Jim Wren, Author at The Ring Finders

Yellow Gold Anniversary Ring Lost in the Sand, Found and Returned Garden City SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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Right around 11:30 pm on Friday, July 19th, I got the following text, “Good evening, I lost my anniversary ring 2 days ago, out of my pocket. It could be on the beach or on the walk or at our rented beach house. I’ve looked over the house so likely at the beach. I just saw info about your services. We leave tomorrow morning; would you be available to search by chance tomorrow?” We text back and forth for a few minutes about the area so I could get an idea of where I’d be looking and then I asked her to call me. When she called, we discussed some other details and I found out they had to be out of the rental by 10 am the next morning. I agreed to meet her and her husband at 9 am. When I arrived, I met Melanie and her husband, Wes in the driveway of the rental. We walked the block down to the beach access and out on the beach. It was early but the beach was filling up quickly with tourist excited about starting their vacation. Melanie said when they were there Wednesday, the day she lost it; they had set up in front of the umbrellas and chairs that were put out on the beach. At some point the lifeguard told them they’d have to move behind the chair line, which they did. Melanie also pointed out another portion of the beach where she had run to pick up trash that had blown away.  We said our goodbyes and I started a grid search behind the chair line that had already been set up. As time went by, more and more people were showing up and detecting was getting difficult. I did about an hour and a half and called it, there wasn’t much more I could do at the time and the heat was unbearable. I planned to be back out there the next day, but had to play the crowd, the tide and the heat. As I was in the car typing up a text to Melanie, they showed up to check on me. We talked but I didn’t mention I was planning on coming back out.

The next day, Sunday, I showed up about 4:30 pm. I know this is about the time people start leaving the beach to get cleaned up and figure out dinner. Also, the chairs and umbrellas usually get picked up around 4:30-5 pm. The beach looked a lot different than the day before. I started a north/south grid search parallel to the tide line and about halfway up the slope. The closer I got to the chair line; more and more people were leaving. Melanie described her ring as a yellow gold anniversary ring, so I knew that would show up as a 13-14 on my Nox 800. Unfortunately, 13-14 is exactly what pull tabs show up as. Saturday, I must have dug up 7 or 8 pull tabs. So, as I’m walking along my grid line, I got a 13-14. I dug up the target and had it in the scoop. As I’m shaking the sand out of the scoop, I saw a glimmer of yellow gold. I shook quicker and emptied the scoop, reached in and pulled out Melanie’s beautiful ring. It was 5:27 pm when I sent her a picture of her ring and a text saying, “BOOM!!!!! Came back and just found it!” She couldn’t believe it. I put it in the mail and sent it overnight to her and she got it Tuesday afternoon. I love finding people’s lost treasures and returning something they thought was gone forever. Melanie shared with me that she got the ring on her and Wes’ 25th anniversary; they’re now on their 27th. She just added another chapter to the ring’s story. Wish you two many many more anniversaries.

Melanie/Wes – Thank you for allowing me to help find your lost treasure.

Jim

   

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White Gold Wedding Band Lost in the Ocean, Found and Returned North Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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Thursday night about 9 pm I got a text from Kayla saying, “Hello! Sorry for the late text but I just found your phone number online – I lost my wedding ring today at North Myrtle, would you be able to help us try to find it tomorrow?” I text her back asking her to call me and included my phone number. I didn’t hear anything else until this morning when I woke up to the following voice mail. “Good morning, Jim, my name is Kayla. I had texted you last night. I thought you could possibly help me find my ring that I had lost yesterday on the beach. We are staying at the Tide Master Condos here in North Myrtle Beach and the ring was lost yesterday while I was kind of in very very shallow waters. I was with my daughter, and it just slipped off my finger. So, I was hoping maybe you could help us. I don’t know it might be lost forever, but if you wanna give me a call back, thank you.”  I checked yesterday’s tides and saw low tide was around 11 am and high tide a little after 5 pm. Today’s tides would be around noon and 6 pm. It was already a little after 10 am when I called her, and I asked her two of the three more important questions. She already told me how deep she was, so I asked about what time she lost it, and did she know the area. She responded she lost it about 2 pm and she knew the area. I told her I’d be there about 11:30 pm. Two pm put it right about mid-tide. We’ve had some horrible surf conditions, with strong sea breezes, and rip currents. I knew that a lot of sand would have been pushed up on the beach, making any targets buried deeper than normal.

