Jeffrey Levy, Author at The Ring Finders

LOST JEWELRY COINS AND CERAMICS IN THE PALISADES FIRE FOUND AND RETURNED

  • from Santa Monica (California, United States)
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Louise called me and asked if I could help her find some jewelry and coins that she lost when her house burned down  in the palisades fire. I met her at her property several days later when our schedules would allow . I started to rake and then move the metal debris out of the way. then began to shovel and sift the material through screens. After about an hour I found a pearl and gold necklace that was important to her. Then I found a gold ring and some other silver bracelets and rings. I found some harmonicas which were sentimental finds because she is a musician. I found some silver coins just before I was going to quit for the day. Then at the very end  I found some ceramics that she had mad by hand. It turned out to be a successful search.

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LOST SILVER JEWELRY AND ANCIENT COIN IN THE PALISADES FIRE FOUND AND RETURNED

  • from Santa Monica (California, United States)
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Kavita called and asked if I could help her find her jewelry that was lost when her house burned down in the palisades fire. I met her at the property about a week later when the weather permitted. she showed me were there was a group of volunteers from a church group digging and sifting but were unable to locate her jewelry. I asked her a lot of questions about were the jewelry was located in the house before the fire. I was then able to determine were the jewelry should have ended up by observing witch direction the house fell as it burned. The walls had fallen outward in some areas so I had a good Idea were the jewelry in the closet probably fell.  I dug for about two  hours and found the majority of her silver bangle bracelets that were traditional gifts in her Indian culture. There were more than 10 of them along with a couple of rings and a few pairs of earings. Just before I called it a day I found an ancient  silver coin from India. Kavita was very happy to have here jewelry back especially after losing her house. she said she now had some closure.

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LOST STERLING SILVER FLATWARE SENTIMENTAL WATCH AND TOOTH FAIRY COINS IN THE PALISADES FIRE FOUND AND RETURENED

  • from Santa Monica (California, United States)
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Hillary called me after losing her house in the Palisades fire to see if I could help her find some family a heirlooms in the rubble. I met her a few days later and  began to dig and sift. It didn’t take long to find her sterling silver flatware. Then I moved on to search for her husbands watch. It was given to him by his mother for graduation. I found that about an hour later.  Then I began the search for Hillarys jewelry. I soon found a couple of silver necklaces.  One of the most sentimental things that I found at the end of my search was several special tooth fairy coins that they had given to their four daughters . what a nice family that I was lucky enough to help.

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DIAMOND ENGAGEMENT RING LOST IN THE PALISADES FIRE FOUND AND RETURNED

  • from Santa Monica (California, United States)
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Claudia called me the other day and told me she lost her Diamond engagement ring when her house burned down in the Palisades fire. she put it away in a shirt pocket in the closet.  I followed her and her husband to the property the next day. She showed me were the closet should have been before the fire. I spent about fifteen minutes throwing some heavy pipes and  metal debris out of the way. I  began sifting with a two part screen so I could remove larger pieces of metal and rubble which would allow me to spot a smaller ring in the bottom screen. after a little more than another hour I spotted the ring. I called Claudia’s husband over to show him the ring quietly so he could surprise  his wife. He carried the ring over hidden in his hand. He told her it was a button that she might recognize. When he opened his hand she let out a  scream and did a little happy dance. It was a great feeling to see the couple so happy and surprised. They were a very nice couple. and it was my pleasure to be able to reunite them with there special ring.

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ROLEX WATCH COLLECTION LOST IN THE ALTADENA FIRE FOUND AND RETURNED

  • from Santa Monica (California, United States)
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Vincent called me and told me that he lost his prized watch collection in the Altadena fire when his house burned down to the ground. he told me  there were over thirty watches in his collection including four Rolexes. He was devastated not only to lose his home of over thirty years but a high end watch collection that took a lifetime to buy. one watch at a time. I met him a few days later and followed him to his property. He showed me the possible locations of his bedroom were the watches were proudly  displayed in a fancy box .  I cut away part of the walls that had collapsed on the area. then began raking and shoveling the debris through a sifting screen. within an hour I started finding Vincent’s watches , one then another then another and so on until I had found all thirty watches including the  four expensive Rolexes and his grandfathers pocket watch. He was amazed that I found all of them. I had to cut away more of the plaster and chicken wire wall before I could search for his wife’s jewelry. within another half hour I found her diamond ring a gold star Saphire ring and two gold bracelets.  I finished the day off with finding most of Vincent’s  silver  coin collection . He thanked me over and over and told me now he had some closure after the disaster and how he was ready to turn the property over to the Army Core Of Engineers to remove all the debris and clear the lot.

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LOST NATIVE AMERICAN JEWELRY IN THE ALTADENA FIRE FOUND AND RETURNED

  • from Santa Monica (California, United States)
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Felisha called me and asked if I could help her find some sterling silver Native American jewelry that was lost when her house burned down in the Altadena fire. It was very important to her because her late mother had handed it down to her. I told her that it could have survived. I met her at the site as soon as the weather permitted on the first clear day.  We’ve had a lot of rain lately. I shoveled and sifted after moving some debris and found all six of her silver bracelets and one of her silver chains. I also found a sterling silver pocket knife that belonged to her late  father. The search on the other side of the fireplace was a different story.  There were cat figurines and family china that were important to her but they were buried under plaster and chicken wire walls that had collapsed inward. I broke up the wall with a large crowbar and a shovel to expose the chicken wire. I used an electric cutting grinder to slice through the chicken wire then tossed 20 to 40 pound segments out of the way. I finally exposed some of the figurines, native American pottery and an old collectable tile. This was a labor intensive search. Digging for a couple of hours in a hazmat suit can feel like your in a sauna but the search was successful and Falisha was happy to be reunited with her prized possessions.

