Dennis Boothby, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 7 of 9

Gifted Necklace From Grandfather Lost On A Beach In Saco, Maine. Found with a Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)

I received a message from Gary, a friend and fellow detectorist. Gary told me about a lost necklace and it was just 3 1/2 miles from my home, that he had seen on a Facebook post. Would I be willing to look for it? Of course, a lost necklace in my hometown is a given. I took the information and contacted Ashley, the originator of the Facebook post. Ashley told me the necklace belonged to her daughter, Kalleigh and Kalleigh was upset she lost it because the necklace was a gift from her Grandfather. Ashley described the events leading up to the necklace being lost on Bay View Beach, in Saco, Maine. I sent a photo of an aerial view of the beach and asked Ashley, if the areas I had marked, on the photo, were where she thinks the necklace was lost. Ashley replied yes but they had also been about another 100 feet, further south and she sent me a photo with an area marked off. In total, I was looking at an area of approximately 250-300 feet long, running parallel to the shore and about 30 feet deep, from the high tide mark to the dune grass. I then Told Ashley that I would go down to Bay View, 1st thing in the morning, when the sun came up.
I arrived at the Beach at 6:30am and admired the sun, which was just starting to rise. A beautiful scene, as always. I decided to start my search where they had been on the beach and work my way towards the lifeguard station, where Kalleigh realized the necklace was missing. I performed a grid search, starting parallel with the water. I broke up the approximately 250-300 feet by breaking the area down to 4 quadrants and slowly gridded each area. Not many targets either. Other than a quarter, there was nothing else, other than an occasional pull tab and the metal handle of a few sparklers. As I was about to finish up my 3rd quadrant, I received a signal that kept bouncing between 12-45 and 37-47. The first set of numbers indicated a non-ferrous item, most likely a dime or quarter. The second set of numbers were definitely a ferrous target. Depth on my CTX-3030 was indicating 4-5 inches deep. I then took my scoop and pulled out the sand. The target wasn’t in the 1st scoop of sand. I took out my pinpointer searched the hole with it. Once I found the target, I scooped a handful of sand and there it was, the gold necklace. I had found Kaleigh’s lost necklace. I immediately took a picture of the necklace and sent it to Ashley. Her reply was, “OMG, Thank you so much. She is going to be so happy “. Ashley and I then made plans to meet up a little later and return the necklace.
When Ashley and Kalleigh arrived at my home, I could see Kalleigh’s very large smile just beaming, as the walked across the street, towards me. Those smiles are the reason I absolutely love doing this. There is no better reward that to see pure joy and happiness on someone’s face. I then learned that Kalleigh’s grandfather had personally made the necklace and gifted the necklace to Kalleigh for Christmas, 2 years prior. This is the absolute best job in the world and on top of all the smiles, I got to see a beautiful sunrise.

DeMolay Ring Lost in Cumberland Maine, Found With A Metal Detector, In Tall Grass

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)

I received a voicemail from Derrick. I actually know Derrick as we had worked together years ago but I haven’t seen him in 5-6 years. Derrick’s voicemail stated

“Hi Dennis this is Derrick. I left you a message also I sent you a personal message and I am in need of your ring finding service, sir. I live in Cumberland just past Skilling’s Greenhouse . My son was outside and his DeMolay ring which is kind of like a Masonic ring fell off his hand. We have a metal detector but it’s a low end one so I’m trying to find it with that but I’m not having any good luck. The ring is a Black polished stainless steel. I was kind of hoping that you could help us with it. We definitely Would be greatly appreciative. Derrick Jr is very distraught and he very dearly for everything that he’s going through with the DeMolay. If you could get back to me my phone number is 207-***_****. Hopefully we can set up a time over the next few days and hope you are able to help us. I very much appreciate it Dennis thank you…”
I immediately called Derrick back, after seeing that my schedule was full the next two days. I told Derrick that my wife, Cheryl, and I would would drive up to his place immediately. It is about 25 miles and I told him I would be there by 3:10pm.
Once I arrived, we made small talk and caught up with what is going on in our lives. Then, I asked Derrick Jr what happened when the ring went missing. He told us he was trying to clean his hands of dirt, after digging a hole. He was brushing his hands off, by slapping them up against the sides of his pant legs, when the ring went flying off towards the tall grass and or woods.
I went down the small slope and started searching the beginning of the woods and found absolutely nothing. I then started up the slope and asked my wife to get my backup detector and I would let Derrick Sr use it. Derrick Jr was using his detector, I was using my CTX-3030 and after a quick lesson , Derrick Jr was my Minelab E-trac. With Derrick Jr in the woods , Derrick Sr on the left side of the slope of me heading down the right side of the slope.
I don’t think I took 5 steps when I heard my wife say, WE FOUND IT. Derrick Sr had received a signal. My wife Cheryl took out the pinpointer and stuck it into the tall grass , at the top of the slope. She moved some grass to the side and saw the Black DeMolay Ring. A true team effort and the entire search only took about 20 minutes
Derrick Jr was very very happy to get his ring back and his father says he will get a clear silicone ring sizer so this doesn’t happen again. Best of luck to Derrick Jr in his DeMolay endeavors.