I actually arrived a little early, and as I made my way out to the beach, I called her and told her I was there. We met on the beach, and she showed me the suspected area she lost her ring. I started an east/west grid search just below the slope on the beach working perpendicular to the beach. I was finding very few targets and as expected they were deep. She told me her ring was white gold with diamonds. Ladies’ white gold can range from low single digits to low teens depending on size, on my Equinox 800. After a couple of hours, I had detected the entire lower portion of the beach all the way out to the south end and wasn’t finding her ring.  I decided to change course and started a parallel grid search starting from my perpendicular grid at the bottom of the slope working towards the high tide line and covering the entire area behind the resort. At some point, a young gentleman came up and started talking to me, who I learned was Kayla’s husband Matt. Matt told me he had a metal detector but hadn’t brought it with him. In the process of our conversation, I asked him what he remembered and what time he thought she lost it. He said he thought it was around 3:15-3:45 pm. Good info because that would put it a little higher on the slope. Kayla had joined us, and we talked a little bit and they both went back up to their spot on the beach. A little while later I got an iffy and faint signal that was jumping from 9 to 13. Ok, I’m in the zone of white gold. I dug four to five big scoops of sand out of the hole, each time checking the hole. Which the hole had grown to close to a foot deep before I finally got the target out of the sand. I spread the sand out with my foot and ran the coil over the area. Boom, I had a solid 10 reading and looked through the sand. There it was, just lying there waiting to be found. I hollered at Kayla who didn’t hear me the first time, so I yelled again. When she heard me and turned around, I held her ring up in the air. She flew down the beach! I asked her what her ring looked like, and she explained it as I held it closed up in my hand. Then I showed it to her and asked, “Look like this?” Her happy tears started flowing and I got a huge hug. Matt followed shortly and shook my hand. I heard loud applause coming from the upper beach from the people that had been watching me for the last 3 hours. A few ladies even came down to see what was going on.

Kayla and Matt – So happy I was able to find and return your lost treasure. Thank you for trusting me to help.

Jim

   

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2 Rings, Rose Gold and Signet Rings Lost in the Dry Sand, Found and Returned North Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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On Tuesday at 5 pm, I got a call from Klint asking if I could help find a ring in the dry sand. The ring had been placed in the cup holder of a chair, forgotten until the chairs were folded up and slung over a shoulder. The ring quickly disappeared in the soft sand.

I told him I needed to run by the house and get my gear and would be on my way. About 5:15 I sent him a text saying I was on my way and would be there in 13-14 minutes.

When I arrived, Klint was waiting for me in the parking garage, and we made our way out to the beach. He showed me the 10X10 foot area and I started a north/south grid. Shortly after I started my grid, Klint’s son Johnny and Johnny’s girlfriend Addy showed up. At that point I learned I was looking for two rings, one was a Rose Gold ring, and the other was a silver-colored signet ring. I was a little out of the search area when I got a strong signal and looked down and saw a piece of the signet ring sticking out of the sand. As I reached down and picked it up, Johnny spotted the Rose Gold ring within inches of the signet ring and again partially sticking out of the sand. He reached down and picked up that ring. An instant smile and a sign of relief came across Addy’s face. We had another happy ending to a near sad situation.

Johnny and Addy – I wish you all the best.

Klint – Thank you for calling me and allowing me to help find Addy’s lost treasures. Enjoy your vacation.

