Doug Hardy, Author at The Ring Finders

A Double-Double! Wedding *AND* Engagement Rings Found *Twice*!

  • from Raleigh (North Carolina, United States)
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I got a call from a woman in Chapel Hill about a lost ring. Nothing surprising there — that’s why we’re here! It took three days of trading texts and leaving voicemails before we were actually able to speak person-to-person. Turns out the wife was gardening and lost both her engagement and wedding rings at some point during her work out in the yard. I drove to the house and the husband explained the situation. After they realized the rings were gone, they rented a metal detector and had a run at trying to locate the rings…without success. He then showed me where she’d been working that day — multiple areas in the front yard, side yard, and back yard, plus some piles of weeds and other plant debris — a sizable amount of ground to cover. I decided to start in the backyard first and scanned the “gardened” areas first, then added in some of the surrounding area to be sure I didn’t miss it. At this point the husband mentioned that she had also thrown some of the pulled weeds over the fence (not into the neighbor’s yard, but onto a little additional strip of their property…), so I decided to check that debris as well. The rings were both in the debris and about 3 feet apart. Apparently when she threw the handfuls of weeds over the fence, her rings had come off and followed the weeds. The wife wasn’t at the house when I found the rings so I couldn’t get a picture of them back on her fingers, but the husband was VERY happy that she was going to get her rings back where they belonged.

Fast forward a month and I get a call from the woman who had lost the rings while gardening, and she’d lost them again. Same scenario: lost the rings while gardening, lost both rings, didn’t know if in the front yard or the back, etc. She showed me the several spots where she’d been working and again, I decided to start in the back yard. I was able to locate both rings again – not over the fence this time – and returned them to her. The first two pics were from the first recovery and the next three were from the second recovery.

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Gold wedding ring found (with a nod to the hair clip)!

  • from Raleigh (North Carolina, United States)
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I got a call from a nice woman in Chapel Hill (about 45 minutes away). She had been walking in a wooded park near her house when she tripped over a tree root and fell. She wasn’t injured in the fall, but a little further down the path, she noticed that her wedding ring was missing. She explained that because she had lost weight, the ring was loose on her finger, and that was probably the reason it had come off. She and a friend had looked all over the area and hadn’t found the ring – probably because the area was covered with fallen leaves.

We met at her house and she walked me to the spot where she took the tumble. Fortunately (and this is a good tip for any potential ring losers out there), she took her hair clip off and clipped it to a bush to mark the spot. Because she had done this, she was able to show me the exact root she tripped over. I turned on my detector and not only was the ring my first target, it was under my coil on my first swing. She was ecstatic to get the ring back! In our conversation on the way back to her house, I suggested that she look into getting a ring guard to help keep it on her finger. She replied that she had ordered one that morning!

Anyway, very happy to be able to get the ring back where it belonged.

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Gold Wedding Ring Recovered!

  • from Raleigh (North Carolina, United States)
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I got a text from a very nice woman in Chapel Hill, saying that she had lost her wedding ring and asked if I could help her find it. She had parked her car at the neighbor’s house (long story), and walked through a short section of woods to get to her house.

I scoured the woods and areas where she said she’d been, but no ring. I decided to expand the search area in all four directions and after another 20 minutes or so, found the ring well hidden under some leaves. Not entirely sure how the ring got to where I found it, because she said she had stayed on the path (the ring was a good 8-10 ft away);

I returned the ring to her, but wasn’t quite prepared for the joy she showed when I gave her the ring. A little teary eyed, she explained that it was a family heirloom and she’d been sick over the loss. To say that she was happy to have it back on her finger is an understatement.

Glad to be able to get the ring back where it belongs!

   

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Needle in a Haystack – Bracelet Found!

  • from Raleigh (North Carolina, United States)
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I received a call from Luis, a local guy who had lost a gold bracelet while at work. Luis was working at a construction site and on this particular day, had been spreading hay straw on top of tall dirt piles to minimize the erosion from the rain that was expected to roll in. When I arrived at the job site and Luis showed me where he had been working and it was looking like a tough recovery. The dirt piles he had mentioned were steep, 18-20 feet tall, and because of the recent heavy rains, wet and muddy. Add to this the complication that the piles were full of construction debris:  wire, nuts and bolts, aluminum cans, etc., and covered with hay straw. Luis had bought an inexpensive metal detector and tried to find the bracelet himself, but had not had any luck. Unfortunately, because Luis and his co-workers had already tried to find the bracelet, they had walked all over the dirt piles, which had probably pushed the bracelet down into the mud.

Luis did have a matching gold necklace which I was able to scan, so at least I had a good idea what signal to look for. Luis showed me the paths that he had taken up and down the dirt piles while spreading the straw, so I started in and began making my way across in a rough grid pattern. It took probably 30  minutes to find the bracelet, which had washed down the dirt pile and was about 3 inches from being washed into a nearby water drainage ditch. The bracelet had been pushed about 1/2 inch down into the mud and wasn’t visible from the surface. Definitely a tough recovery and I felt relieved that I was able to locate and return the bracelet.

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Two months lost — wedding ring now found!

