Mike Baker, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 2 of 12

Extremely Sentimental Rings Found at a Vermont Beach

  • from Barre (Vermont, United States)
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8/6/25

I got a voicemail around noon today from a woman who had lost 3 rings yesterday. She and her husband had been visiting Vermont from out of state and were close to the end of their vacation when she lost her wedding, engagement and a silver ring at a public beach at one of our awesome state parks. They also had accidentally fully discharged their electric car’s battery which added some extra stress and inconvenience.

Not only was it her wedding rings, but her engagement ring was made with her grandmother’s diamond. That and being lost in a public place put top priority in getting there quick! So, as soon as I could I met them at the beach. She showed me the 3 areas they might have been lost, and we started with the most likely place. After about 20 minutes, I got a very promising signal with mixed tones. I pushed the pinpointer into the sand and there was her wedding ring! Did it again and out popped her engagement ring! Seconds later we found her silver ring. All 3 were within inches of each other!

What a fantastic moment! I’m so glad they are going home tonight with her rings.

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Very Sentimental Ring Recovered From a Vermont Pond

  • from Barre (Vermont, United States)
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7/19/25

In the past few weeks I have had 2 failed searches that are weighing heavily on my mind. They were both lost in ponds where the bottom was 12-18” of pudding-like mud, organic debris and lots of human litter like broken glass, rusty cans, aluminum foil, bottle caps and can pull tabs. I know the owners and families of these rings are frustrated and broken hearted, and I am truly sorry.

Early this week I got a message from friend of a woman who had lost a very sentimental ring while visiting Vermont and swimming in a small pond. Unfortunately, she left for home yesterday, but I arranged to meet her friend at the pond.

So, he showed me the area where she had likely lost it, I put on the wet suit and waded carefully down the steep, slippery clay bottom. I got a couple trashy signals and then, in about 5’ of water, I got a strong, repeating signal that might be a ring. It took over 10 minutes to get it into the scoop, because of the depth, the clay on the bottom and the cloudy water. Finally, I got the target into the scoop, went to shore and there it was! I handed it to her friend and he called her up. I wish I could’ve been with her to see the reaction, but I imagine there was rejoicing and maybe some happy tears! Much thanks to her friend who travelled back to the spot and assisted with the recovery.

I sure hope that this is a sign that I am onto another string of successes!


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Found Wedding Ring in Northern Vermont

  • from Barre (Vermont, United States)
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6/21/25

I got a voicemail on 6/16 from a lady whose husband had recently lost his wedding ring. He is a farmer who works 7 days a week and covers a lot of ground around their huge farm.

His wife did some absolutely incredible detective work to try to narrow down the area that he might have lost it. He hadn’t felt it fall off. They have several security cameras, so she decided to go through all the footage. She finally found that he had his ring on when they were doing some things in a side yard and behind a building, and a little while later it could be seen that it was missing from his finger. So, that gave them an idea where to search.

Not knowing about my service yet, they ordered a metal detector from the internet. Without having experience with a detector, and being an area jam packed with signals, they had no luck with it. She also spent many hours visually searching for it in the daytime and with a bright flashlight at night.

I went over this morning early because I thought it may be a difficult search. She showed me the areas and I got started. Unfortunately, her husband was too busy to accompany us. The ground was loaded with signals, but in about 10 minutes I got a promising surface signal. I pushed the pinpointer into the thick grass and there it was! Wow, was she happy!! She wasn’t sure if they would ever see it again!

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Special Watch Found at VT Ski Area

  • from Barre (Vermont, United States)
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3/14/25

I got a phone call February 26th from a woman whose daughter had lost a very special watch while visiting a Vermont ski area on February 8th. She was walking through a parking lot at the end of the day and was looking for her car keys in her backpack. She had put her watch in a backpack to keep it safe, but unfortunately it apparently fell out. She searched the parking lot, but it got dark and the snow was adding up, she sadly gave up. The following day she searched again. A couple weeks later, her mom discovered The Ring Finders service, called and made arrangements for me to do a search the next day.

Unfortunately, it had snowed twice since she lost it and the snowbanks were 6-8’ high. I searched for several hours, well into the night and gave up for that trip. I had found 2 earrings that belonged to other people and turned them in to the Customer Service desk.

After 2 weeks and several warm days I decided to go do a followup search. (I figured it might take 3 searches while the snowbanks recede) The snowbanks today were half the size as before. I searched for about 2 hours, found lots of pieces of foil, and then, when I was nearing the end of the search area, I got a signal that sounded good. I dug down carefully with my plastic trowel and about 8” into the snow one of the clasps appeared. I nearly had a heart attack! There it was!!

I immediately sent her a picture and she immediately responded with joy! I offered to meet her in Massachusetts, about half way to her home, because I wanted to give it to her in person. No way was I going to mail it!

This watch was a gift from her dad, who is no longer here with us, to her mother and then to given to her. I’m so happy it’s going to be home soon where it belongs.

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Engagement Ring Found in Vermont Snow

  • from Barre (Vermont, United States)
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2/23/25

I got a call yesterday from a couple who had lost her engagement ring in the deep powder snow. They had recently purchased a beautiful farm in Central Vt and were out enjoying a little Winter exploration of the 400 acres.

When they stopped for some lunch, they discovered her ring was missing. They desperately dug all through the snow with their hands, having no luck.