 

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AIRLOOM ROLEX WATCH AND GOLD RING LOST IN THE PALISADES FIRE FOUND AND RETURNED

  • from Santa Monica (California, United States)
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Jillian called me and told me that she was referred to me by Audra who I had helped find an engagement ring after the fire.  I went to the property a couple of days later to help her locate two safes that were lost in the fire and buried under the rubble. When I arrived I was told that the area were the safes were located was down about 10 feet and under two or three feet of rubble. I had to break open an iron grate that covered the ladder  before I could climb down. It took a few trips to carry the equipment down the steps . I cut through plaster , cement and drywall to get to the area that the safes were buried. That took over an hour. Finally I uncovered one safe and then the other. One was empty but in the other one I found Jillians father in laws Rolex watch that was handed down to her husband.  I Also found  a gold ring and some silver coins. This search was a little challenging because  I’m not fond of heights and I didn’t want what was left  of the house to collapse on me but I did come out unscathed.

 

 

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DIAMOND NECKLACE AND CLASS RING LOST IN THE PALISADES FIRE FOUND AND RETURNED

  • from Santa Monica (California, United States)
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Wendy called me to help her find some jewelry that was lost when her house was destroyed in the palisades fire .  I met her three days later and followed her to the property. She said that she grabbed her jewelry box when she was on the way out the door when she was evacuated. before the fire. She told me there was still a few pieces of jewelry that she left behind that were important to her. I started digging for a while with no luck. I removed a safe from the rubble but was told that there probably  wasn’t anything valuable left in it. I had a strange feeling in my gut that there was so I told her that I would try and open it. That turned out to be harder than I thought. It was a fireproof safe and very heavy. It took over an hour using a crowbar a sledge hammer and a lot of hitting prying and bending. finally I got to the point were I could squeeze the cutting blade of an electric grinder in and cut out the two remaining bolts that were holding the door on. At last it was open.  I scooped the contents of the safe onto a sifting screen and to her surprise there was most of her valuable jewelry. This included her diamond necklace . her husbands gold class ring . Several gold and silver bracelets and chains. a watch, a couple of other gold rings and two very sentimental silver stars of David that she bought many years ago on a trip to Israel with her husband before they got married. I’m glad that I trusted my gut and put the extra effort into opening the safe and Wendy was very happy that I did.

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MENORAH SURVIVED HOLOCAUST LOST IN PALISADES FIRE FOUND AND RETURNED

  • from Santa Monica (California, United States)
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Elyse called me to inquire if a metal menorah could have survived a fire and I responded that it could.  Once I arrived at the property a few days later she told me the story of just how significant the menorah was to her family. It survived through the holocaust with her grandfather and both made it to New York by way of Ellis Island and was passed down to her. The menorah was over 100 years old and was still used by Elyse and her family to light the candles during the chanukah celebration less than a week before the Palisades fire destroyed there home. Elyse told me that out of everything that was destroyed in the fire that was the one  thing that could never be replaced.  During my search I needed to remove several feet of metal debris and ash. After about an hour and a half  I unearthed the sacred menorah. Elyse and her husband were amazed to see the menorah hit the light of day and miraculously relatively unscathed. there were other things that I found for her like her set of sterling silver flatware and some porcelain doll furniture that belonged to her daughter. the menorah was definitely the most sentimental  and religiously significant Item that I had the pleasure of reuniting with its family back were it belonged

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SILVER COIN COLLECTION AND GOLD POCKET WATCHES LOST IN THE PALISADES FIRE FOUND AND RETURNED

  • from Santa Monica (California, United States)
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Mike called me last week and told me that his father lost his house in the palisades fire. He had a large bag of silver coins and several gold pocket watches that he was afraid were lost in the fire.  I assured him that there was still a chance that it could be recovered.  I met his father and his sister Wendy in the morning to follow them to the property.  It was a large property and there was a lot of debris  to remove. Wendy gave me some ideas of were her fathers desk was located and the bags of silver coins consisting of quarters dimes half dollars and silver dollars were supposed to be located under the desk. I raked shoveled and sifted for a couple of hours when finally a giant blob of silver emerged from the ashes.  most of the coins had melted together. the mass was over 10 pounds of silver but you could see the outline of some of the coins. I also found some loose silver coins that had not fused with the blob. I also recovered three gold pocket watches  two sterling silver antique cigarette cases and a very sentimental silver letter opener that wendy’s father had gotten as a gift when he went to Israel many years before with his parents. I must have returned over 200 silver coins to wendy and mikes father but he was just as excited about the letter opener from Jerusalem.  The whole family was nice,  grateful and a pleasure  to talk to and it was my privilege to  be able to help them.

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