Gold and Sapphire Ring Lost In Falmouth, Maine Found With A Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)

On Sunday October 15, I finished up mowing our lawn and my neighbors. I checked my phone and I saw a message from Jordan. Jordan’s message said,
“Hi there. My mother lost a ring 2 days ago and she did a bunch of gardening and cut down a few trees. She lives in Falmouth. Would you be able to help us look for it”.
I immediately sent a message back to Jordan and told her yes I could and would she please call me. A few hours later Jordan called and we discussed the lost ring. Jordan then told me her parents , Bobbi and Dennis had also taken a few loads of the brush and garden items, to the dump. My heart sank a little, knowing that it was possible the ring very well could have ended up in the dump, 2 days ago. Jordan then gave me her father’s phone number and I immediately called him to set up a time to travel to Falmouth and search for his wife’s ring. A date was set for today, Tuesday October 17th.
I drove the approximately 25 miles to Bobbi and Dennis’s home this morning and they were both there to greet me as I parked in their driveway. After a few minutes of exchanging pleasantries, I ask Bobbi to go over the events of 4 days ago, which led to the ring going missing. She told me exactly what had been already explained and pointed out some of the areas she had been working. I asked her if she had been wearing gloves, while working and if the gloves had been checked. She had been wearing gloves and they had been checked. She did tell me that she had taken the gloves off several times while working on the property. Bobbi and Dennis also realized the ring very well could have ended up at the dump but were hoping that was not the case. A positive was that the lawn had not been mowed, since the ring went missing. This meant that it would not have been thrown somewhere or damaged by the mower.
Bobbi then took me to the garden to search 1st. It wasn’t a large garden and I completed the search in about 10 minutes. Nothing but a dime, nail and a small piece of foil. She then took me to an area where some of the shrubbery had been cut down. Still no ring. Then another area of cut down shrubbery and my detector wasn’t going to work over the cut down shrubbery so I took out my pinpointer and stuck it down and between what was left of the shrubbery. Still No luck with locating the ring. Bobbi then pointed to another area of cut down and removed shrubbery. Within a minute I received a signal that wasn’t repeating but I liked the sound of it. I looked down but saw nothing but shrubbery clippings, small twigs and leaves. I started pushing the debris aside, with my coil, still hearing a signal but still no target was visible. I pushed some more debris to the side and I saw a beautiful gold ring with a Blue Sapphire starring back at me. I reached down, picked it up, turned around and told Bobbi that the ring had been found. Bobbi looked stunned and was just so thankful to have it back. For a second, I believed her eyes swelled up a little and her smile was ear to ear. Seeing faces like Bobbi’s is exactly what drives me to help people out, when they need my Metal Detecting Services. This ring would never have been found with a visual search. Bobbi and her family had performed a couple visual searches of the area without finding it and I never would have seen it, without a metal detector.
After the fact, I learned that the Gold and Sapphire ring was a 45th Wedding Anniversary gift, to Bobbi, from her husband Dennis. Later that day, Dennis texted me and stated  the following,                             “Hi Dennis. I gave the ring to Bobbi as an anniversary present (#45 I think). I believe that it is a sapphire stone. We can’t thank you enough for getting the ring back to Bobbi. She’s thrilled! We will certainly follow you on Facebook. Thanks again”.                                                                                                    I just love being able to return extremely sentimental items back to the owners. It is a true blessing to be able to help people like Bobbi and Dennis out, whenever I can.

 

Apple AirPod Found With A Metal Detector on A Beach In Southern Maine

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)

On Tuesday, October 3rd, 2023, I found an Apple AirPod, as I was Metal Detecting a local beach. I didn’t see it at first because it was among the White Sea shells and blended right in with the shells, but the detector kept going off. Once I saw it, amongst the shells, I scooped it up and looked around, hoping to see someone who may have just dropped it. Absolutely no one in the area. The Apple AirPod was not wet at all and must have been lost earlier in the morning.

