Gregg Larabel, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 7 of 17

I got a call from my RingFinder partner, Dave Boyer, to help find a wedding band that Ryan S. lost in Lake Michigan. I jumped at the challenge until I got to North Point Park, Michigan. We walked a 1/4 mile to the dunes, up another 200 feet of beach sand and then down the other side of the dune about 400 feet to the water (cardio). After catching our breath from the climb up and down to the water, with our equipment, we got to work. The lake was very calm that day but very rocky bottom. Ryan explained that he was about waist deep and dove forward into deeper water and swam under water. When he dove under his ring came off, so the logical thing to do was grid search about 3 feet to 5 feet. We were in the water well over an hour and I just wore my swim suit and a shirt. I was getting very cold so decided to call it a day. We got several signals and found to dig any of them our steel scoops barely made a dent in the rocky bottom. Coming up with a few nails we decided to pack up and climb back up the hill. Instead of climbing back up the dune we saw 100 steps up to a cottage so up we went (cardio again). We discovered, that once we got up to the top we had to walk 1/2 mile to our car. Day 2 I contacted anther RingFinder partner Ryan Cole to help search the water again but this time I wore my wet suit and asked Ryan to bring his snorkel and mask. The water although rocky was crystal clear and calm. We repeated our steps from the day before (cardio again) and got to the water and started our search. I forgot to mention that the lake bottom was littered with hot rocks so there were false signals all over.  I started deep again and Ryan went shallow using his mask from time to time. We were in the water about 45 minutes when the ring was found among different signals in knee deep water. Ryan S. became a very happy man  once again and after rejoicing awhile we looked up at the sand dune and began to climb up (cardio again) and back to the car. I forgot to mention that this was the second time this year Ryan S. lost his ring it was found up North in another lake by another RingFinder, C. Raison.

We were water detecting at Hess Lake in Newaygo, Michigan this morning after going back to my car and checking my emails and text I received a text from Tom Towsend, a TRF, who was unable to make it to Montague, MI to help find the ring so he ask me for my help, I received an email from Al Holden at Prostock Detectors stating he referred my name to Eric R., I then received a voice mail from Eric and immediately called him and got the information and was immediately on our way with my TRF partner, Dave Boyer. Fortunately we were less than 50 miles from Eric and was there in less than an hour. Before I left for Newaygo this morning I checked Lake Michigan to see how the surf is doing, up or down. It was fairly smooth.

We arrived at Eric’s cabin and met him and his Dad, Neil, and 2 of his children (black Labs). Right off the bat I knew we were in good company because Neil was also a fellow Air Force vet. We got our gear and walked down to the lake talking to some neighbors who wished us well and then got a location as to where the ring was lost. The wind was kicking up and the water was getting choppier than it was this morning.

Eric and his wife Emily were playing catch with one of his dogs and when Eric made a catch in about chest deep water he felt the ring pop off and immediately went into recovery mode. He put on his wet suit armed himself with a mask and snorkel, a quarter and 3 screws. Yes, he wanted to drop the coin and screws into the water to see how fast the sand covers them. The ring was gone immediately and so was the quarter and screws.

Dave entered the water about waist deep and immediately got a signal. He found the quarter. A few minutes later a screw was recovered. We started to grid an area and went into neck deep water and made our way into shallower water. After about 20 minutes to a half an hour I got a good signal and about 6″ down I found Eric’s platinum wedding band. Looking at Dave I said I found it and then Eric saw Dave do a fist pump and knew we had found something. I walked out of the water towards Eric and handed him his ring. This is the point that every TRF’r waits for, the smiles, tears, thank you’s and “I can believe it”.

The camera came out and pictures were taken and the neighbors cheered. Dave an I are very happy for Eric and Emily and are glad we could put a happy end to their honeymoon.

The Ring Finders have a great network of detectors. Dave Boyer received a call from John B. about his wife, Elizabeth, loosing her wedding rings. Dave was not available so he called me and asked if I could help out this couple. John and Elizabeth are from the Chicago area and are staying in a cottage, on Big Crooked lake, with their family for a couple weeks. During the beginning of their stay Elizabeth was in the water at just above waist depth, as she turned around in the water with her hands down in the water her engagement and wedding ring (welded together) slipped off her finger. She was devastated and spent the last few days sifting through the water before they discovered the Ring Finders on Google.

I called John immediately after hearing from Dave and set up a time this morning to come out to the cottage. After introductions I put my swimsuit on and entered the water. The lake was clear with sandy bottom. as I walked out to waist deep water I got a good signal and pulled up a spoon, moving a little deeper to chest height I noticed it was getting deeper with a sharp drop off, that is when I hoped that I would get a signal soon, I did and it was a good ring sound but found it a little deeper than it should have been. I looked in my scoop and there was a beautiful sight I put it in my pouch and headed back to shore while detecting another signal it was a pull tab. I proceeded to shore and asked John if he wanted a spoon, a pull tab or a ring? In his amazement he yelled up the stairs to Elizabeth “he found it”! I wish I could capture the expressions on the faces of my people when the ring is recovered, they are priceless. 

