Mark Rubey, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 14 of 20

Time Capsule found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Tracey contacted me about a time capsule that she and her father had buried back in 1997. Inside were various “treasures” from various members of her family, including photos and letters from loved ones now deceased. Tracey knew the approximate location and had attempted to find it a year ago, but, without a metal detector, she was just guessing as to the exact spot and came up empty. The container was supposed to be a small steel box, maybe a foot squared or so. She was uncertain as to the contents other than the photos and letters. One of the interesting parts of this is that it was buried in a remote area of a public park! No telling if it was still there or not. Parks get relandscaped from time to time or maintenance crews might accidentally dig it up or bury it further, so, this was anyone’s guess.

We hiked to the spot which turned out to be just above a drainage ditch. The ground was on a slope, very rocky, and covered in leaves, branches, and other debris from the eucalyptus trees and various trash from park goers over the years. There wasn’t any obvious sign of where it might have been buried, so, I began my search systematically from one end of the search area to the other. Not a big area, maybe 10 X 20 feet, but, LOTS of target sounds, both ferrous and non. I started with the ferrous since it was supposed to be a steel box. After a couple of promising sounds that turned out to be chucks of pipe, I couldn’t find any large targets with my E-trac/ NEL 15″ Attack coil combo. I started in on the smaller ferrous targets. Just junk iron. Next was non-ferrous with similar results at first. I finally got a low conductive signal next to a tree. It was reading 12-09 on the E-trac. That normally is a wad of foil or similar. It didn’t seem like a large target, but being next to the tree it was hard to tell for sure. I started digging…..down a foot and still there…….got out the hand digger…..poked down a bit more and hit something that sounded hollow. Hmmm, could be, or maybe just a pie tin. Kept clearing the dirt and roots away until I could find the edges of the object and got the top cleared off. Yup, looks like a metal box to me! I carefully worked my digger and my fingers around the edges of the box until I could just reach under it. Ooops, nothing left of the side of the box. My fingers just went into a cavity. Not a good sign, as this indicated to me that the box had gotten flooded and rusted out. I finally worked it out of the ground and my suspicions were correct. Even though the box had been wrapped in plastic, the bottom was almost completely gone along with most of the sides. Since the lid was in pretty good shape, I flipped the box up side down on the ground so we could carefully pick through the contents without them spilling all over the place. Most items were water damaged, but, some may clean up. The photos and letters were wrapped separately in more plastic, but, they were waterlogged as well. The photos didn’t look to good, but, the letters might clean up. Tracey has a bit of work to do in that area! With careful rinsing and drying, they might survive. Even with the damage, Tracey was very happy to find the time capsule and recover the contents. I was happy to be a part of it and thank you for the reward.

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Ring lost in the sand on San Diego Bay Found!

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Zack left an urgent message on my cell phone voice mail stating that he had lost his 4 day old wedding ring in the sand across the street from where he was staying on his honeymoon. When I finally heard the message, I called him back for the details and arranged to meet him there at 11pm. We both arrived a bit early and Zack escorted me down to the area were he had lost it 3 hours earlier. He had been brushing sand off his hands by rubbing them on his pants when the unthinkable happened……the ring went flying into the sand and disappeared. Zack contemplated renting or buying a detector but found The Ring Finders online and decided to give us a try. Initially, I was told it was a silver ring, so, I expected a high pitched screamer for a target on my E-trac. Right after I fired my machine up, I get a low pitched, solid 12-06 moaner in my ears on my first swing. I asked again about the metal it was made of, and he said “silver, but it has some gold in it too”. Great, now I need to scoop virtually all non-ferrous sounds, starting with this one. Well, in this case, first time was the charm, as this 12-06 was his ring! So much for it being mainly silver. A happy Zack couldn’t believe I found it so quick. Getting me to the right spot was the key here, so, good job Zack! I hope you and your new bride enjoy the rest of your stay here. Great to meet you and thank you for the reward.

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Ring Lost at Silver Strand Found!

