It was Monday evening, April 10th. Milwaukee resident, Gabe Stoltz, was enjoying playing beach volleyball at Fat Daddy’s, the popular Sport’s Pub in Milwaukee. That’s when his tantalum wedding ring flew off his hand. Gabe had worn it for nearly two years. Despite searching with rakes and using a metal detector, the ring eluded discovery.
To make matters worse, just 5-minutes later, Gabe’s friend and teammate also felt his white-gold wedding ring leave his hand. And it too vanished in the sand.
I was getting ready for bed when I received a text message from Gabe’s wife inquiring about my metal-detecting services. Over the years I’ve learned that time is of the essence with lost ring searches. And so, I arranged to meet Gabe on location within the hour, arriving around 11:00 p.m.
I performed a quick forensic overview of the events leading up to the ring losses. Gabe showed me where he was standing when the ring vanished and I could see the tell-tail rake marks in the sand.
As is so often the case, the volleyball court was full of metallic debris, coins, foil wrappers, pull tabs and bottle caps. But knowing the conductivity value of tantalum, I could safely ignore many of these signals. Finally, a deep, but clean tantalum signal invited investigation. Sure enough, it was Gabe’s ring! 
We then quickly moved to the area where Gabe’s friend lost his ring. A systematic grid search brought the other ring to light as well. Two losses, two searches, two finds and two grateful smiles!
If you or someone you know has lost a wedding ring, even long ago, don’t let its story end. Call me today. I would love to put a smile on your face too.
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