Rich Hageney, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 3 of 5

Lost Engagement Ring Recovered and Returned in Kennett Square, PA!

  • from Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, United States)
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Got a call from Dan from Kennett Square, PA after he found me in the Ring Finders Directory. He and his fiancee, Sarah, are engaged to be married in October of this year. Dan was seeking help in locating Sarah’s lost emerald and diamond engagement ring. Apparently the day before Sarah spent the afternoon planting flowers in a bed in their side and back yard…later that day when back in house she noticed her beautiful ring was not on her finger. After searching the dirt around the newly planted flowers without success they considered renting or buying a metal detector to look for the ring. But to quote Dan…”decided the job best left to a pro” and they reached out to me. I met them late afternoon on a Tuesday and they quickly gave me a detailed run down on where they think the ring must have come off. Of note is the fact that they both told me the ring was too big for her finger and had a tendency to slip off. Anyway, it wasn’t a large search area… basically 2 mulched flower beds somewhat crowded with flowers. I brought 3 machines with me…since the area was tight with plants I went with my Minelab Equinox 800 with a 6 inch coil…which would allow me to get in tight around the pants and close to the house. As always I first demonstrated my equipment on my own wedding ring to convey to Dan and Sarah that if I’m over the ring I’m not going to miss it! I searched the small back bed first with out success…Dan/Sarah anxiously watching nearby. I moved to the front bed and during my 1st pass my machine blasted out a beautiful 11 gold tone in my headphones. I’ve been detecting for 40 years…I knew  before even bending down and digging that this was the ring! I called Dan and Sarah over and smiled and said….I like this signal! I grabbed my pinpointer and jabbed it 2 inches down into mulch and it announced  a target. Grabbed a fistful of mulch and turned to Dan and Sarah….opened my hand…and there it was!!! Dan was crazy happy and Sarah’s face flooded with relief! Another successful recovery!

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Gold Wedding Band Lost, Recovered and Returned in Philadelphia, PA!

  • from Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, United States)
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Received a late night text from Pedro seeking help in finding his recently lost rose gold wedding band. In speaking with Pedro the following morning he shared that he suffered a sleepless night thinking of his lost band which had disappeared off his finger the day before. We had a big snowstorm in Philadelphia Friday night and the next day Pedro and his wife, Bruna, went for a little adventure in the snowy park nearby. He shared with me that his ring was only 10 months old….a little  loose and he had just put moisturizer on his hands prior to leaving for the park. While at the park he removed his gloves at different times to take pictures with his phone. He did not realize his ring was missing off his hand till later that evening at home.

I agreed to meet them with my metal detector at the park Sunday morning. Here is the good news…Pedro had a pretty good idea as to the areas where they stopped and he took off his gloves to take pictures…he also told me his wife wears the exact ring as him(maybe a little smaller) enabling me to scan it and set up my detector to zero in on it. Here is the bad news….huge park…big crowds…and they covered quite a bit of ground on their walk. When I got to the park I was a little intimidated by the size of the search area…but my experience always tells me to start at the end of the walk and/or where they feel they most likely lost and work toward the beginning. I firstly had Bruna put her identical ring on the ground and demonstrated to them that if they put me over the lost one I will definitely pick it up with my machine…I was also able to eliminate signals from all other metals. We then proceeded to walk a 1/4 mile through the park to the very end of their adventure where they stopped to make a snowman and Pedro took pictures. It was the most amazing thing….while I had a little bit of a feeling that I was  searching for a needle in a haystack I also felt good about the strategy to start searching where I did. I started to detect around the area where they built the snowman and was on my 4th pass when I got a good signal on my machine….I looked down and there was a gold rim just breaking the surface of snow! I couldn’t believe it…don’t think I even searched 10 minutes! I didn’t even bend down… I looked at Bruna and Pedro and smiled. They both said no way! I called Pedro over and pointed at the snow…I think us Ring Finders live for this moment! To say they were surprised and excited would be an understatement. They were such a nice couple…it brought me such great joy to be able to come trough for them. They will be heading back to Brazil next year…its cool that I was able to provide such a great and interesting memory from there time here!

 

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Gold Wedding Band Recovered and Returned in West Chester, PA!

