It was 7:00 in the evening when I went to get my cellphone off the charger, I turned on the cell and had missed a call 40 minutes prior from Jonathan a local Wedding photographer. While setting up the final scene where he puts the couples two Wedding bands on a starfish in the sand a rogue wave washed way up on the shoreline and erased the scene. In utter shock Jonathan and his lovely assistant Imi immediately started searching for the scattered rings. Of course they were no where to be found. Jonathan then googled “lost ring” on his cellphone and that’s when he left a voicemail. I returned the call immediately but no one answered. After about 15 minutes Jonathan called back and said he was returning the unfortunate couple back to their hotel in Waikiki. I told him we had to look tonight as the next high tide could displace the ring forever. Waimanalo has a very steep shoreline and is difficult to detect in the water this time of year. We met at a local high school and drove back to Waimanalo Beach Park. It was pitch dark now and thankfully I remembered to bring my dive torch. Jonathan and Imi took me to the beach and the tide was out which made the search area dry and easier to hunt. There was a basket on the beach and we speculated others at the beach that knew the rings were lost tried sifting the sand for the rings. I marked the extreme ends of my grid and started the search. My first screaming target was a Great Basin Nevada State Park quarter. I continued on. The area was sterile clean white sand so the search was quiet. After about 5 minutes on the fourth leg I got another low and high tone signal. One scoop down there was the rose gold band. Another scoop down and there was the white gold band. Jonathan & Imi were ecstatic with joy. Can you imagine how they must have felt when they lost the couple’s rings. Imi immediately took some pics with her cellphone and texted them to the couple in Waikiki. This honeymoon was going to be very memorable. Aloha to Jonathan & Imi.
2 Replies to “Lost Gold and Diamonds Wedding Band Set at Waimanalo Beach Park…FOUND!!!”
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Great story Joe. Awesome recovery!!!
Thank you very much Joe!
Im the guy in the pic above… And I bet you could imagine the panic that was going through my head when I lost the rings! It was also heart wrenching to watch the couple – who put their rings in my hand along with their trust – go through the process of thinking that they would never see their cherished items again. I had to continue with the shoot but the idea popped up about having someone with a metal detector come out and help search for the rings. I did a quick google search and found theringfinders.com and went to USA>Hawaii and gave the first guy a call.. He was kind and helpful. He suggested that I should give Joe a call because he was already preocupied. As Joe said, he called me back and we set a time to meet… he said that he wanted to go ASAP and the sun was already set… We met up around 820pm. Amazed by how dedicated he was to help MY customers! We drove to Waimanalo and I showed him where I lost the rings, he drew a few lines in the sand and went at it. No more than 5 mins later, there they were. I immediately took a pick and sent it to my couple. Our smiles were from ear to ear! We are very grateful for Joes services and kindness. It’s really awesome to meet someone who’s so kind and dedicated. He took a reward for finding the rings which he left up to us and I gave him everything I had in my pocket. He told me that it was too much, but I thought it wasn’t enough.