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Alisha contacted me about her lost wedding ring. She had been to Silver Strand State Beach with her family last Sunday, and lost it out in the surf. She was in waist deep water when it slid off her finger and into the sand below. The visibility of the water at the time was poor, and try as they might, they were unable to retrieve it. Heartbroken and discouraged, she figured it was lost forever. Just contacting me gave her a small ray of hope, as I explained what needed to be done. We agreed to meet at the location where she could show me the search area. Having not taken any specific landmarks or photos to show the exact area, we would just have to do our best. She even waded out into the surf to give me an idea as to how far from the beach and how close to the breakers she had been. The conditions were not good. Very close intervals between waves that would sometimes overrun each other producing very powerful water flow and made it hard to keep your place to grid and/or scoop. After gridding both directions for about an hour and a half with my trusty Excalibur, I had only found 6 targets. 2 iron sounds that kept falling through the scoop until lost, 3 pieces of scrap metal, and finally, a ring. I headed up on the beach where Alisha was doing some business work while she was waiting, and asked to see a photo of the ring again. When she brought it up on her phone, I knew I had THE one! A happier person you will never see. I was pretty happy myself! Both for making her happy, and also,  that I didn’t have to go back out in that surf to get pounded again! With a beautiful sunset, it ended a beautiful day and a continuing ring story. A pleasure to meet you Alisha and thank you for the very generous reward.

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Ring Lost at South Mission Beach, Found and Returned

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Greg was camped in the dry sand close to a volleyball court at South Mission Beach. He planned on joining the fun on the court, so, he dutifully removed his watch and wedding ring and put them in a zippered pouch before heading into the game. Game’s over, he packs up and heads to the car. Goes into the pouch to retrieve his watch and ring, only to find a slight opening in the zipper. The watch was there, but, the ring was missing. I get the call, get some details, and arrange to meet him the next morning so he can show me the exact area where they had been.

It had been super hot and humid all week, and I’d planned on going out in the evening to do some detecting anyway, so, I figured South Mission was as good a place to hunt as any, and I might even stumble across his ring. So off I go to cool down and try to get lucky in the treasure department. I start in and around the volleyball court in question and am not finding a single target. Oh, Oh, not a good sign. somebody has probably already been there ahead of me. I continue to fan out and search the outer areas away from the court and start to find a few coins. An hour or so later, bingo, I get lucky and find a ring. It was described to me as a tungsten carbide with a gold inlay. I texted and called Greg to get a more complete description, as this ring was titanium. Except for the type of metal, he described it to a T, so, it had to be the one. It was interesting to find out that they had been married exactly 2 years to the day! I found it on their anniversary and the date was inscribed inside the band! Now that’s a ring that wants to be found! A pleasure to meet you Greg, and thank you for the reward.

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Lost Keys found at Ocean Beach

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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I was leaving a successful fun day detecting at Coronado and about to head home, when, I noticed a message on my phone. Johnny asked about my service in finding his keys lost in the sand at Ocean Beach. We agreed to meet in a half hour at the location. I arrived a bit early and played around a bit until Johnny got there. When he arrived, he showed me where he had been the day before when the keys were lost. There were a few people in that area but I started on an open section and proceeded toward the occupied zone. 15 minutes later, I was in an area about 10 feet in front of their blanket, and got a nice big, high signal on my E-trac. One scoop later and I had his keys in hand. Good to meet you, thank you for calling The Ring Finders, and thanks for the reward.

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Ring lost at Ocean Beach found!

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Troy and Sara were enjoying a day at Ocean Beach. Troy decided to take a swim. He did so with his wedding ring on. Not one of his better decisions that weekend, but, as it turns out, not his worst one either! (He drowned his phone the next day!) Troy wasn’t exactly sure where the ring came off and didn’t really know who to call at that point. They decided to post a lost ring ad on Craig’s list and saw my ad there. They called me with the details, but, since they live in the L.A. area and were back home.  they couldn’t meet me at the beach at 2:45 am (low tide)……not that they would have wanted to meet at that hour if they lived here! Troy gave me his description of the area, and knowing that beach pretty well, I felt I could conduct a search without him. Braving the elements, alright, it was  a nice, warm, calm, moonlit morning, I started my grid pattern with my trusty Excalibur 15″ WOT combo. Surf was rather rough but since he lost the ring at high tide, and I’m hunting when the tide is 6 feet lower, it should be in the wet sand. After searching for a couple of hours, and having my grid lines wiped out continuously by rogue waves, I’d come up empty. I returned to my starting point and headed the other direction, but, that took me out of the designated search area. I made 3-4 more passes and was about to call it a night (morning?) when I got a nice signal half way from my glow stick marker and the surf. Bingo! Yahtzee! Uno! Troy’s ring is in the scoop! I emailed Troy (his phone was drowned remember) and told him the good news and that I would contact him when I woke up at noon. They made the trip down to San Diego that night and were reunited with the ring. A pleasure to meet you both and thank you for the reward.