  • from Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, United States)
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Boyd reached out to me after losing his beautiful, large gold wedding band while landscaping his backyard in West Chester, PA. He had been looking for it for a week with no luck and was about to give up when a friend of his referred him to to me and the Ringfinder directory. I had helped his friend find a lost phone with my metal detector the year before. Anyway, I agreed to meet Boyd at his house and he walked me through the facts surrounding the lost ring. He was 100% sure he had it on while he was raking leaves and cleaning up brush around his backyard. After losing it he spent hours looking with his eyes and raking around in case it was hiding underneath remaining leaves. As I always do I started by demonstrating my machine to Boyd…I throw my wedding band on the ground and let him hear how clearly my detector picks it up. Basically I want him to feel confident that if I swing the detector over it…I’m not going to miss it!!! and miss it I did not! About 10 minutes into the search I heard that satisfying surface gold signal with my metal detector! It was underneath some leaves and brush in an area where Boyd said he had searched several times. Boyd was very happy to have his ring back in his possession! I told him being a ringfinder is always a lot more fun when you’re able to return the missing item!

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Gold anniversary ring lost, recovered and returned in Phoenixville, PA!

  • from Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, United States)
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Received a Wednesday morning text from Felix who found me in the Ring Finder directory. I broke away from work and gave him a quick call to allow him to fill me in on the details of his wife’s lost ring. Apparently his wife, Kim, was at a community farm in Phoenixville, PA with her daughter the day before picking up her weekly veggie share. Felix told me both his wife and daughter saw the ring fall off her finger while they were picking and bagging their veggies. He shared that the area where it dropped was 4-6 inch high farm field grass and that both his wife and daughter spent hours searching for it with no success. I conveyed to him that I was quite confident I could find it for them and we agreed to meet at that farm at 5 pm later that same day.

I met kim at the farm and she showed the exact area where she felt and saw it come off her finger.  The area consisted of  rows of raised vegetable laden mounds each separated by 6 feet of 4-6 inch farm field grass. Kim knew exactly where the ring came off…even showed me the basil plant she had picked just prior to seeing her ring slip off. It fell off when she was putting the basil in a bag and she tried to catch it before it hit the ground. Her daughter saw the falling ring as well. She was amazed/surprised/concerned about not finding her beautiful white gold anniversary ring…she just figured she can’t see it in tall grass. At this point I’m figuring 3 minutes max…I’m going to find this thing! Well after 15 minutes of searching both sides of the basil mound and the basil mound itself I was starting to question whether it was actually there. I took my own gold ring off several times to check my equipment and convince kim that if I’m over it I’m not going to miss it.

Well after several passes of the area she was convinced the ring was I figured its time to expand the search area. I moved over an entire row to the adjacent grassy lane….maybe 15- 20 feet from where she was convinced it dropped and finally hear the beautiful signal I had been looking for. I hadn’t even bent over yet and the ring still wasn’t visible beneath the grass but I knew what it was! I gave Kim a big smile and bent down to part the grass…there was her big gorgeous ring! We laughed and high fived…she couldn’t believe how far it was from where she thought it fell. I truly live for the joy I brought her by putting that ring back in her possession!

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Gold and diamond wedding band lost, recovered and returned in Broomall, PA!

