Mark Rubey, Author at The Ring Finders

Ring lost at Mission Beach found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Nicholas put his wedding ring in an ice chest for safe keeping while on the beach. The problem was, he forgot it was there and dumped the icy contents of the chest by the pedestrian entrance trash cans when leaving the beach. He didn’t even realize it was missing until he made it home 2 hours away. He was about to write it off as lost, but, figured it was a worth a shot to try and recover it even though it was a long shot in his mind since it had been a couple of days already. He found me on the Ring Finders directory and made contact. With just a map and a couple of circled spots to search, I headed to the beach on a cold, rainy, windy day. The first area was a bust, but, after moving some trash cans out of the way, the second area produced his ring. Today, Nicholas and his wife made another trip here and happily picked up his ring. A pleasure to meet you both and thank you for the reward.

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Ring lost at Mission Beach found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Alison and her family were visiting  other family here in San Diego. They had dinner at a local restaurant near the beach and walked to the boardwalk afterward. Here’s her story….

This is Alison, you helped me a couple weeks ago and here’s the story behind the ring:
My husband, myself and our two young daughters were in San Diego visiting my husbands’ uncle and grandmother. Our 5 year old daughter’s middle name is her great-grandmother’s first name; during this visit her great-grandmother (who we call Neemah) gave her a very special ring. This ring was HER baby ring, gifted to her 87 years ago. She has since worn it on her pinkie finger. This ring is a teeny tiny, thin gold band with a flush set diamond.
My daughter was so excited to wear it, we checked to make sure it would stay securely in her finger and we ventured out for some fresh seafood and sunset at the beach. As we were taking photos, my daughter exclaimed “Oh no! My very special ring. It’s gone!” She had been playing in the sand along the boardwalk and trickling it over the concrete wall. We’re from Colorado, so sand everywhere (no sandbox needed) is an exciting concept for little kids!
We frantically started looking everywhere. Keeping in mind, this is a tiny ring and we are rapidly losing sunlight. I am beyond myself, I could not believe I thought it would be a good idea to let my daughter wear such a sentimental piece of jewelry because it seemed to be securely on her finger. We searched for over an hour, frantically sifting sand inch by inch on the boardwalk side of the wall. So many kind people stopped to help, holding up cell phone flashlights. We then determined it must have fallen as my daughter was trickling sand over the wall. The ring was somewhere ON THE BEACH. We were all devastated. One passerby said her boss reached out to Mark when they lost a ring in the beach. She was even so kind as to pull up The Ring Finders website and Mark’s profile. By this point, it was 8pm. I was desperate but in no way expected Mark to answer his phone AND come immediately to our location.
Within 20 minutes of searching, Mark had successfully located Neemah’s baby ring! Even more impressive is the fact that the boardwalk at this particular beach is concrete – meaning it’s full of rebar. Finding a tiny ring, in the sand, at night, when equipment is picking up signals from rebar is a true testament to Mark’s skill and expertise. He was kind, courteous, prompt and most importantly, helped us recover an invaluable family heirloom. We cannot thank Mark enough!
Yes, it was right up against the steel reinforced sea wall and was found with my pin pointer after using the full size detector failed to find it due to all the interference.
A pleasure to meet you Alison and thank you for the reward.
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Ring lost at Mission Beach found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Emily was brushing sand off her hands when a special ring, given to her by her mother, slip right off and was instantly swallowed by the fluffy dry sand. She searched for it, but, couldn’t find it in the dark using her phone light. She was advised to contact TheRingFinders.com. I received the plea for help the next afternoon. Emily wasn’t able to meet at the site until the next day, but, being a Saturday evening, the ring might get found by someone else if we waited that long, so, I got the description of the search area and hurried down there to hopefully find it before some other lucky detectorist did. Super busy beach required me to park and hike about a mile to the search area. Not knowing the exact limits of the search area, I picked what I thought would be the extreme edge of one side of the square and began my grid search. First target was a promising 25 on my Equinox 900, but, ended up being a pull tab. Second target was a solid 19 and a beautiful Tiffany ring was inside my scoop. Emily and I met the next day for the reunion of ring and finger. A pleasure meeting you Emily and thank you for the reward.