I then started a grid to see if I could find the other AirPod. I was unable to find the matching AirPod and thought that the owner, may have only lost the one. Now I needed to find the owner.
Once I got home, I placed several posts on Facebook asking if anyone had lost an Apple AirPod. I placed the post on Lost and Found – Maine, and a couple of the local community sites. I had asked if anyone had lost their AirPod and if they had, where did they lose it. I had a few people contact me but the AirPod was no where near the areas that they had lost theirs. Then, on Sunday October 8th, I saw a message from Rita. Rita had lost her AirPod’s and it was exactly where I had found it. Now I had found the rightful owner. Unfortunately Rita had lost both of her AirPod’s but was happy to be getting one of them back, as she could still use the one I found. Rita thinks she lost them while walking her dog on the beach. The dog had broken away from her and she put the AirPod’s were placed in one of her shallow pockets, to chase after the dog. They must have fallen out of her shallow pocket as she chased the dog.
We made plans to meet up a few days later, so that I could return the AirPod. Today, October 12th, we met and I was able to return her AirPod. Now, I will be on the lookout whenever I go to the beach.

Property Markers Found In Saco, Maine With A Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)

I had received a call last week from Kathleen and her husband Bob. They were interested in finding their property markers that they hadn’t seen since the home was built, 30 years ago, here in Saco. We made an appointment for me to search for the markers for today, 10/11/23.

I showed up promptly at the agreed upon time and both Kathleen and Bob were there to greet me. The 1st marker we searched for was the right front corner of the house, as you faced it. When I turned the detector on, it went haywire, with it constantly going off and I couldn’t get a good signal. I was then told all the utility wires were buried there. I made an adjustment to the detector, still no help. I tried another detector, still lots of interference.

So, Bob suggested we check the front left of the home, near the culvert. Thankfully, no interference but lots and lots of iron objects were being dug. Nails, pipes and iron objects we didn’t even recognize. Bob then told me when the house was built, it was the last house on the street and where the property marker was , there was not a road or culvert yet. When the housing development expanded, a road and culvert were put in and those improvements were done with fill. Could the property marker been moved and or buried with all the infrastructure improvements? Not sure but after many, many iron objects and no marker, Bob and Kathleen suggested we go to the back, wooded area of the property and search for those. We started on the right backside of the property and after digging a few iron objects, we thankfully found the marker. We then went to the back left side of the property, the same side as the culvert, and Bob and Kathleen were not very optimistic about finding this one because along the small stream, many large trees had come down and according to Bob, the stream looks like it has been altered some, by the downed trees. We did our due diligence and search up and down the banks of the stream, without any luck. Could the marker be under one of the fallen trees or swept away by the stream changing course? Not sure but it was not in the area they thought it would be.

I decided to try looking for the 1st marker, near the buried utility wires. This time, knowing where the back right marker was, I searched about 10 feet to the left of where I had been searching earlier. This area lined up better with the back property marker and thankfully, there was no interference from the utility wires. Our 1st target turned out to be a nail. Our second target was exactly what we were looking for. The property marker had been found. Bob tells me that the city is coming out in the next month or so to do some culvert work, after all the heavy rain we have had the year. When the city is working in the culvert, Bob will measure from his other front marker and find the exact area of the missing marker. Hopefully when the culvert is being worked on, the city will take some of the fill out. At that point, I will return and see if it is still buried or still to deep from the fill that was placed on top of it. Kathleen and Bob were both very pleased at the outcome and can’t wait until I return.

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Men’s 14K Wedding Ring Lost on Old Orchard Beach, Maine Found With A Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)

