Watertown, Wisconsin resident, Jared Wiede, enjoyed a day with his wife and family shopping and relaxing at a couple of the area lakes. Earlier, Jared had removed his 14k yellow-gold wedding band before applying suntan lotion. His wedding date, 9-25-22, was inscribed on the band’s inside. He deposited the love token deep into the pocket of his shorts for safekeeping. Later that evening, to his horror, Jared discovered the ring was gone.
Rewinding the day’s activities made the likelihood of finding the ring almost impossible. Jared recalled shopping and stopping at several places. He searched his car thoroughly in case it had fallen from his pocket. A larger possibility loomed like a dark storm cloud. He had gone swimming at small public beach on Lac La Belle in Oconomowoc. Was his ring laying on the lake’s murky bottom? Jared did his best to suppress the thought that his ring was likely gone forever.
A tiny glimmer of hope rose in Jared’s mind when an internet search revealed my lost-ring recovery services. It was a long shot for sure. But he thought, “Maybe, just maybe, Paul could find it.” A quick phone call was all it took to make the search arrangements.
A couple hours later, I met up with Jared on location at the southwestern shore of Lac La Belle. He pointed out the buoys near where he had been floating on an innertube. These served as reliable reference points. I donned my detecting gear and began a systematic grid-search in waist-deep water.
As with so many public beaches, the lake bottom was full of metallic leftovers; pull tabs, bottle caps, foil and rusty beer cans were in abundance. Ferreting a small gold ring from amongst the din in my headset was a challenge. About an hour into the search, however, I encountered a clear, shallow target. It sat atop of ledge of rock in about two inches of sand and pebbles. The rock ledge made it nearly impossible to use my scoop and so I dove down and brushed the sand and silt into the scoop with my hand. Upon shaking out the contents, a gold ring appeared amongst the pebbles. The inscription, 9-25-22, was unmistakable evidence that, against all odds, Jared’s ring was found! And the smile on his face tells the rest of the story.
If you or someone you know has lost a ring or other jewelry item, please give me a call. I would love to add your smile to the growing list of clients who, despite the odds, are so glad they reached out to me for help. Don’t let the story of your ring end. It’s more than a ring!
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