Earl Roberts, Author at The Ring Finders

Lost Ring in Gainesville VA – Found! (June 2021)

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)

Two days ago, Lee contacted me after finding the RingFinders on the internet while researching ways to find his lost ring. It all began earlier that day (on his anniversary actually), while he was tending to some plants on his back deck, Lee tossed a handful of debris over the railing and into the woods… an his wedding ring flew off his hand during the process. He, his wife, and his neighbors spent hours searching the yard and woods but couldn’t find it; that’s when he turned to the internet.  He was hoping to find a quick tutorial on which metal detector to buy and how to quickly learn to use it; he discovered it was not that simple as there are various machines and it takes a while to learn what the tones and numbers are actually saying. But he did learn how easy it was to contact a RingFinder, so he sent me a text with some details and we set an appointment for the next day. Once I arrived, Lee walked me through where he was standing, how he threw, and where the plant debris landed. It wasn’t long until I heard the magical tone, pushed some grass to the side, and saw the shine of his ring.

Happy Anniversary Lee, glad to see your ring back on your finger!

Lost Ring in a Corn Pit… Found!, Great Falls, Va. (Oct 2018)

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)

First time searching for a ring in a corn pit; here’s the story…

Chris took his family to a local pumpkin patch last week, one of the side attractions there was a barn stall filled with corn kernels to about 18 inches from the ground, a corn pit to play in. Chris and his son enjoyed the pit and after a fun day at the pumpkin patch, went back home. That’s when Chris realized his wedding ring was missing. He retraced his steps and came to the conclusion that his ring must be in the corn pit. He went to the internet for guidance on how to find the ring and came across The RingFinders. Chris gave me a call, and after securing permission from the owners of the pumpkin patch, and after I fought off a cold, we met at the corn pit this past Saturday before the the pumpkin patch opened for business. It was raining outside, but the corn pit was nice and dry; and the search was quick. It took about 15 minutes to get the reading we wanted to see on the machine, then a handful of corn revealed the ring.

Glad to have been able to help Chris recover his ring!

           

 

Lost Ring in Falls Church, Virginia… FOUND! (May 2018)

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)

Over Memorial Day weekend, Conor and his wife were spending some time in their front yard when they realized that his wife’s ring was missing. They retraced their activities and knew it had to be in the yard. Conor spent the better part of the weekend combing through the grass on his hands and knees looking for the ring. On Monday, he found The Ring Finders online and gave me a call. Wednesday afternoon I arrive at Conor’s house and he walks me to the search area while explaining what, when, and where they believe the ring went missing. 15 minutes later my detector signals a strong hit, I move some grass, and I see the shine of the ring.  Smiles all around.

Ring Found!

Ring Returned!

Lost Necklace & Pendant in McLean VA … Found! (April 2018)

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)

Got a call from Lonnie on Friday morning; a necklace and pendant was lost in his back yard and, of course, he wanted it found. His wife was wearing her necklace and one of a kind , diamond encircled pendant while out playing ball with the dog… the dog leaped for the ball while still in her hand and she felt the necklace brake away. They searched the yard, the mulch line around the yard, the dogs hair, the bushes, every where they thought the necklace could have landed, even tried a metal detector from a local hardware store – no luck.

I was able to meet up with Lonnie the next day around 4pm. He walked me through what had happened and we decided on a logical starting point for the search. 21 minutes later the metal detector revealed the treasure and we were snapping pics of the found necklace and pendant.

Found in the grass.

Back in the hands of the owner.

Northern Virginia Ring Finder featured in local paper

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)

 

 

Check out the cover photo and story on page 6 of the Burke Connection…

http://www.burkeconnection.com/documents/2018/jan/12/burke-connection-january-10-2018/

 

Also on page 9 of the Springfield Connection…

http://connectionarchives.com/PDF/2018/011018/Springfield.pdf

 

And page 16 of the Mount Vernon Gazette…

http://connectionarchives.com/PDF/2018/011018/Mt%20Vernon.pdf

 

 

 

Family Heirloom Ring Lost in Vienna, VA… Recovered By a Ring Finder (Oct 2017)

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)

On Friday, Nancy was at at the edge of her yard checking on her compost pile; instead of adding the orange in her hand to the pile, she decided to toss it into the woods for the deer. As she threw the orange, she caught the glimmer of her ring fly into the woods. The ring had once belonged to her mother, a family heirloom that was given to her, and she wears almost constantly even though its a tad big for her finger.

Nancy and her husband, Terry, searched for the ring, even brought out a rake to try to search through the forest floor… no luck.

On Saturday evening, Terry found the Ring Finders online and gave me a call. He described what had happened and we settled on a meeting time of noon the next day.