I received a call from William on Monday morning, 9/11/23. William had lost his 14K wedding ring, the previous night, as he and his wife Sarah, enjoyed their last evening in Old Orchard Beach, Maine.  After leaving a local restaurant, William and Sarah returned to their oceanfront hotel for their last night in town and decided to sit on the beach and enjoy the fresh air and beautiful views, around 8:30pm to 9:00pm. When they decided to go back to their room, they were covered in sand, from where they were sitting. William brushed off the sand from both his and Sarah’s pants. Once they got back to their room, William noticed he was no longer wearing his wedding ring. He and Sarah immediately went back down to the beach to search for the ring, but with no luck. William then tore his hotel room apart, praying it was in the room, but still no luck. They both searched the beach again, the next morning,  9/11/23, still no success. William then called me after receiving a couple of very strong recommendations and referrals.
I told William that I would be right there to meet him, as I live less than 5 miles from their current location and being retired, I am able to just get up and leave. He and Sarah needed to start their 5 hour drive back to Sherbrooke, Quebec but would stay to show me the location. Once I arrived, about 10 minutes later, William showed me the area where he thought they were sitting but it now looked different because of the daylight and the tide was different. I searched the area where they thought they were sitting but absolutely nothing. He then said they 1st went to a bench and then moved down to the sand. Still nothing around the bench. At this point, I knew I would need to perform a grid of an area of about 75’ X 75’. I started near the bench and searched down to the high tide line, then back up to the sea grass, turn around and back to the high tide line, etc.. I was finding the usual trash of pull tabs and tent stakes but not much else. After about an hour and as I was at the top of the slope, heading to the high tide line. I received a very loud low tone on my Minelab CTX-3030. VDI screen was reading a very solid 12-24. I stuck my pinpointer into the dry sand and found my target. I caught a small glimpse of yellow and I just had to break out in a big smile. I pulled the ring out of the sand, turned around to show William and Sarah, who were now sitting in the sand up near the sea grass and said, “I got it”. As William saw the ring, he jumped up and said “No Way” and broke out in a smile from ear to ear. He then came over to where I was and we shared a nice big enthusiastic high five. The ride back to Sherbrooke, Quebec just became much more bearable. A Beautiful Day indeed

Handmade 14K Wedding Ring with Diamond Chip Lost While Bodysurfing in Scarborough Maine, With A Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)

On Sunday night 9/3/23, which is also Labor Day Weekend, I received a call from Ric. Ric told me that while Bodysurfing at Scarborough Beach State Park, in Scarborough, Maine, his wedding ring fell off, into the very rough surf water. Ric said he was referred to me by members of the lifeguard crew, including Greg, the supervisor.
As it was already closing in on 4:30pm and the State Park closes at 7:00pm, I told Ric that because I wouldn’t be able to make it from my current location, to the State Park until close to 6:00pm, I would go down 1st thing in the morning and perform a grid search, at low tide. Ric was not going to be available to show me the location of where the ring was lost, but gave me a very detailed description of the location. He was just to the left of the webcam pole and approximately 50-60 feet out into the water, approximately “mid chest deep”.
I arrived at Scarborough Beach State Park the next morning at 8:00am and was greeted by Greg. Greg told me that he didn’t see Ric lose the ring but that it was in the general location described by Ric. I decided to overshoot the area by about 30 feet on each side of the Webcam pole, in case the ring was moved by the rough and strong surf. Starting down near the low tide line, I slowly gridded the hard packed sand, up towards the shoreline. I was finding a few trashy targets, like lobster trap bits and small pieces of aluminum, mostly likely from discarded cans. As I worked my way up towards the shoreline, I finally received a great sounding low tone. Looking down at the CTX-3030’s VDI Screen, I saw a reading that put a smile on my face. I had a great sounding low tone and a 12-19 on the VDI screen. Definitely in the gold range. I pressed my scoop into the sand, with my foot and dumped the sand out next to the hole. I ran the coil over the dug up sand and got the signal. I still couldn’t see it so I pulled my pinpointed out and ran it through the sand. Once I found the target, I put my fingers into the wet dug up sand and pulled out a large chunky ring with a small diamond chip in it. I had Ric’s ring. I called Ric and then sent a photo to him. He replied “That’s it, 100%”. We then made arrangements to meet in 20-30 minutes at a local restaurant, on my way home. The exchange was made and Ric explained that the ring was actually handmade, by a friend, and presented to him for his wedding. As The Ringfinders say, “every ring has a story “ and this one has a very sentimental story. Another great happy ending.

