Paul Humphreys, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 10 of 12

Newly-married, Germantown resident, Gary Tanker, finished cutting his grass and was washing up at his kitchen sink when he realized his tantalum wedding band was missing! Wikipedia describes tantalum as “a rare, hard, blue-gray, lustrous transition metal that is highly corrosion-resistant.” Only very recently has this metal been used for making jewelry. Despite my nearly 40+ years experience, this was my first search for a ring made from this rare metal; I was unsure just where on the conductivity scale my XP Deus detector would register tantalum. In addition, Gary’s home sat on a half-acre lot—where would we begin?

Gary had spent every spare moment on his knees combing through the grass and leaves. He even used a simple metal detector acquired and used as a child—all without success; the ground, to his dismay, was full of metal! It was then he discovered The Ring Finders Internet directory of metal-detecting specialists and reached out to me. I was out of the country at the time but we arranged to meet soon after my arrival home.

When I finally pulled up at the Tanker residence, the sun had fully set. Temperatures were plummeting and strong winter-like winds bit through our clothes. With flashlights in hand we began a systematic search. Metal detecting, in its simplest form is a process of eliminating where the lost item is not. And in the case of a wedding ring, this involves eliminating one square inch at a time.

After nearly two hours we moved our search to the rear of the house where I remembered Gary explaining how he had brushed aside low branches of an apple tree while operating his lawn tractor. It made sense to first check out where those branches may have caught his ring. It was the right decision. Within moments a pronounced signal in the high sliver range registered on my detector. The clear outline of Gary’s ring became visible after sweeping away some grass and leaves. I gave Gary the thrill of extracting his ring from where it lay pressed deeply into the ground.

So glad for the opportunity to help recover your tantalum ring, Gary!

Nicholus Hockers felt the heavy platinum ring leave his finger as he swam to his family’s boat dock on a warm summer evening on Silver Lake, Wisconsin. His heart sank to the muddy depths along with the cherished token. He had only received it from his bride a few weeks before. Now it was gone. How could he face her with such news!

I received phone call from Nicholus a few days later on August 26, 2016. He discovered The Ring Finders website and saw my name listed as a metal-detecting specialist in the area. Could I perform a search for his ring?

Most Wisconsin lakes are shallow but have a pudding like bottom into which objects disappear, never to see the light of day again. But Nicholus’s description gave me confidence that he knew quite precisely where the ring had left his finger. It was a long-shot but worth a try.

My wife, Kathleen, and I arrived at Silver Lake late in the afternoon. I use a Minelab Excalibur, an underwater detector used by SCUBA divers around the world. It has served me well for a number of years and was my machine of choice for this search. I needed every advantage.

The bottom of the lake fell off sharply at the point where Nicholus felt the ring leave his finger. This meant working in chin deep water. The remains of what seemed to be an old cast-iron pipe in the same vicinity interfered with other signals. But after about a half hour of searching, the ring appeared in my sieve amidst a cluster of shells, mud and roots. Mission accomplished!

Thanks, Nicholus, for the opportunity to recover your ring. May its story continue for many, many happy years together!

A family photo session at the historical Covered Bridge Park near Cedarburg, Wisconsin ended on a frantic note when Shannon Lennox discovered that his wedding ring was missing. The park is a big place! The ring could have fallen off anywhere, including the river over which they had walked on a bridge with their busy children in tow.

I met up with Shannon late in the afternoon of October 18th. A preliminary search in the areas where he and his family had posed for the photographer failed to locate the lost ring. By this time it was dark and Shannon drove home to put his children to bed. I continued for a few more hours searching perimeter areas not previously covered. One location was particularly inundated with metal trash, making the cacophony of signals almost impossible to decipher. This and the taller grass combined to militate against technology and my best efforts.