Jim

     

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Man’s White Gold Wedding Band Lost in the Ocean, Found and Returned in North Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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This little adventure started Monday evening, June 14th, when my wife sent me a screen shot from the North Myrtle Beach FB page saying in part, “Lost men’s white gold wedding band, in shallow water near 15th Ave South NMB. Please contact me if found. Thank you!” I looked up the post to see if I could get any more details and noticed 3 or 4 comments on there to contact me. I also left a comment saying, “If I can help, please call me” along with a link to my ring finder blog page to show her I was legit. I also sent her a message with the same information and added that low tide was in about an hour, and this would be the time to search. Roughly two hours later I got a message on my business suite saying, “Hi, my husband lost his wedding ring today in the waterfront of Carolina reef in NMB – wanted to see if you are able to help locate it/now your service works. Thank you so much in advance.” I responded to her message and also asked her to call me; it’s so much faster and clearer than texting back and forth. She called and I got the details and told her I could be there in 15 minutes.

When I arrived, I met Kelly and her husband, Ed as they came out of the elevator in the parking garage. This was the perfect scenario for losing/finding a ring lost in the ocean. He had lost it between 3:30-4:00 pm, which was within 30-45 minutes of high tide and was between knee and waist deep water. He had been playing catch with his daughter and while reaching to catch the ball, it hit his left hand knocking the ring into the ocean. When I got there it was a little over an hour after low tide, so I had a lot of the beach in the suspected search area that was just wet sand. Kelly and Ed put me in the area they knew was where he lost it. I started an east/west perpendicular to the beach grid search. On my 6th or 7th line I got a solid 18 on the Nox 800. This was a little higher than I expected for a man’s white gold wedding band, but I was confident I had found his ring. Dug a scoop of sand out and laid it on the beach, drug my foot over the pile to spread it out, and saw just a little sliver of Ed’s ring sticking out of the sand. I reached down and picked it up, shined my head lamp on it and said something like, “here’s your ring.” They both were kind of frozen; I don’t think they thought there was much chance of finding their ring, especially in the dark. They were excited, shocked, and very grateful all at the same time.  I love doing this!!!

Kelly and Ed – thanks for letting me help find your lost treasure. Enjoy the rest of your vacation and stay safe.

Jim

     

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Tungsten Wedding Band Lost in the Sand, Found and Returned Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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Corey called me around 4:45 pm on Sunday, asking if I could help find his wedding band he had lost. The first question I always ask is, “was it lost in the dry sand, wet sand, or in the water.” He responded, “Dry sand.” This was the second dry sand call of the day, which I like – A lot!! I ask him where he was at, and he told me the resort name in Myrtle Beach. I told him I’d be there in 20-25 minutes, grabbed my Nox 800 and was on the road.

When I got to the resort and made my way out on the beach, I called him. He told me he was in a white hat, and I saw him waving. As I got to the spot, I noticed one of the ladies in his party on her hands and knees searching for the ring. As I got closer, I told her she was wasting her time. Corey showed me the 2X6 foot area and told me that he was moving stuff out of a child’s playpen and noticed the ring had come off. I turned my machine on and jokingly said “20 seconds.” Tungsten rings usually are 18 on the Nox, so I knew what I was looking for. A couple of steps to the left and I got a strong 22 but showing too deep to be a ring lost within the last hour or so. That signal turned out to be a Yeti cup sitting in one of the chairs. I turned around and scanned the area around the playpen. Two swings and I got the 18 I was looking for. Scooped it out of the sand, shook the sand out and got the rattle of his ring in the scoop. He looked so relieved and said his wife was up in the room upset. They still have almost a week on vacation, so this will be a great vacation now.

Corey – Thanks for trusting me to help find your lost treasure. Have a great vacation.

Jim

     

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2-Month-Old Yellow Gold Wedding Band Lost in the Sand, Found and Returned Ocean Isle Beach NC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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On Sunday, at 12:45 pm, I got a call from Connelly asking if I was available to help find his wedding band on Ocean Isle Beach, NC. My first question was, “dry sand, wet sand, or in the water?” He replied, “In the dry sand,” which is a blessing when you don’t have to get in the ocean. I asked where on Ocean Isle and he replied next to the pier. I told him I’d be there in about 30-45 minutes. Grabbed my Equinox 800 and was on my way.