Everyone including Grandma can now enjoy the rest of their stay in Pure Michigan. A great shout out to the RING FINDERS network.

I received a call from my Ringfinder partner, Dave Boyer, he got a call from another Ringfinder, Chuck Raison, who was out of town and couldn’t help Hayley L. find her lost ring. After collecting Hayley’s information about her ring Dave told her we would be at her cottage Sunday morning.

Hayley was attending a family reunion and Hayley, Adam V. (her fiancee) and a group of the guest took the pontoon boat out to Dog bone Island (Shaped like a dog bone). While enjoying the warm weather  and beautiful clear lake water Hayley stepped into the deeper water about 5′ and when she stretched her arms out and down into the water she felt her engagement ring slip off her finger and over the drop off to deeper water about 7′ or 8′. Hayley’s tears raised the water level on the lake about 1″. It was devastating to her because when Adam proposed to her with that ring, her grandfather was there to witness the engagement, he has since passed away.

When we arrived we met the family; mother, father, brothers, sisters, children, aunts, uncles and the dog. (a beautiful Italian family with hugs and handshakes). Getting down to business we gathered our gear and put it on the pontoon and headed out to the island. Dave being the 6’+ guy that he is entered the deeper water and immediately got a signal using our homemade Super Scoop for deep water recovery. I made a sweep over the signal area and came up with a hoop earring. I then started to drag the scoop in the area that Hayley was standing. One scoop nothing, two scoops nothing, three scoops nothing and on the fourth scoop removing the clay and debris at the bottom of the scoop there it was. I took it out and lifted it up to Hayley’s hand and she began to cry this time with happy tears. Adam gave her a big hug. Hand shakes and hugs began all over again with happiness all around.

When we got back to the cottage breakfast was waiting for us and introductions were made again and some lasting memories were made after a very fun but traumatic weekend.

What a beautiful family and very rewarding to have the pleasure of meeting them all including Titan the dog. Another beautiful day will be spent in October when Adam and Hayley become husband and wife.

I received an email from Dave Boyer, my Ring Finder partner, that he got a notice of a lost wedding ring in Hess Lake. Adam D. was visiting his friends cottage last week and took a boat ride to another part of the lake where the lake bottom is sandy and all the boaters park their boats to swim and party. While swimming in, what he remembered was, waist deep water Adam felt his ring come off. Several people searched for it but the sandy bottom absorbed the ring instantly.

Dave and I made the one hour drive North to look for the ring and found a very nice part of the lake to grid off an area where we thought the ring might be but only came up with a few coins, bottle caps and 1 random gold ring. I called Adam to get a better idea of the area of where he lost his ring because the sandbar is the size of a football field. From his directions we needed to go deeper out in the lake about chest deep water and parallel to a diving platform.

We took another 1 hour drive North and after about 10 minutes in the water I found the white gold wedding band with the inscription “Love always”. We searched for about 2 hours trying to find another lost ring but the guy wasn’t sure if that is where he lost it.

Adam and his family were camping for a week and when they got home I went over to Adam’s house and met his 2 boys and his wife Lani. Adam and Lani were very happy to have the ring back on his finger and thanked God for it’s return.

I got a call from Alison M. today at 7 am asking me if I could help find her husband of 2 weeks, wedding ring. She tried contacting another Ring Finder, Ken Wilson, but he was recovering from an operation and he recommended me. The ring was lost last night in the shallow water (3′) at the sand dunes of Ludington State Park. Her husband Colton M. was swimming and the ring came off during one of his strokes. After alerting everyone to the loss they started looking for an impossible find due to fine sand that hides items immediately.

I told Alison that we, Dave Boyer and myself, could be there around 1 pm. It was a 2 hour drive to their location. After we arrived we met Alison and Molly, her mother. In order to reach the dunes we had to go across the lake so we loaded up and took off. The water was clear and cool, the sun was shining and the white sandy bottom made it easy to drag our scoops to properly grid the area. After about 20 minutes of searching I got a signal and in the scoop was the new shiny white gold wedding ring. I ask Alison if that was the ring and she lit up like a Christmas tree. Colton was at work and was unable to celebrate with us so I took Alison’s picture and asked her to send me one of Colton when she went to his office to surprise him. “He was all smiles and lots of hugs” when she gave it to him.

We had some time at the dunes to just search for some goodies in the water but found the area was extremely clean for being a weekend gathering place for boaters and swimmers. We found 2 quarters, 3 shotgun shells, 1 pull tab and a few coins.