Finally, I tried one more adjustment, that of reducing my XP Deus detector’s sensitivity by nearly half and by sweeping the detectors coil higher than usual over the grass. This eliminated most of the buried trash signals and allowed only those objects on the surface to register. It wasn’t long before a clear gold-ring number shone through the darkness. Carefully dividing the grass beneath revealed the gold wedding band, complete with its ‘ROMANS 12’ biblical inscription, a life chapter that serves to guide Shannon’s Christian life as a husband, father and friend.

The twins were not yet settled when I rang Shannon’s doorbell a short while later. Wide-eyed disbelief was written all over his face when I presented him with his cherished ring. Such moments have always been my favorite!

Vicky* heard the earing as it landed on the family’s boat dock. Then there was silence. The sickening realization that her earing was now at the bottom of Big Cedar Lake prompted a frantic search for her prized gold and silver jewelry piece. She knew it couldn’t have gone far but all efforts to retrieve it from the lake bottom proved fruitless.

I received a call from Vicky who subsequently discovered The Ring Finders directory on the Internet. Soon, my wife, Kathleen and I were on our way to Big Cedar Lake and to Vicky’s lovely home. She accompanied us to the dock and described the moments when she felt the earing drop.

Before entering the Lake, I carefully scanned the bottom with an underwater detector made by an Australian company, Minelab. The Excalibur, as it is called, is the tool of choice for many SCUBA divers worldwide. Detecting from the dock helped not to disturb the bottom unnecessarily. Almost immediately, a promising signal came from a location barely a meter out from the dock. Within minutes, the signal proved to be that of Vicky’s earing!

* Vicky, not her real name, preferred not to be identified or to have her photo published.

I had only been home about an hour from conducting a successful ring search on the other side of our great state of Wisconsin when I received an email from Phil Johnson in Greenfield, WI. On November 14th he lost his wedding ring while cleaning out the rain gutters on his house. He had no idea where to begin searching. Carly, Phil’s wife joined him, scouring the immediate vicinity of the house but without success. The white gold inscribed ring had vanished.

Like an increasing number of people in his situation, Phil turned to the Internet for tips on searching for lost rings. That is where he discovered The Ring Finders website and my profile on its directory of Metal Detecting Specialists here in Wisconsin.

Phil had plenty of questions. What kind of success rates did I see? How long does a search take? Are there terrain limitations I needed to be made aware of? How quickly did a search need to be done? How could he go about scheduling a search? And when could I come? It was clear from Phil’s questions he was a detail man. I like that because recovering lost rings is all about details. Details can mean the difference between a successful recovery and a ring that eludes discovery despite even the best search efforts.

It was my plan to drive over to Phil’s house the next morning. However, work responsibilities and pouring rain combined to delay my search until late in the afternoon. By the time I arrived, the rain and the wind had increased significantly. The street in front of the Johnson’s home was like a torrent of water. I donned rubber boots and rain gear, calibrated my XP Deus wireless detector and made my way to the front of the house. In my mind I settled in for a long soggy evening searching the entire .3 acres.

As often is the case around houses, the ground was full of metallic debris. Further fine-tuning was needed to discriminate against ferrous metal and high mineralization in the ground. I also used a test ring of the size and gold quality that closely matched the one Phil described. Tuning complete, I made exactly four sweeps of the coil when suddenly I heard a perfectly matching signal to my test ring. Thinking I needed to make further adjustments to my detector, I bent over to look more closely in the gathering darkness. As I did so, rainwater poured off my parka. Parting the grass with my wet fingers, I saw to my utter surprise it was Phil’s wedding band!

Phil, you asked, “How long does a search take?” Well, congratulations for being my client with the fastest ring recovery to date! I conservatively estimate it took less than 4 minutes to fine tune my equipment and locate your ring. Your recovery was also my third one in just 7 days, a personal hat-trick record!

It was great meeting you both. May the story of your ring continue for many years! And thanks for your generous reward.

Veterinarian, Dr. Sarah Slaby, was assisting her husband, Noah with chores on their family’s Cozy Creek Farmstead near Arcadia, WI. All was routine until Sarah arrived back at house and realized to her horror that her wedding rings were missing! That was Saturday evening, November 14th.