  • from Raleigh (North Carolina, United States)
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Got a call from a gentleman who asked for help in finding his wedding ring. Seemed simple enough. Playing volleyball in the back yard with his son, he felt the ring come off and heard it hit a solid surface with a ping. He and his wife scoured the back yard, the patio, and under the deck — no luck. They then bought an inexpensive metal detector to search more thoroughly — again, no luck. We made arrangements for me to come to the house and search…that’s when the wife mentioned that the ring had been missing for two months. They thought maybe a squirrel or other animal had made off with it because they’d been unable to locate it themselves. Two months missing won’t affect the ring itself, other than to allow it to settle a tiny bit further in the dirt. After about an hour of grid searching the back yard, I was able to locate the ring. As the couple had only been married a short time, the silicone temporary replacement ring they’d bought off Amazon was a poor substitute for the “original”. Very glad to be able to reunite the husband and his ring!

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Platinum/diamond engagement ring recovered – Happy Halloween!

  • from Raleigh (North Carolina, United States)
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I got a call from Stephanie, a young mom who’d taken her daughter to a local pumpkin patch. She had lost both her rings – wedding and engagement – on the outing and was understandably upset. After she described the basic situation, we made arrangements to meet at the pumpkin patch before they opened up on Sunday morning. When I arrived, Stephanie and her mom were both there, anxious to help if they could. She said that a child had found her wedding ring the previous day, so we were now only looking for the still-missing platinum engagement ring. We went through the usual questions to try and figure out exactly where the ring might have been lost, she showed me where she and her daughter had been, and we started looking. Stephanie and her mom had bought an inexpensive metal detector that they were hoping would help, but it became apparent that it wasn’t going to provide much assistance. We spent 90 minutes on Sunday until the pumpkin patch opened for day, but no ring. I made arrangements with the owners to come back the following morning to continue looking. Returning Monday morning, I spent about 45 minutes looking and was able to find the ring — a little dusty, but fine. I was able to return it to Stephanie that afternoon. It’s always a great feeling to return items to their owners!

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Take me out to the ballpark!

  • from Raleigh (North Carolina, United States)
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I got a call from the baseball coach at a local school. He had his wedding ring on when he started practice and it was gone at the end of practice. He explained that he hadn’t been married very long, so he was very anxious to try and find the ring. He had tried to find it on his own with a metal detector, but hadn’t had any luck. As he and his wife both teach at the school, they also asked some students to help look on the field — no luck. We arranged to meet at the field so he could show me where he had been during practice (and where he hadn’t been, so I could rule out some of the field). It took about an hour and a half to locate the ring, which was tucked neatly under the grass near the pitcher’s mound. As so many husbands and wives tell me, “it’s not the monetary value of the ring, it’s that it’s THE ring.” Glad to be able to get the husband and THE ring back together.

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Gold Wedding Ring Recovered – Raleigh

  • from Raleigh (North Carolina, United States)
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I got a call this afternoon from a distraught husband. He’d been out playing with his dog and “my ring just flew off my hand!” He said he had lost quite a bit of weight, so the ring was already loose on his finger — playing with the dog just provided the opportunity for it to come off. He knew exactly where he’d been standing and said he saw the ring fly off, heard it hit something, but then lost track of it. He had borrowed a friend’s metal detector to try and locate the ring, but had not had any luck figuring out the assorted beeps and buzzes from the detector, so we made arrangements to get together to find it.

The ring had been lost in a fenced-in kids’ playground area covered in wood mulch. Recreating the ring’s “flight path,” I started searching in a grid pattern, working my way further and further out. After maybe 20 minutes of searching and no ring, I started the search over again, back where he had been standing when it came off. It turns out that the ring had come off, hit a plastic barrier in front of him, and ricocheted back to land almost at his feet. Apparently in searching for it initially, he had pressed it down into the mulch as he walked around. Really glad to reunite the husband and his ring!

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Lost silver ring in Raleigh – Found!

  • from Raleigh (North Carolina, United States)
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I got a call from a mom whose son’s girlfriend had lost a silver ring. Although she knew it was in the side yard, she really didn’t have much more location info than that. The search took maybe 30 min (silver is usually very easy to find). Anyway, happy Mom and happy girlfriend!

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How to find a lost ring (and not get bitten…)

  • from Raleigh (North Carolina, United States)
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I got a call from a man who had been moving a pile of limbs and branches from one part of his property to another. He knew he had his wedding ring on when he started and he noticed it was gone when he took his gloves off. We made arrangements for me to come look for the ring; he then called me back, saying he had a friend with a metal detector and wanted the friend to give it a shot before I came out. No worries. He called back the next day to tell me that the friend hadn’t found the ring and could I please come out. Sure!

The area where he was working was mostly wooded and he was moving the branches and limbs from that area to another. I started the search at the limb pile, assuming he lost the ring while reaching down, and if so, the ring might be on the ground at the bottom of the pile. As I began moving the limbs to the side so I could get my coil down closer to the ground, I came across a decent sized copperhead, just under 3 ft or so. Using one of the limbs, I encouraged him to move along to a different part of the yard. Once he was out of the way, I was able to find and return the ring. Mission Accomplished!

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