So, we set a time for this morning to meet there. We started hiking up the hill and stopped part way to put on snowshoes. It was a beautiful day, sunshine and wild animal tracks everywhere. I was at the end of a very bad chest infection, so it felt amazing to be outdoors in the fresh air.

We got to the area they ate lunch, I turned on the new Garrett VX9, set the frequency to 25, and got started. I literally hadn’t taken 2 steps, and on the 5th swing got a very feint signal. I kicked some of the snow away and the signal got louder. So, I probed the snow with the pinpointer, got a hit, cleared a little more snow away with my finger and a glint of shiny gold showed through! It was a very surprising and happy sight, usually searches like that take many hours! The ring had been stepped on and pushed at least 10” into the snow.

We had a nice slow walk out enjoying all the sights. I hope they have nice long and healthy lives working their new farm!

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Found Cellphone Deep in Vermont Snowbank

  • from Barre (Vermont, United States)
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2/14/25

At work today, I got a call from a guy who needed help finding a cellphone. So, we made arrangements to meet at his driveway as soon as I got out of work.

His driveway was very long, steep, and zigzagged up the hillside. He had been out doing things in the driveway while his plow person was doing the plowing, when he realized that his phone was missing from his pocket. They looked for it with no luck and figured it must have been plowed deep into a pile. He did some shoveling but didn’t find it.

We started at a huge pile on one of the corners, where he was pretty sure it might be. I swung all over it without getting a good signal. So, we shoveled some off the top and I got a signal you could barely hear. We dug down about a foot and the signal got louder. I dug down with a plastic trowel, stuck the pinpointer in and got a good signal. Dug down even further and there it was. It was 2 feet below where my first signal was!

Awesome moment! His phone had extremely important data on it, and it wasn’t even damaged.

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Found Cell Phone Deep in Snowbank

  • from Barre (Vermont, United States)
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1/31/25

Got a call from a teenager’s dad last night. The night before, his daughter had rushed out to move her car so the snow plow guy could do their driveway. Her phone was in her pj bottom’s pocket at the time. She went back inside and realized her phone was missing. By then, the phone had been plowed into a snowbank somewhere.

They tried calling it, digging around with shovels and even borrowed a low quality metal detector. They gave up and found my number. We made arrangements for me to go there after work today.

So, with my brand new detector in hand, I got started. In about 3 minutes I got a good signal. There was her phone, elbow deep in the snow. The detector found its first target, very impressive! A very happy teenager, who was without her phone for 2 days!!!
Such an awesome hobby :))

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Ring Found In Snowy Vermont

  • from Barre (Vermont, United States)
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1/12/25

I got a message last night from a woman visiting Vermont who had lost her engagement ring. She had been skiing at Stowe, but was pretty sure she lost it at the rental house in a nearby town. Luckily, she had a picture of her just before they left the ski area showing that her ring was still on her finger. The rental house had a nice sledding hill in the backyard, so she took a sled down the slope with no gloves on. She was pretty sure that’s when the ring had come off. Just in case, they did a thorough search of the house before contacting me.

I got there early because they had to leave by 11:00. We got started and within about 3 minutes I got the perfect ring signal. I pushed some of the snow to the side with my boot and pushed the pinpointer into the snow, got a signal with that and there it was! We were all smiling about that!!!

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Found Extremely Important Keychain in the Leaves

  • from Barre (Vermont, United States)
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11/22/24

I got a call earlier this week from a gentleman who had lost something extremely sentimental to him, and was desperately needing it to be found.

Early this year, his significant other had come down with a serious medical issue that took her life way too early. She had a real big heart for animals, and dogs….and of course, him! Her keychain had several dog charms attached to it, and he kept it with him at all times, no matter where he went. It was a part of her.

One day he had been out raking and had also ridden his bike down a leafy hill where he lost control and fell. Later, he discovered his pocket was empty and his heart sank. He searched through the rakings and where he had fallen, with no success. After some web searching, he found my listing and gave me a call. His voice shook with emotion and I instantly knew how important this search was. We made arrangements to meet when I didn’t have work.

Today, I met him at the house and he showed me the search areas. Luckily, in under 5 minutes, I got a signal, looked down and saw a Toyota symbol peeking out from under a leaf. It was her keychain with all charms intact! He gave me a huge hug! He said it was about the best thing that could happen to him.

I am so fortunate to be able to help in situations like this. I’m very glad it was a success!

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Found Ring in the Leaves, Burlington VT

  • from Barre (Vermont, United States)
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11/1/24
I got a call this morning from a lady who had lost her wedding ring. Unfortunately, I was working and couldn’t do a search until afterwards. I told her I would call as soon as I got out, to see if they had found it.

She and her husband had been at a doctor appointment and when they came outside, she lost it in the parking lot. The wind was howling and leaves and branches were being blown all around. They searched for awhile and then rented a metal detector. Crowded parking lots are difficult to search because the metal in the cars raise hell with detectors, even 3’ away!

So, she called me at the end of the afternoon to say they had given up and wanted me to help.
I went straight there after work and luckily most of the cars were gone by then. I detected for awhile and saw the last 2 office workers pull out. I went straight over to where they had been parked, detected a pile of leaves that was under the car, got a loud signal and there it was!! Her ring is a round band, so it had rolled a long way, probably aided by the wind!

I brought it to her, her town was on my way home, and was greeted with the nicest smiles, some flowers for Donna and some home grown fruit. What a good day!

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