She recalled having the rings on her finger as she removed nylon netting on a bale of hay out in a field. Some of the strings had become entangled on the ring’s diamond posts. It crossed her mind to remove the rings and put them in a pocket for safekeeping, a precaution she later regretted not heeding. Thus began a desperate search. But where does one begin to look for a ring on a farm and in a barn full of hay, cattle and manure? The proverbial needle-in-a-haystack metaphor seemed very real.

After fruitless hours searching on her hands and knees through feed troughs and around hay bales it was all Sarah could do to fight back the sickening feeling at the thought that her precious wedding rings might be lost forever. Had a cow ingested them? If so, they could be anywhere by now.

The next day I received a call from Sarah. She was thinking of renting a metal detector but while looking on line she stumbled across The Ring Finders website and its directory of metal-detecting specialists. Would I consider coming to Trempealeau County, a four-hour drive away? Dr. Slaby was able to provide a precise chronology of her activities, a factor that contributes greatly to successful recoveries. History, in fact, is key.

I arrived at the Slaby homestead the following morning around 9:00 a.m. The weather was threatening rain and so we began the search outside in a field where she had last observed the ring on her finger. The rain, however, forced our retreat to the barn and to an area where she had been stripping hay from a large round bale and feeding it to the Holstein herd. Almost immediately I picked up a distinctive signal from my XP Deus wireless metal detector, one I was hoping to hear. Unbelievably, beneath a three-inch layer of hay and straw lay Sarah’s wedding rings! The accompanying photo of the rings is complete with dust, just as they were found. It wasn’t quite like finding a needle in a haystack, but I think it came awfully close!

Thank you, Sarah, for allowing me the privilege of recovering your precious rings and for your generous reward. Our success was largely due to your precise chronology of events, without which, the recovery would have been nearly impossible. My four-hour journey home was a satisfying one knowing you and your family would be savoring your ring’s story and the video that you took of the occasion with little Zionah. We prayed for success. God, by His grace, was pleased to answer our prayers.

A glorious fall day in South East Wisconsin was robbed of its joys for Krystal and Chris Schlegel when Krystal’s 1-karat solitaire diamond engagement ring vanished into a thick leafy carpet in the couple’s backyard. Renting a metal detector only turned their hopes to greater despair when all it yielded was a cacophony of squawks and screeches regardless where they searched—the ground was full of ferrous metal debris! That is when they discovered The Ring Finders website and learned of my metal-detecting services right in their hometown of Menomonee Falls, WI. An email and a phone call was all it took to make the arrangements.

I met up with Krystal on the afternoon of November 10th. She showed me the area where they believed the ring went missing. About an hour’s search using my XP Deus detector with its unique, all-wireless technology, was all it took to locate the ring’s hiding place amidst the rusty rubble. The smile on Krystal’s face was, well, her picture speaks for itself. So glad I was able to help you find your ring, Krystal! May its story continue for many happy years to come.

The 29th of December 2013 was not a pleasant day for Marina. Temperatures were well below zero as she braved the elements to get in her daily run. Conscious her hands and fingers had shrunk from the cold, she stopped, removed her wedding band, and placed it safely in her zippered jogging pouch. Later, as reached into the pouch to retrieve another item, to her horror she realized it had come unzipped and her precious ring was gone. Frantically she retraced her jogging route but the ring was nowhere to be seen. To make matters worse, a snowplow passed over the area pushing mountains of snow into the roadside ditch.

I received an email from Marina the next day and arranged to meet her at the scene. Despite our best efforts in the minus-30 degree Fahrenheit cold and brutal winds, the ring was nowhere to be found. It seemed to have vanished. In all likelihood it was resting deep, deep under the snow and beyond the detection capabilities of my Minelab Excalibur. We agreed to search again in the springtime after the snow had melted.