When I arrived, I met Connelly in the parking lot of the Inn they were in front of on the beach. As we were walking out on the beach I asked him for details. Basically, they were setting up their little spot and he noticed his ring had fallen off. We got to the spot, and I met his wife, Stephens. Connelly showed me the 3 x 5-foot area the ring should be in, and I asked him what type ring it is. He stated yellow gold and 14k. Turned on my machine and looked at him and Stephens and said, “Under a minute.” With yellow gold, I was expecting a VDI (visual display number) in the high teens, around 17-19. Two steps and I got a banging 20, dug it up, shook the sand out of the scoop and heard the rattle of his ring. Handed him his ring and got an instant smile on both his and Stephens’ face. Vacation was back on track. Stephens told me he’d only had the ring for 2 months, so now they have another chapter for their story of their rings. I asked how they found me, and Connelly said that Stephens is a good friend of a repeat customer, Cori I’ve had. Stephens had text Cori and told her about the lost ring and Cori told her to call me.

Cori – Thank you!!

Connelly and Stephens – Thank you for trusting me to help find your lost treasure.

Jim

 

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White Gold Wedding Band Lost On Holden Beach NC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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On Sunday, July 7th, I was driving the 40-minute drive home from a combined 4-hour back-to-back ring searches when I got the following text. “I am at Holden Beach. My adult daughter has lost her wedding ring this afternoon, we think in or around the pool. Can you help? Thomas” Before I turned around and made the 50 plus minute drive to Holden, I had a stop to make. I also planned on stopping by my house and at least saying hello to my wife, who refers to herself as ‘The Ring Finder Widow,’ who I hadn’t seen all day. I called Thomas to let him know my plan and in the course of the conversation I started asking questions. I found out that his daughter was throwing a ball to her son when she noticed the ring gone. I asked if the pool had a drain in the bottom or a filtering system. His response was no drain, and the filtering system was on the top part of a side wall. Next, I asked what was around the pool, concrete or grass. He responded that there were wood slats and that her ring wouldn’t fit between the slates even if he tried pushing it through. Ok, process of elimination, I asked what was beyond the wooden slates. He stated that there was a little bare area and then rocks. Ah ha! I told him I had a couple of stops and would be up there in about an hour and a half. Before we hung up, I told him that when I get there the rocks are going to be the first place I’d look.

When I got back in the car from the first stop, I checked my text. Tom had sent me a text saying “We found it! In the rocks. Your logical approach solved it.” I immediately called him, and he thanked me for my help. I wish all my searches were this easy!

Tom – Thank you for calling and trusting me to help find your daughter’s ring. So happy it all turned out good!

Jim

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White Gold Engagement Ring Lost in the Sand Playing Volley Ball, Found and Returned Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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I got a call from Tiffany just before 3 pm on Saturday, July 6th, asking about The Ring Finders. She said she had lost her Engagement Ring while playing volleyball. She also stated that her husband was on his way to buy a metal detector. I told her I could be there in 30 minutes and suggested she call her husband and tell him not to buy a detector. I told her that if he didn’t know how to use one, he’d be wasting his money. She agreed on me coming and she’d call her husband. She told me that she was in the Kingston Plantation Rental Complex waiting by the volleyball court. This has a guard at the entrance and sometimes it’s harder to get in there than other times. This time the guard looked at me with a puzzled look when I told him I was looking for a lady’s engagement ring, but he gave me a visitor pass and let me through.

I called Tiffany when I got through the gate, and she was still waiting for me on the court. I made my way around a pickle ball court and down a path to the volleyball court, which couldn’t be seen from the parking lot. I met Tiffany standing by the court and she showed me where she had been standing and the direction she hit the ball. I turned on my Equinox 800 and confirmed I was looking for white gold. When she confirmed the metal, I knew I was looking for a VDI (visual display indication) in the 6 to 8 range. I took 4 steps and got a solid 7. Bingo!!! I used my foot to push a small amount of sand in the scoop, lightly shook the sand out and saw her ring. She was extremely excited when I handed her ring back to her.