Diamond Engagement Ring Found at Old Orchard Beach Beach Maine, With A Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)

As I was detecting a low tide, on the morning of August 21, 2023, in Old Orchard Beach I was approached by 2 men. One of them identified themselves as Brandon. Brandon told me that he and his father were searching for his girlfriends Diamond Ring and asked if could help. Absolutely I can help. After asking Brandon for the details of losing the ring , Brandon gave me the entire story. He and his girlfriend, Larissa, had been enjoying a beautiful beach day and were in the water, when the ring came off her finger. Brando and Larissa tried  to find the ring in the water and waves, but it was a fruitless endeavor.
Once I was showed the approximate location, I told Brandon that I perform a grid search, horizontal to the beach and would start out near the low tide line , working my way towards shore. The horizontal search would run for approximately 100’ to 150’, along the low tide line to the shore. After not finding much and getting close to running out of beach to search, I received a nice loud low signal , with my Excalibur II and sunk the scoop, into the sand. As I threw the sand out of the scoop, I saw a small sliver of silver in the sand. As I brushed away the Sand, I saw the Diamonds and knew that Larissa would be getting her ring back. I then called Brandon, who had left about 2 hours earlier, with his father. I called and told Brandon that I have something for him and that I would send him a photo, to verify it is the correct ring. The reply I received was, “That’s it thank you”. Brandon came back to get the ring and he brought a very happy Larissa, who was so appreciative.  I handed the ring to Larissa and her smiling face said it all. I love my ability to be able to help people.

Platinum Wedding Ring Lost On Goose Rocks Beach Kennebunkport, Maine Found With A Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)

At 11:30am on August 11,2023, I received a text that stated a wedding ring had been lost at Goose Rocks Beach, in Kennebunkport, Maine. And then “Are you able to help”? I immediately called back and told him I absolutely could  help. I asked if the ring had been lost in the water or the dry sand? Up on the beach in the dry sand, was his reply. He then told me that she had 3 rings in the pocket of her beach dress and they had fallen out. Two of the rings had been found already, one in the sand and another had landed on a beach chair. However, a wedding ring was still missing and was not found by anyone in the group. I told him that I would leave immediately and be there in 30 minutes +- a few minutes. He texted me the GPS address and my wife and I were off to Kennebunkport. We arrived at the address in about 25 minutes and was met at the address by Chip. Chip explained that the family was still at the beach, which is just down the block and across the street, a 5 minute walk. Once we arrived at on the beach, Chip and Allie (owner of the lost wedding ring, explained how the rings had been lost and where within the 10’ X 15’ area they thought the ring was lost. I fired up the Minelab CTX-3030 and made my first swing.  At the end of the very 1st swing, I received a nice low tone and a 12-05 reading on the CTX-3030. I then asked Allie what type of metal the ring was made of. Platinum was her reply and I told her that this target was promising. I pulled out my pin pointer and located the target. I then moved some sand away with my hand, felt around and pulled out The Platinum Wedding Ring. Allie was very happy and relieved to have her ring back and I also had a big smile that I am still wearing.

 

Gold Wedding Ring Lost In A Maine Lake Found With A Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)

On Sunday evening, August 6, 2023, I received a text from Andy. In Andy’s own words, “Hi Dennis. I’m Andy. I found your contact info on ring finders. I lost my gold wedding ring today in Bunganut Pond in Lyman. I was hoping you could do the impossible”.  I called Andy back immediately and asked him a few questions about depth of water and if this a private property or public beach. Andy told me it was a public beach and the ring was lost in waist deep water. My concern now was that I would have less than an hour’s worth of sunlight left, once I arrived at Bunganut Pond, in Lyman, Maine. It was a 30-35 minute drive to get there. Andy explained that he lived 2 hours away in Nashua, NH and needed to get back home and would prefer to not stay the night but would, if necessary. I really didn’t want Andy and his wife to have to stay an extra night. I told him we would be there as soon as possible. My wife and I loaded my Excalibur II, my long handled scoop and off we went. We arrived at the pond at 7:20pm and I was in the water at 7:25pm. Andy and I immediately headed to the spot he thought he lost his wedding band. After a few minutes, with only 1 target (a piece of aluminum), Andy asked his wife if the area we were in looked correct from her vantage point on the shore. She told us she thought it was about 15-20 feet to our right, as we faced the shore. Andy’s wife then entered the water and went to the area she thought it was in. As I was working my to the area, still no targets. When I got to the area she thought the ring was in, I received a very solid sounding target. I put the scoop in and pulled it up, shaking the sand out, into the water. I got a great view a a new shiny gold ring in the bottom of the scoop. It took all of 7 minutes , in the water to find it. I had Andy’s ring and his wife and he started screaming with joy. I love this job.
Andy and his wife were very very elated and couldn’t contain their excitement of getting Andy’s ring back. Andy told us that he and his wife were just married, in March, less than 6 months ago. Here is wishing them many many years of love and happiness.