Jim Wren, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 9 of 32

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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Grandmother’s Silver 1963 Nursing School Graduation Ring Lost, Found and Returned Sunset Beach NC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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I received a call shortly after 3:30pm on Saturday, June 1st from Emily. She said she had lost a very sentimental ring in the soft sand and some locals recommended she call me. I told her I could be there in about 30 minutes, grabbed my gear and was on my way. On the way, I called Emily back to get some additional information. While I was talking to Emily, I had another call come in. When I finished the call with Emily, I called the 2nd caller back. That call was for a lost ring in the ocean and was time critical due to the changing tide.

Emily called me back as I was getting close to Sunset Beach and said her boyfriend was waiting by the street down the path from the beach access point. I parked and met her boyfriend who walked me out to the beach where I met Emily. Emily stated the ring was a silver ring that belonged to her grandmother. Emily showed me the suspected area, which was under a beach tent. I turned on the Nox 800 and searched the cleared area of the tent with nothing. I was moving toward the other half of the tent and asked if the chairs and a table could be moved. When the table was moved, one of Emily’s friends, TJ said, “Found it.” Not sure if the ring was sitting on top of the sand or got kicked up when the table was moved. So mission accomplished and Emily had her ring back. I headed out enroute to the next call.

Sunday, I text Emily back to get the full story of her ring that I didn’t get in my haste to answer the 2nd call. She graciously replied saying, “She had taken the ring off and sat it in her bag while working on a small art project to commemorate her and her boyfriend’s 1st beach trip together. The artwork involved glue, so she had taken her ring off and put it in her bag. Sometime later the tide came in and her and her friends were rushing to get the umbrellas and chairs moved higher on the beach. Her bag was knocked over in the process and she didn’t realize the loss until they made it back to the car.” She continued saying, “The ring was her grandmother’s graduation ring from nursing school class of 1963. Her grandmother passed in December and Emily has worn the ring every day since. Emily is completing nursing school and will graduate in the fall. She’s following in her grandmother’s footsteps.” The last thing Emily told me, that put this loss into perspective, was that “The ring may not cost much, but it is absolutely irreplaceable to me.”

Emily – Thank you for calling me. Good luck with your career and I’m sure your grandmother would be very honored and proud of you.

Jim

   

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Clemson University Class Ring Lost in the Ocean, Found and Returned Ocean Isle Beach NC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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On Saturday, June 1st, I was enroute to another ring search; when Angela called and left me a voice mail. In the voice mail she said that it was recommended on a FB page that she call me for lost rings. She said that her daughter, Riley had lost her Clemson Class ring that she had received in April on Ocean Isle Beach in North Carolina, in the ocean. Angela gave me Riley’s phone number. After we hung up, I called Riley and told her I had another search and I’d be there as soon as I could.

I called Riley back after a successful recovery and told her I was on my way. I arrived about 20 minutes later and met Riley on the beach. Riley explained that she and some of her friends were out about 2 am enjoying the late evening and the ocean. She continued saying that they had been sitting in the ocean leaning back on their arms, with her hands in the sand and letting the waves roll over them. At some point she felt her Clemson ring slip off her finger into the sand. She immediately called her dad, which was at about 1:40 am. A quick check of the tide tables on ‘Willy Weather’ showed high tide was at 3:18 am. So basically, this happened about 2 ½ hours before high tide. I arrived at Ocean Isle, roughly at 3:30 pm, which was right at the high tide time. Not only was I there at the wrong time but the sea breeze had kicked up the waves, to the point I couldn’t get in the water. I asked Riley to point out the approximate area they were in and she stated they came straight down the beach from the beach access blue mat. I figured I’d clear the top of the beach and down the slope on both sides of the center line. Every once in a while, I’d try to slip in the ocean, but that was a lost cause! After close to 3 hours, and no change in the sea conditions, I called Riley and told her I was calling it for the night.  I told her I’d be back the next day at low tide and resume the search.

Today, June 2nd, I showed up around 8 am, 2 hours before low tide and started an east/west grid search perpendicular to the tide line. I started about 40 yards north of the center line and worked south. I had my Nox 800 detector and knowing that a women’s yellow gold ring will show up between 13-15 VDI (visual display indicator) depending on the size and width of the ring. Unfortunately pull tabs show up with the same numbers and if there’s anything on the beach that’s plentiful, its pull tabs! After about 2 plus hours I had detected about 90 yards on the beach and getting out in the water to about thigh deep. With the circumstances of the ring being lost, I knew the ring was there – somewhere. Gold is a heavy metal, so when it comes off in the ocean, it pretty much settles where it falls. In this case the ring was already y buried in the sand, so it would just sit there working itself deeper with water and sand going over the top of it. Also, knowing when it was lost, I knew the ring would be at the bottom of the slope at low tide. I felt I was definitely out of the search area when I got a solid 15. Is this just another bent up pull tab. I dug a scope of sand and dumped it on the beach. Ran the coil over the pile and I had the target out of the hole. I spread the sand out with my foot and scoured the sand. BOOM!!!  There in the sand staring up at me was Riley’s Clemson Ring. I washed the sand off the ring and took a picture. I sent the picture to both Riley and Angela and then called Riley – no answer. I called Angela – no answer. A short time later Angela replied by text saying, “That’s it!!!!” A few minutes later Riley called. Evidently Angela tried calling Riley with no luck, so she called one of the friends with Riley and told her to wake Riley up and that Jim found her ring. Riley said they were on the way. When Riley got to the beach, she sprinted from the access to where I was. She gave me a big hug and I could tell she was very appreciative. I love returning lost items to their owners!!

Angela – Thank you for calling me to help find Riley’s Ring.

Riley – So happy I was able to find and return your special treasure. I wish you all the best in life.

Jim

     

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