I arrived today (Sunday) at noon just as planned. Terry and Nancy walked me back to the edge of the yard and Nancy demonstrated the throw she made just two days before. I made note of the search area and got my detector ready to go… 15 minutes later I found the ring under some twigs and leaves. It felt good to see Nancy so happy to have her mothers ring back on her hand, she was almost in tears.

          

Chain Lost in the Woods – Found in Oakton Virginia (Sept 2017)

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)

An email came in earlier in the week describing the “chain of events”: Howard and his son were doing some work last weekend along the fence of his property; pulling old fence posts using Howard’s tractor and his 12′ long chain. After the work was complete, they threw the chain in the bucket of the tractor and Howard’s son headed for the garage. Along the way, his son decided to level off an area of dirt, leaves, and compost… once back at the garage – no chain anymore. Howard was pretty sure the chain was in a 25 sq ft area of a freshly leveled dirt mix, but had no idea how deep it could be. They searched for the chain, even used an old metal detector they had on hand, but could not locate it anywhere. So Howard emailed me through the RingFinders and we settled on a time to link up – Friday around 5pm. Once on site, Howard showed me the area, I got my machine ready for the search and off I went… 6 swings in and I heard the unmistakable tone through the headset… Howard’s chain has been found.

 

                  

 

Ring Found! Oakton, Virginia – April 2017

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)

Got a call this morning around 9AM…

Martin, the caller, is on a family trip from the Philippines, he is visiting and staying with extended family in Oakton, Virginia. As the story goes, after a family get-together yesterday, his family gathered in the back yard in front of the pond for a family photo. Martin had removed his wedding ring and placed it in his pocket just before the photo. Just after the pictured was taken, Martin pulled a Kleenex out of his pocket to hand to his wife… later he realized his ring was no longer in his pocket and must have flung out when removing the Kleenex. He and his family searched the grounds thoroughly, but could not find the ring.

Today was his last full day in the area, he begins his journey back to the Philippines tomorrow morning and could not stand the thought of leaving his wedding ring behind. He did a quick internet search and The RingFinders pointed him to me. I got the address (my gear always at the ready) and made my way to Martin.

I arrived and was introduced to the wonderful family. I had Martin show me the area where they had gathered for the photo, and I gridded off a search area. Within an hour my machine revealed the rings grassy hiding spot… I motioned to Martin that his ring is found and snapped a photo for the book of smiles as he placed the ring back on his finger.

 

 

 

Ring Found- Fairfax Virginia, Feb 2017

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)

February 2017

Monday, the 20th around 4PM I got a call from a lady stating that her husband has lost his wedding ring and wanted to know if I could help. She explained the situation: Her and her husband, Josh, had been clearing a wooded area behind their house.  Fearing he may lose his ring, Josh removed it and placed it in his pants pocket. After the days work was complete, Josh made his way to the laundry room to rid his dirty cloths… that’s when he realized that his wedding ring was no longer in his pocket. Both searched as best they could and then attempted to borrow a metal detector from a family member; but the family member had heard of The RingFinders and suggested they contact a local finder – ME! We agreed upon a meeting time – the next day at 5PM.

I arrived at exactly 5PM and met Josh, he retold the story and took me to the area where he spent the day before clearing brush.  The area was covered with about 8″ high ivy – prime hiding spot for a wedding ring. I marked off a search area and began my search… an hour later, I called Josh over to get his ring.

So glad to see a ring back on it owners finger.

My Son… not Josh who chose not to be photoed up close

Ring Found: Leesburg, Virginia

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)

So July is off to a good start. Around 8pm on July 2, I got a phone call from Lisa; there was a ring lost in her front yard and she needed help finding it. It all started several hours earlier when a young couple had a flat tire on the road just adjacent to her yard. During the course of changing the flat, the couple’s engagement  ring became lost. Lisa and her husband helped the couple search for hours for the ring with no luck, the engaged couple went home for the night and Lisa searched the Internet for ring-finding help, where, thanks to The Ring Finders, she found me. My gear was already loaded, so off I went. I was able to get an hour of searching in that night in the area where the couple remembered losing the ring… nothing. I returned to the scene on July 3 around 12:30. I staked out that area for a daytime search and cleared some of the thicker vegetated areas with my Garrett.  I was joined by the couple around 1:30 and after a few questions, we did some recreation with a “toss” ring that I had in my kit… this gave us a better target area slightly different from the original search area. The engagement ring was back on the happy fiancee’s finger 30 minutes later.

Wonderful people all around. Thanks to Lisa and her husband for kindly helping out two (at the time) strangers. And I want to wish the happy couple many joyful years together

The Happy Couple with their ring.

The Happy Couple with their ring…

…back where it belongs!