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Lost ring found at Fiesta Island

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Micah called me about a lost ring on Fiesta Island. It’s not truly an island, but, more of a barren peninsula where they hold various events during the year. Micah and Bella were enjoying the day at the Mission Bay beach with friends, when Bella discovered her gold “cross” ring was missing. They searched their campsite area but were unable to find it. I met Micah at the site and began the search. What a junk pile this place is! Junk targets were EVERYWHERE! This is an area that doesn’t get a beach groomer/sifter to help keep it clean. Took me 1/2 hour to make one 20′ pass. 3/4 of the way back on my second pass, I get another in a series of endless pull tab sounds, and lo and behold, this little thing shows up right next to an old fire pit. Good to meet you Micah, hopefully this makes it back to Bella (hint, hint, as I haven’t received a photo yet!), and thank you for the reward.100_1361

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Wedding ring lost at Coronado Found!

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Chase called me asking for help recovering his wedding ring lost in the surf at Coronado. He was out boogie boarding the day before when a wave stripped the ring off his finger in knee deep water. He saw someone on the beach with a detector and asked for help, but, the guy didn’t have a water machine, so, couldn’t help Chase. The guy (Chase didn’t get his name) recommended that Chase give me a call. Thank you, whoever you are! Low tide was just 1  1/2 hours away, so, we made arrangements to meet there ASAP. I met Chase and his wife on the beach at the location of the loss. Oh, did I mention that they had only been married a few days and that they were here on their honeymoon?! This ring just had to be found! I started a grid at ground zero and expanded out from there in all directions. After an hour and only 5 pennies to show, I started at one end of the probable search zone and headed back over the area I already searched doing a slightly different grid pattern. Another half hour into it, I got a real weak target sound in my Excalibur’s headphones on the slope in the wet sand. I figured it was just another penny but didn’t want to leave anything in doubt since I was searching in all metal. I dug down 14″ and the target was still in the hole! Using my Vibraprobe 580 pin pointer, I located the target right in the bottom and grabbed a handful of sand. Well, out popped his gold ring! It really surprised me that it had sunk that deep in less than 18 hours. A very happy couple to have that ring back in time for their flight back home today. A pleasure to meet you both, congratulations on your marriage, and thank you for the reward.

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Ring lost at La Jolla Shores Found.

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Fernando, was at the beach with his family. They had the umbrella set up, the blanket down, and he was playing in the sand with his children, when, he decided to brush the sand off his hands. Well, you know what happened next! The ring brushed off as well and went into the sand. Even though it was a tiny search area, they couldn’t find it by sifting through the sand with their fingers. They went to the internet and Google where they found Stan Ross, our fellow member and personal friend who was up in Orange county at the time and was at least 2 hours away. He suggested that they call me. I had just returned from another successful ring search down south and was ready for another adventure. The adventure was finding parking at La Jolla Shores on a hot, sunny afternoon! 20 minutes looking for a spot and a 10 minute walk later, I was at their blanket meeting the family and hearing the story. 10 seconds after firing up the E-trac, and 3 seconds of using the Uniprobe pin pointer, Fernando had his platinum wedding ring back. Now it was my turn to make somebody happy by leaving and opening up another parking spot! Nice to meet you all and thank you for the reward.

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Ring lost in the surf at Imperial Beach FOUND!

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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While scanning the local Craig’s List lost and found, I see an ad asking if anyone had found this particular ring in Imperial Beach, and if so, to contact Cat. I emailed back that if she would like someone to search for it, to give TheRingFinders.com a try. I offered my services and agreed to meet her father Bob down at the location early the next morning to take advantage of the low tide, as Cat lived in Las Vegas and had already returned home. It had been lost a few days earlier, at low tide, and in 4 feet of water. (figures huh?) I had my doubts that it could be found this particular morning because the tide was actually a bit higher than when she lost it, but, I wanted to see the search area and give it a try anyway. The sooner you search, the better the odds of a successful recovery. I figured I would probably have to plan a return trip at a huge minus tide to get out far enough to be in the search area but that wasn’t going to happen in the near future. This was going to be the lowest tide until the end of the month, so, it was now or wait.

Bob gave me directions to where he thought Cat lost the ring and I started a grid with my Excalibur just north of that point and worked my way south to where the rest of the family had camped in the dry sand. I made about six 100 foot passes from slope to chest deep in the surf when I got a strong signal at my deepest point before heading back toward shore. The 3-4 foot surf was roughing me up a bit and making it hard to scoop, but, after my 3rd try, the target was in my scoop. After sifting out the sand, A unique looking ring, that matched their description, was in my hand. I couldn’t believe it! I guess it was either lost in shallower water than she thought, or, the surf may have moved it in a bit before being buried. A call back to Bob, who lived close by, and he was there in a flash. We texted and called Cat with photos which made her day. Another satisfying recovery in less than ideal conditions. Great to meet you Bob and to talk to you Cat. May your ring have more stories to tell!

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