Jim Wren, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 2 of 25

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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Man’s 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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On Saturday, June 15th at about 1:45 pm, I received a text message from Haley saying, “Hey I was wondering if you could help me. My husband lost his wedding band at Myrtle Beach while we were there. We know around what place he lost it on the beach, but we don’t have a metal detector and are actually home from vacation now.” I asked her to call me so I could get the details of when, where and how. During the phone call she told me the hotel they were staying at, the day it was lost and that it was lost in the dry sand. She was one of five calls I had for the day, but number two on the list due to the location. After a successful recovery and return in Wrightsville Beach NC I headed 80 plus miles to the address she gave me in Myrtle Beach, SC. She had also sent me a few pictures of the hotel. When I arrived, I started a grid search from the south end of the hotel working my way north. About halfway through the search I called her to verify about where behind the hotel they were sitting. She told me they were closer to the north end, which was good because I hadn’t gotten that far yet. Unfortunately, there was a lot of trash, coins and junk in the dry sand that took up a lot of extra time digging. Finally, I got a solid 10 VDI (visual display indication) on the Nox 800. Lower than what I expected for a tungsten ring but possible depending on the size of the ring. I dug the shallow target and bingo! I checked the engraving, both on the inside and outside and had a match from what Haley had told me. I took a quick picture and text it to her. She responded almost immediately saying “That’s it.” She called me and I got her address and told her I stick it in the mail Monday.

Fast forward to Thursday June 20th and I got notification through tracking that the ring was delivered to the PO Box. I text Haley and she was going to check and see if it showed up. She responded that she had gotten a yellow slip in the box, but she’d have to wait until the next day to pick it up. Today, Friday, she text me saying “I got the ring, and I will get a picture of me and Jake with it whenever he gets home from work.” A few hours later, I got a great picture of the happy couple holding Jacob’s ring.

Haley and Jacob – Thank you for trusting me to help find and return you precious treasure. Take care of each other!

Jim

 

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

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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About 7:30pm on June19th I got a text message from Matt saying “Hi, I saw a post on the internet about finding lost rings on the beach? Not sure if I’m even reaching out to the correct person.” I called the number associated with the text and spoke to Matt. He told me that he was playing in the sand with the kids pretty close to the water line. When they left the beach, he noticed his wedding band was gone. He told me this happened sometime between one and three pm. Low tide for the day was 11:59am, so basically, he was right at low tide. We made arrangements to meet today, June 20th at 11 am. This would give me time to work the outgoing tide that was at 12:45pm.

We met at his resort at 11am and walked out on the beach. He pointed to the suspected area, and wouldn’t you know it, there’s a family of about 6 sitting right on top of where I needed to search. I started my grid search perpendicular to the beach and passed just to the north of the family. On my return line I stopped short of the family and made my turn. I hit an iffy target that I tried digging out of the hole. The signal wasn’t what I expected, and I couldn’t get it out of the hole. So, I left it alone for the time being. I turned around for my next line and noticed the family had moved further up the beach, I figure Matt said something to them, which was nice that they moved. About halfway back, I hit the signal again which wasn’t any better, but I was determined to get it out of the hole. About 3 scoops of wet sand and I had it out of the hole. I dumped the sand out on the beach, ran the coil over it and boom. Got the signal I was looking for. I spread the sand out with my foot and then used my fingers to move the sand. Saw it peeking out and picked it up. I washed it off and handed it to Matt. Matt’s wife Janet had been watching from their spot on the beach and quickly made her way to where we were. Matt and Janet were greatly relieved that Matt’s ring had been found. Vacation Saved!!!

Matt/Janet – Thank you for trusting me to help find your lost treasure. Enjoy the rest of your vacation and have a safe trip back home.

Jim

 

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Yellow Gold with Diamond Engagement Ring Lost Day after Proposal, Found and Returned Surfside Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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About 4:30 pm on June 18th, I received a call from Caiden saying his fiancé had lost her engagement ring in the dry sand and asked if I could help. I got the address and was on my way. When I arrived, Caiden was waiting in the parking lot. We made our way out to the beach and out to the spot of the suspected ring lost. On the way-out Caiden told me he proposed to Savannah the night before. I got to meet Savannah, whose ring was the one that was lost. I was shown the area and then told that Savannah and Caiden had walked on a diagonal path up towards the dunes looking for shells. I searched the area where Savannah had been sitting and around the area where she shook out her towel with no success. We talked about the path they took, and I got both of their perspectives of where they walked. I started a diagonal grid search going from where they were sitting to where the beach access was from their condo. The ring was loose on Savannah’s finger, and she remembered it was on her finger where she was sitting. When she reached down to pick up a shell on their walk the ring was gone. It wasn’t a huge area to search but it was big enough. It took me awhile but when I was on my way back to their sitting area, I got a solid 10 on the NOX VDI (Visual Display Indicator). For a woman’s yellow gold ring, I was expecting a number closer to 13 or 14, but it all depends on the size and width of the ring. I dug the target and there it was. I decided to make a video and surprise Savannah and Caiden.