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Ring lost in Chula Vista found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Dania tossed a handful of items toward some bushes, which accidentally included her diamond ring. It should have been in a very small area, but, try as she and Jeff tried, it couldn’t be found. An online search found TheRingFinders.com and my contact info. Jeff called asking for help and we arranged to meet at the site the next afternoon. I arrived on time with my wife and a friend who also detects. A quick search with my large coil over and around the suspected thorny bush reveal nothing. Pin pointer time! My friend and I armed with a couple of pin pointers started poking inside the bush and as close to the ground as we could without getting totally impaled on the thorns. Only some scrap metal was being found when Jeff offered to go get a broom handle to tape to one of our pin pointers so we could probe further inside the bushes and reduce the number of our battle scars. I asked him to move his truck from in front of where we were working so we could expand the search area without interference from all that metal close by. Soon after moving his truck, Dania spotted the ring sitting right on top  of the asphalt in the parking spot next to where their truck had been parked! The ring must have hit something and ricocheted 90 degrees over to that spot. Doesn’t matter how the ring was found, just that it was found. Everyone happy now! A pleasure to meet you folks and thank you for the reward!

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Ring lost in San Diego Bay found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Scott was kayaking back in August, and while paddling close to shore, his dog decided to jump out of his kayak and into the water. In the process of getting his dog back inside, Scott’s wedding ring came off and into the drink. He tried to find it, but, with a mucky bottom and poor visibility, we know how that ended. He and his wife Caitlin found me online and asked for help. We met at the site during a minus low tide at 11:30pm. Even though it was a small area to search, there was tons of metal junk and some deep silt/mud at that spot in the bay. Try as I might, I couldn’t come up with it after an extensive search. They thanked me for trying and I told them that I would keep it on my list and would try again whenever I was in the area. My next opportunity came about a month later at another minus low tide at night. Again, I found all sorts of junk, but, no ring. I was thinking it might be in deeper water, but, in walking out deeper, you would sink up to your knees in mud. Not going to be possible to search out there. Fast forward to November and another opportunity to hit the area during a daytime low tide. Went back over the same area and found tons more junk targets, but, after a half hour or so, success!, Scott’s wedding ring came up from a foot deep and into my scoop. A text later to an incredulous Scott and Caitlin where I found that they would be visiting again in town around Christmas. They asked me to hold on to it until then which I gladly agreed to. They came by the day after Christmas and picked up the ring. A pleasure to meet you both and thank you for the reward.

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Ring lost at Fiesta Island found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Bree contacted me saying that her husband Luis (they just got married in July) lost his wedding band while playing with their dog on Fiesta Island. She couldn’t meet me there to show me the search area, but, sent me a google map with a pin at ground zero, which was by a fire ring where they had set up. Going by the map and GPS, a buddy and I reached the area and started a grid. This beach is REALLY junky, so, small coil time and slow sweeping was the name of the game. Nothing right around the fire ring, so, we expanded out from there. Another pass or two and Luis’s ring came to light. Bree came and picked up the ring and plans to surprise Luis with his ring at Christmas. A pleasure to meet you Bree, and thank you for the reward.