The record-breaking winter finally gave way to springtime. As it relinquished its hold, I kept watching the receding snow in the roadside ditches in anticipation of returning to Mequon to resume the search for Marina’s ring. Finally, the time came to return. And sure enough, some 80 yards up the road from where Marina first discovered her loss, the wedding band and my detector greeted each other as if they were long-long friends; the snowplow had obviously pushed it down the road a lot further than any of us thought was possible.

A quick phone call with the good news made Marina’s day! And the subsequent smile on her face made mine!

If you, or someone you know lost a ring. It may well still be there, even many years later. Contact a Ring Finder’s representative near you today! Who knows, he or she might just put a smile on your face!

The winter of 2014 in Ontario, Canada, was brutal. It was made even more difficult for newly married Aberdeen resident, Derek Pennings when his wedding ring flew off his hand as he shoveled snow. Despite his best search efforts the ring was nowhere to be found in the 4-foot high snowdrifts. Derek’s feelings of hopelessness increased when a tractor and snow blower subsequently cleared the snow. Would he ever see his ring again?

I learned about the loss from my mother who lives down the road from Derek. But it wasn’t until the spring, some months later, that I had opportunity to visit my family and to arrange a search for the ring.

Metal detecting has been a family affair since the mid seventies when my late father took up the hobby in Australia. He and my mother spent many a happy hour together probing the ground for lost treasures. And so true to form, my mother, now approaching 84 years of age, accompanied me with her trusty White’s metal-detector in hand. We both secretly wished the other would be the lucky finder.

As it turned out, Derek’s lost ring responded to my Minelab Excalibur detector as I combed a ditch across the road some 80’ from where the ring was originally lost. Disbelief was written over Derek’s face as we drove up to where he was busy cutting firewood. His expression quickly turned to joyous surprise, however, when I placed the missing love token in his hand.

So glad to have been able to assist with the discovery of your ring, Derek! All the best to you and your new bride; may the story of your ring continue for many years together.

If you are reading this and know of someone who has lost a ring, it probably remains right where it was lost, even if it was lost many, many years ago. Contact a member of The Ring Finders closest to you; he or she might just be able to put a smile on your face!

High school student, Maya Zelaya, heard the sound of her class ring when it ricocheted off the aluminum siding of her house. Then—sickening silence.

Fresh snow was falling in Franklin, WI, on December 13, a Friday-the-13th Maya would not soon forget. As she removed her glove from the hand on which she wore her white-gold, ruby & sapphire studded ring, a quick shake of her cold fingers was all it took to send the precious ring flying. For Maya, it all seemed surreal, kind of like watching a slow-motion movie with the sound turned off. But her now ring-less finger was all too real. Her class ring, honoring her upcoming graduation year, 2014, was gone.

A frantic search in the snow began. But it was to no avail. The ring seemed to have vanished in the deepening whiteness.

Perhaps they could rent a metal detector. When a friend showed up with a detector late that night it only deepened Maya’s disappointment. A plethora of spurious signals made no sense at all. The ground seemed alive with a cacophony of indiscernible chirps and squawks. It was then, Maya’s Mom, Kyle, found The Ring Finders web site. Were they for real, she wondered.

Being it was a Saturday, I was able to respond right away to the pleading voice message on my iPhone. A few hours later a careful grid pattern narrowed the search to an area where two lengths of drain pipe lay half buried in the fresh Wisconsin snowfall. Amidst the befuddling chatter in my headphones, a distinctive signal was faintly discernable. It came from the vicinity of one of the drainpipes. Sure enough, wedged underneath the pipe lay Maya’s ring. It was buried in about two inches of white stuff. But its hiding place was no match for my Minelab Excalibur 2 detector and a tuition honed by 36 years of metal detecting around the world.

Maya, I so much enjoyed helping to get your ring back and seeing your beautiful smile. Your Mom and Grandma sure pulled out all the stops for you. May you all have a wonderful Christmas together in your new home! And may the story of your ring continue for many, many Christmases to come.