Caiden and Savannah – thank you for trusting me to help find your treasure.

Jim

 

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Platinum Wedding Band w/Diamonds Lost in the Sand, Found and Returned Wrightsville Beach NC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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Shortly before noon on June 15th, Demie called me asking if I could help find her Platinum Wedding Band at Wrightsville Beach. I told her it’d take me about an hour and a half to come up and I’d call the Ring Finder that covers Wrightsville and would call her back. I called John Finnerin and he said he wouldn’t be able to go. I text Demie back, told her I was on my way and gave her my ETA. A little bit later Demie sent me a pin drop with an address, so I knew exactly where to go.  When I was close, I sent her a text saying I was about 15 minutes out. This time of year, tourist and locals swarm the beaches especially with the daily temperatures in the high 80s, and this day was no different. When I was on scene, I text her saying, “I’m here, looking for parking.” After making a couple of laps around the streets, I called her and asked if her husband was with her, she replied he was. I asked if he could come out and drive my car around while I looked for her ring. She quickly agreed and said he is on his way, describing what he was wearing. After Nathan and I switched off I headed out on the beach.

As I walked out, I saw Demie waving to me. We met up where they had been sitting and she showed me where the ring had to be. The area was maybe 2’X2’. She said she had taken her ring off to apply sunscreen and was holding the ring in her teeth. Her husband, Nathan had knocked over a chair and when she turned to see what happened the ring flew out of her mouth. I turned my Nox 800 on, and made a couple passes over the area. With a lady’s platinum ring, I knew I was looking for a VDI (visual display indicator) in the single to low double digit numbers. Sure enough, 2nd swing, and I got a solid 8 VDI. Scraped a couple of layers of sand into the scoop with my foot, shook the sand out of the scoop and bingo! When I went to hand Demie her ring, I dropped it back in the sand and it quickly disappeared. I saw where it landed, found it again and this time handed it back to her. She was all smiles and almost lost a tear but held it. Got a big hug and was on my way out to find Nathan and my car.

Demie – Thank you for trusting me to help find your lost treasure.

Jim

 

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2023 Augusta University (AU) Class Ring Lost, Found and Returned Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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This adventure started while I was in the process of finding three lost rings in the dry sand on May 30th in Myrtle Beach SC.  While looking for the three rings, I got a great high signal in the dry sand. Thinking I had one of the three rings I dug it up. To my surprise it was a beautiful 2023 Augusta University Class Ring. I knew it wasn’t one of the three, but I showed it to the parents of the owner of the three rings. They verified that it was not one of the three I was looking for. Shortly after finding the class ring, I found the three rings I was looking for and returned them to the parents.

Now comes the hard part in trying to find the owner. My wife is a huge help proofreading my stories and fixing my pictures, she’s also a wizard on social media. I sent her the name engraved inside the class ring and before I got home, she texted me the probable owner she found on LinkedIn. Neither Face Book nor Instagram had any matches. I attempted to send the owner, Sean a text but LinkedIn requires you be a member to communicate with someone. I finally contacted Augusta University, Registrar’s office and talked with a very nice lady, Katie. Katie said if I would e-mail the Registrar office, they would forward the e-mail to Sean’s last known contact information they had on file. I sent the e-mail and waited. After three days I called Katie back and she said my e-mail hadn’t come through. So, I sent a 2nd e-mail making sure I spelled Registrar correctly, left off an ‘r’ the first time. Called Katie back and she said it came through and she just forwarded it on to Sean as well as called and left a message. Fast forward two days to June 7th, I woke up to a text message saying “Hi Jim Wren! This is Sean; I heard you found my ring? Thank you so much for contacting the registrar’s office.” I asked him to verify the two engravings he had in the ring and Bingo, he nailed it, so I knew I had the right guy. I got his address in Oklahoma and his ring was heading home.

Today, June 11th, I received a text from Sean with the picture of him holding his ring. He also told me the back story of how he lost his ring. He said that he and his friends were playing games at Myrtle Beach and when they headed back to their hotel during the evening, he realized his class ring was gone! He said, “I put it by his shirt and when we were packing everything up and heading back it must have slipped out. The entire group of friends combed the entire 100-foot area where their tent was set up on the beach but to no avail.”

Sean – So glad I was able to track you down and get your treasure back where it belongs. I wish you the best of luck in all your future endeavors.

Jim

     

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