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Pendant lost in Palm City found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Tyler was playing ball at his schools soccer/football field when his necklace was snagged, broken, and his gold pendant fell into the turf. A search ensued, but, it wasn’t found. His mom Michelle talked with the groundskeeper who claimed to have a metal detector and would help them. This delayed a search for 3 weeks while the groundskeeper looked for his detector without success. Michelle then found TheRingFinders.com online and contacted me for help. We met early the next morning at the school and they escorted me to the proper field and probably loss location. I expected lots of misc junk on this decades old school, but, the field was pleasantly free of it for the most part. I started with a large coil to try and cover the fairly large search area more quickly. I’d use a smaller coil if necessary as the pendant was smaller than a dime and was probably not going to give much of a signal. There had been dozens of games played on that field since the loss, so, the pendant might have been stepped on and pushed down into the turf a bit, or, it could have even been spotted and picked up by someone. We kept our hopes up however, and after a half hour or so and a few junk targets acting like small gold, I got an even lower target I.D, number of 8 on my Equinox 900 that I was doubtful of, but, I decided early on I would check every target that was close to what I guessed would be the number. It wasn’t right on top of the ground, but, after peeling back a small trap door plug, Tyler’s pendant was staring up at me. I called them over to let them see and retrieve it. A happy Tyler had his precious pendant, given to him by his father, back again. A pleasure meeting you and thank you for the reward.

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Ring lost in San Diego found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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While toweling off at the beach, one of  Gokul’s diamond stud gold earrings was snagged, popped off, and into the soft sand it went. Try as he might, he just couldn’t find it. He searched online for help, found TheRingFinders.com, and called me the next morning asking if I was available to search. Sure, I was available, but, Gokul decided to personally try again with a small sieve to sift the sand in the search area for his earring, and would call me back if he still needed help. An hour and half later, I got the call. I grabbed my gear, stopped and picked up my buddy Dave and headed to the site. We found Gokul at the search area and got the story on the loss. He had a match to the lost earring, so, Dave and I at least had something to go by. Wow, not much of signal on this little earring. As I started my search, I immediately got a decent signal which turned out to be the earring back. Ok, that’s a good sign that we’re in the right area. Shortly after, Dave got an iffy but repeatable signal and turned it over to me since I had the pin pointer. After chasing the signal a bit, I finally zeroed in on the signal. Success!  A happy Gokul could now head home with both his ear lobes complete. A pleasure to meet you and thanks for the reward.

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Ring lost at Pacific Beach found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Elise was enjoying Labor Day at the beach, but, after rubbing some lotion on her hands, her precious gold ring given to her by her sister, slipped right off and into the soft sand, turning the sweet day suddenly sour. The next day after an online search brought her to TheRingFinders.com, she contacted me for help. Even though our local beaches get swarmed by detectorists on a holiday weekend like this, it was still worth a try, so, I got all the particulars and agreed to meet her at the location. Elise sent me a photo of the ring showing that it wasn’t an actual ring in shape, but, a horseshoe shape. Knowing that now, the I.D. number would be impossible to predict, but, probably a lot lower than if it were a complete circle. I started my grid and scooped anything that wasn’t iron. After a bunch of gum wrappers reading 1-4 on my Equinox 900, a few other bits of foil, a couple of coins, I get another sketchy 2-3 reading. Probably another gum wrapper, but, surprise, surprise, it was her ring. A happy Elise can now go home and relax now that the lost has been found. A pleasure to meet you Elise, and thank you for the reward.

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Ring lost at Pacific Beach found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Joey was in town visiting from up in Napa, Ca. back in early July, and lost his 18K gold and 950 platinum wedding ring in the shallow surf at Pacific beach. I got the call a couple of days later and met him at the location. I gridded the entire area and then some, but, came up empty. I figured that someone else may have found it in the meantime as it’s a popular area to detect. I told Joey that I would keep it on my list and would check with fellow club members and others I know who detect that beach to see if they may have found it. Fast forward to the middle of August, and my friend Rick contacts me and says he may have found the ring I was looking for. We compared notes on the ring details, and it sure looked like a match, but, I went ahead and contacted Joey to get more info from him. Everything seemed to match, so, success! It turned out that Joey had some friends that were coming down to San Diego  and could pick up the ring instead of having to ship it. It just goes to show you that you should never give up, as a ring can turn up anytime in the future when the conditions are right. The ring is on it’s way home where it belongs. A big thank you to Rick for giving up such a nice ring, and thank you Joey for rewarding him.

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