I WANT TO GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO KEN WILSON FOR THE REFERRAL AND A SUCCESSFUL RECOVERY FROM BACK SURGERY.

During the South West Michigan Seek and Search club meeting Tuesday evening, I received a call from Kirstyn P. in a desperate situation over loosing her 3 karat diamond engagement ring. She was at Sanford Lake Park with friends out in the water playing catch with a football. She had her ring on her right throwing hand and discovered it was gone after she got out of the water and dried her hands off. Kirstyn and 20 of her friends combed the beach and the water for hours until she posted her loss on Facebook and got a reply from a woman,  Stephanie Marie, who I had found her ring for her a few years ago.

I made arrangements with her to drive 2 hours to meet her that morning at the park. Dave Boyer, my Ring Finder partner, and I got out to the park at about 9:30 am and after meeting Kristyn and a friend we got our marching orders and headed out to the lake. We usually grid an area with Dave going one direction back and forth and me going the other way up and down. After about an hour, between the marker buoys, Dave went up to check out the beach. I finished my grid and got to the center of about a 100′ X 100′ area and got a good hit. Looking in my scoop was a beautiful engagement ring that I quickly slipped into my glove.

I walked up to the picnic table where everyone was setting and explained that the water was as clean as I have ever seen (no coins, bottle caps or rings) there were several holes where there was an obvious detector out there in the last few days. I reached in my glove and showed Kirstyn the ring and said “but I did find this, is this it?” The look on her face is that which all of us Ring Finders want to see, followed with a big hug. Kirstyn’s future mother in law, Michelle, was there and proceeded to snap off a few pics. This was a real pleasure meeting her friend, uncle, Michelle and a few others. Her Fiance, “Trevorgyver”, was at work but is one happy man. Thank you Michelle for buying our lunch it was a pleasure meeting you.

A bachelor party ended up with a lost Go Pro camera attached to a tripod in about 7 feet of water. A.P. (initials he goes by) called me Monday to tell me how he lost the camera while swimming out to the dock at East Lake Campgrounds in Hopkins, Michigan. He thought it was in deeper water so I called in my backup scuba diver Craig Ziecina who has pulled me out of a couple tough jams lately. While Dave Boyer and myself searched the shallows in the roped off swimming area Craig went deep into the spring fed dark bottom of the swim area. After about 10 minutes the camera was recovered. I attempted to call A.P. and set up a time to return his camera. After some negotiations between a 175 mile distance between us we will be returning it to him soon. Pictures for our book of smiles will be edited into the story soon.

I found a mans gold wedding ring tonight for one of our Canadian neighbors who is in town working. He was staying at Hampton Inn in Wyoming, MI and walked 1 block from the Inn to Spectrum lanes for a bite to eat. Because of his job he  takes off his ring. Sunday night before going out he had put his ring in his back pocket and later discovered he had a hole in his pocket when he got back to the motel.
Justin W. found me on line and gave me a call. Living close by I told him I would meet him at the motel at 7 pm. I called Dave Boyer my Ring Finder partner and after some obvious questions we started the search. Dave went North from the lanes and Justin and I walked South from the motel.
We waited for the light to change at 54th and Clyde Park to cross. While standing at the crosswalk I looked out in the intersection just outside the crosswalk between the lanes and I saw what looked like gold foil, as we crossed the street I bent down and picked up what was the ring. When I got to the other side I looked at Justin and said “is this your ring?” Justin holding back his emotions and looking at the slightly bent and pitted gold ring from being run over, smiled and acknowledged it was his ring. Justin’s picture was not available for our book of smiles because of his emotions over the found ring, he is very happy though.
Justin lost the ring on Sunday night it sat in one of the busier intersections for 5 days only to be found by The Ring Finder on a Friday night.

There is an additional picture to add to this story. As I had mention to Justin yesterday, he should go to Russell & Ballard Jewelers to fix the ring. He did just that Saturday morning and Colin Ballard took care of his ring and here is the picture.

I got a call from Walt Z. yesterday July 9. He was at his friends house on Tipsico Lake reliving their early days trying to dunk a basketball out of 3 feet of water. While coming up for a dunk Walt felt his ring come off and it was gone under 3 inches of sand before he could react to catching it. After searching for the ring for a while Walt gave up and looked up a ring finding service. Dave Boyer, my Ring Finder partner, and I arrived at the house around 11:30 am and began the search. The water was clear and the bottom was sandy with a hard pack underneath the sand. Dave decided to watch as the area was about 10′ x 10′ so I began a grid search based on where Walt thought the ring might be. Walt was pretty accurate as to where he thought it was and I came up with his ring in a few minutes after the search began. It was raining all morning so we got wet in and out of the water. Walt’s wife, Shellie, has a blog for women and said she was going to post the ring recovery on her blog. So the question remains, did Walt make his slam dunk?