Tiffany – Thank you for calling me and trusting me to help find your lost treasure!

Jim

   

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One Year Anniversary Vacation Saved, Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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Shortly after 11 am on Tuesday, July 2nd, I received a text from Lora that said in part, “What kind of fee do you charge? My husband lost his ring!!!” I responded telling her, “I do this on a reward/gratuity basis. Call me so I can get the details” along with my phone number. When she called, I found out her husband, Mike had lost his ring the previous evening at about 8:30 pm while looking for shells. She gave me the hotel name and I told her I could be there in about 15 minutes. When we got off the phone, I looked up the hotel and found out it’s in Myrtle Beach and not North Myrtle Beach like I thought. I called her back to confirm Myrtle instead of North Myrtle, which she did. Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle beach are too separate cities but have exactly the same street numbers, so it gets confusing for both locals and tourist. Now that I got it straight, I told her I’d be there in about 30 minutes. She told me that her and Mike were out and about and they wouldn’t be there to show me the area. She was able to give me a pretty good idea of where I needed to search so I wouldn’t be wondering around aimlessly.

I text her when I arrived on the beach, and she responded back that they were heading back. Looking at the tide tables when Lora first called, Mike lost his ring about 2 hours before low tide. By the time I arrived I was about an hour after low tide, so I didn’t have a lot of time to search. I started a north/south parallel to the beach search right at the water line. When Lora and Mike showed up, I got a few more details. Mike was in the water, maybe shin deep and taking cupped hands full of water and throwing up towards the beach. With this new info, I changed to a perpendicular east/west grid search and a few yards outside the suspected search area. I told Lora and Mike that they didn’t need to stick around, and I’d call them either way. With the east/west search I was getting in the water to about thigh deep. I knew Mike’s heavy Titanium ring would ring up in the mid 20’s on the Equinox 800, so I was confident I had found his ring. After digging a scoop of sand and spreading it out on the beach, I saw Mike’s ring peeking up through the sand. I took a picture of the ring and sent it to Lora saying, “Kiss and make up.” I called her and all she could say was “OMG” about 4 times. Then she said, “we’re on our way.” When they arrived, I got a big hug from Lora and a strong handshake from Mike. That’s when I learned they were in Myrtle Beach celebrating their one-year wedding anniversary. This will be one they will never forget!!!

Lora/Mike – Thank you for trusting me to find your lost treasure. Wish you all the best and many many more Anniversaries, but none to match this one!

Jim

 

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Water Main Meter and Shut off Box Covered and Lost, Found in Longs, SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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I got a call shortly before 2:30 pm on Sunday, June 30th from Perry asking if I could help find the Water Meter and shut off that had been covered up with dirt and new grass. I asked him to send me the address and I’d be there in about 15 minutes. Before I left my house, I ran my detector over my own water box to see what numbers on the Nox 800 I was looking for.

When I arrived, I met Perry in the driveway, and he showed me the suspected area. He also filled in the details as to what happened. Back in October of 2023, a local telephone and cable company was installing cable optics and broke the water line in the process. The company fixed the water line but drug their feet on fixing the yard. During the course of repair, the company brought in heavy equipment that sat idle for a couple of days. During those two days, the machine sank in the soil adding additional damage to the yard. Fast forward 8 months and the yard looks good with nice green grass. Within the last week or so, Perry’s neighbor asked if he knew where her water shut off box was. Perry had taken a picture of the area and thought he knew where it was. After probing the area with a 6 ft pole, he wasn’t able to find it. In the process of my search, Perry’s wife Shelley joined us and we were trying to figure out where this target was. I did the small area that was in the picture and nothing. I expanded out about two feet from the street and got the signal I was looking for. Perry dug the dirt and grass off the top of the meter, and everything was good again.

Perry/Shelley – thanks for allowing me to help find the lost water meter box.

Jim

 

 

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