a call from Keith in May. He said he had lost his 1980 Eagles Championship ring while doing yard work. He was heartbroken and told me how much the ring meant to him. He has worn it since he received it 34 years ago.

Our schedules weren’t lining up. He was going away in a few days, and then I was going away. I told him I would come over later that day even if it was still raining out. We agreed on 1o’clock in the afternoon. He gave me his information.

It was raining very hard at 1pm. I was prepared, raincoat with hood, rain pants and waterproof hiking boots. I brought my water proof detector Minelab CTX-3030. It was a nice size yard. The street in front of the house was flooded from all of the recent rain.

Keith showed me what he was doing the day he lost the ring. I thought if it is here it should be an easy fine. WRONG!! Keith had trimmed all of the bushes & hedges, raked the entire property, put a lot of the debris in the street which is now flooded, started a mulch pile and planted new items in a flower garden. He remembers at one point looking at his hand saying this ring is giving me a blister.

I started in the easy sections, the open yard, nothing! I started moving to the different gardens. Uh-oh, they are all lined with iron to stop the roots from entering. Metal detectors love iron. It makes them sing. Even when trying to discriminate iron out of the range, there was so much it was hard to determine if there were any other signals. The machine I brought had an 11 inch coil on it. I could search the street because there is metal rebar under the surface. There was way too much debris out there to shovel onto the grass. If it’s out here the leaf sucker is going to get it.

I spent about 3 hours looking. No luck. Keith was disappointed and so was I. I really wanted to return this ring. I have been an Eagles fan for too many years. What an awesome story this would have been. I offered to come back at a different time when the weather was better. We said we would keep in touch.

A few months passed and I called Keith. He was staying in his summer cabin and wouldn’t be back in this area for some time. I asked if there would be anyone around, because I didn’t want to be on his property without someone being there. He said his wife would be there this week and it would be ok to go over to look. He had already started the inquiry of what he had to do to get the ring replaced. He needed approval from the Eagles & the NFL plus a police report.

I went over a few days later and met Michelle. She added a few other tid bits, like when he was done the yard work he traveled to North Jersey. My heart sunk. I thought to myself, that is why I didn’t find it last time. It’s not here.

I returned with and older but reliable machine, a White’s Spectrum XLT with a 3 inch coil. This is to help reduce the amount of signals from all of the iron in the gardens. I started searching the areas I couldn’t do in the rain, like the large slope of ivy in the back yard. The only thing I found back here was hundreds of mosquitoes.  I moved to the mulch pile, moving stuff around, nothing. I’m getting frustrated. 2 hours later the last things to check are the gardens.

I expected the ring to pretty much be on the surface. It wasn’t lost that long ago. I finally get a good signal at close to 3 hours from when I started. I climbed under the bushes and moved away the debris. Nothing. I dig about a half an inch down. Is that gold? I dig a little more. It’s the ring!! I must have jumped about 10 feet in the air. The ring was very heavy, and very muddy. I went back to my truck and cleaned it up. Took many pictures, then I called Keith.

When I told him that I found it, he started to get choked up. He couldn’t believe that I had found it. He told me that he thought that is was gone forever. He said someone told him to pray to St Anthony, so he did. We made arrangements to meet a few weeks later when he would be back in town. He even let me keep the ring for 24 hours so I could show it off before I returned it to his wife.  When we met we took pictures & he signed a few Topps Football cards that I had brought with me from his playing days.

Here is a letter from Keith Krepfle Philadelphia Eagles Tight End #84

Dear Dave,

From the bottom of my heart I want to thank you for finding my lost 1980 NFL Conference Championship ring with your metal detector.

I was reasonably sure I lost the ring while doing spring clean-up in the yard. The day I called you in desperation for help, you came over immediately to try and find the ring. Although the weather was miserably cold and pouring rain, you nonetheless scanned the yard for hours trying to find it. I was obviously disappointed when you could not find it, however you said you would like to return in warmer weather to try again.

I was not absolutely sure I lost the ring in the yard, and for weeks looked everywhere  but unfortunately it did not turn up.  By summertime I had completely given up hope and contacted the NFL League office to inquire about replacing it (custom molds for all Super Bowl rings are kept on file).

Then out of the blue in August  you called me again, offering (at no fee) to come back for another search.  On your second search, to my unbelievable surprise, YOU FOUND THE RING! under a landscaping bush.  I was so thrilled when you told me, I actually broke down and cried with emotion/thankfulness.

I cannot thank you enough for your dedication, honesty, integrity and persistence,  and whole heartedly recommend anyone contact you for help locating lost items.

You are truly and Angel of God!

Keith Krepfle

Philadelphia Eagles- tight end

 

Ring Found in the Snow in Cherry Hill NJ.

  • from South Jersey (New Jersey, United States)
Contact:

Received a call from a woman in Cherry Hill. Her husband was out shoveling during the big 9 inch snow storm earlier in January. He took off his gloves and shook his hands to warm them and he felt his wedding ring fly off.

They piled up all of the snow from the driveway and have been looking for it ever since. They were worried about someone else finding the ring or an animal taking it. They found my website and called me.

We made arrangements for me to head over a 3pm today. I arrived and found a large pile of snow on a concrete driveway, uh oh rebar….

She showed me about where her husband was standing and I did a quick search of the pile. Too much interference from the rebar. I scanned both sides of the driveway and not a peep.

So we shoveled the pile of snow onto the grass. I started to search the snow, within 3 minutes and had a nice solid signal. Dug thru the snow and found a beautiful 14k white gold ring. The look on her face was priceless. It took longer to shovel than it did to find the ring.

She was so happy. I collected a few more hugs for the hug bank. Her side of the story will follow in a few days when I get her email. Leaving my house to the return in my front door was less than 30 minutes.

 

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Wedding Ring Found in the Snow, Mt Laurel NJ

  • from South Jersey (New Jersey, United States)
Contact:

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I got a call Dec 9, 2013 from a man who said he lost his gold wedding ring in the snow yesterday (6-8 inches of fluffy white stuff). I told him that I would love to help but my truck was in the shop. I said I could come tomorrow. He said he had to work all day. I told him that I would come up tonight around 6pm, a night hunt…

When I arrived we went over the details of what he could remember. He took his new bride, from India, out to play in her 1st snow that she has ever seen. They were just married in May in India. He was taking pictures and they were having fun playing in the snow. Snow angles and all.

He said they stopped in like 4 areas to take pictures. He had the ring on at the first stop and it was gone at the last stop, noticed by reviewing the pictures. He didn’t realize till this morning that the ring was gone. The whole walk might have been 3/4 of a mile.

I went and got my machine. We started in the area that they took the 1st set of pictures. I quickly got a signal that was in the gold range on my machine. I kicked the snow aside, and you could see he was very excited. We didn’t see any gold & I had to explain the machine will make a lot of sounds during our hunt.

I continued on and then doubled back, starting a small grid pattern. Within 2 minutes we had another promising sound. I kicked the snow aside and we both saw gold. A total of five minutes of detecting & we had the ring. The look on his face was priceless. He couldn’t believe it. He said that he thought the ring was gone forever.

We went back to his apartment & he invited me in to look at the pictures he took yesterday. I am glad that I was able to find his ring. I wasn’t very confident after hearing how far of a walk they took. But by playing detective and starting where he knew he had the ring paid off!!