  • from Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, United States)
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Shawn reached out to me via text today after finding me in the Ring Finders directory. We got on the phone together and he shared with me the details surrounding the disappearance of his wife’s white gold and diamond wedding band. Apparently yesterday afternoon his wife decided to take their 15 month old boy on a stroll around the neighborhood. After getting him situated in the stroller she removed her 3 ring wedding set(2 identical white gold diamond bands and a solitaire diamond ring) to put sun block on the baby and placed all 3 rings on the top of the stroller. She forgot to put them back on before starting the stroll and made it about 6 blocks before noticing them there. Unfortunately at that point only 2 rings were still there…1 of the bands fell off somewhere during the walk. I got to their house in Broomall, PA around 4 pm that same day. Shawn and I re-enacted the whole incident and walked the entire path where his wife strolled with the baby. It was a poured concrete sidewalk with grass on both sides. It was a pretty large search area! Shawn said he spent 4-5 hours searching the day before just with his eyes and with a flashlight at night. He even considered buying or renting a metal detector before deciding to call me. As I always do, the first thing I do is a quick demonstration of my equipment to give confidence that we wont miss it if I get over it. The great thing about this particular situation is that Shawn had the 2nd identical band that I was able to scan with my machine(Minelab Equinox 800) to see exactly what # it would ring up as. In the case of this band it was a solid 9-10 every time. With that info I was able to set my detector to just zero in on that target id. As I always do I brought a back up detector with me which I also set up to just zero-in on that 9-10 target. Shawn was all to happy to join the search by manning the 2nd detector and with him on right and me on left…we went to work. As an experienced detectorist I knew what to listen for so I was able to move pretty fast…Shawn to his credit was doing a pretty good job himself but maybe a little distracted by some errant sounds and trashy signals. Anyway we got about 4 blocks into the search and I felt like this was the most likely place the ring fell off…It was a little downhill and the sidewalk was bumpy. I was ahead of Shawn on left and got the perfect signal I was looking for…a screaming surface 9-10 signal. It was deep grass but I didn’t even look down…I knew what it was! I called Shawn over with the other detector and told him to sweep right where I pointed. When his detector start screaming with a 9-10 signal he looked at me with amazement…do you think that’s it? I said look….and sure enough there it was!!!!

Shawn readily admitted that no way he would have ever found the ring with out a metal detector and most likely wouldn’t have found it even if he bought or rented one. I tell people all the time that the experience of the detectorist is as important as the machine itself. To finish the story…Shawn texted me later to tell me his wife was beyond  ecstatic about having her complete set of rings back on her finger!

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Gold wedding band lost, recovered and returned in Philadelphia, PA!

  • from Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, United States)
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Sebastian found me in the Ring Finders online directory. After a quick phone conversation it was conveyed to me that while playing basketball on the driveway of his Philadelphia home he realized his white gold wedding band had slipped off. He was pretty sure it came off while he was making a long shot from the middle of his grassy backyard. I was there at his property within 4 hours of his original contact. I had an opportunity to meet his son, Quinn, and baby daughter…cute kids!  As I always do I took a minute to demonstrate my equipment so he could gain confidence that if there…I’ll find!

After adjusting the settings of my Equinox 800 detector several times and already covering the area once I was finally able to find the signal I was looking for…I could see the white gold ring just under the surface of grass. It was ringing up a little high for gold leading me to believe it might be palladium instead. Regardless, Sebastian was pleased and relieved to see his ring once again. He and his kids happily posed for a celebratory moment with the recovered ring!

 

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Class of 1985 gold college ring…lost, recovered and returned in Collegeville, PA!

  • from Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, United States)
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Received a text from Karen today seeking help in finding her boyfriend’s lost college ring. She found me in the Ring Finders directory and I returned her text with a phone call to discuss the lost ring. Karen conveyed to me that(1 year ago!) she was mowing the backyard lawn of her home in the Skippack/Collegeville area of PA while her boyfriend, Eric, was also doing some work in the backyard. As she was mowing she saw a large branch in her way and asked Eric to pick it up and heave it out of the way to the side of the yard. In doing so Eric felt his prized college ring fly off his finger in the same direction of the branch…somewhere in the corner of the yard. They searched for hours and even rented a metal detector to try to find with no luck. As the year passed Karen never forgot about the missing ring and was determined to find and return it to Eric…she finally reached out to a “Ring Finder”.

I arrived to her home around 3:30 pm on the same day she contacted me. We went straight back to the area where the loss occurred. As I always do I took a second to demonstrate my equipment with my own ring….I want people to feel confident that if the ring is there…I’m going to find it! She re-enacted the loss and showed me exactly which direction the branch and ring were thrown. I’ve learned over the years to prioritize the most likely search areas first and then expand outward. I was there about 5 minutes and on my 4th signal I knew I had it before I even bent down. It was a clean and solid gold tone 1 inch beneath the surface. I grabbed my pinpointer an targeted its exact location just under the surface and gently moved a 1/2 inch of dirt and saw the gold shine through. Before digging any further I called Karen over and asked her to take  a look….she was amazed!!! We gently moved a little more dirt and plucked this beauty out of the ground! As a Ring Finder I always tell people how much more fun it is when you are able to come through and find and return the item! Karen and Eric were very happy!!!!

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Gold and Diamond Wedding Band Lost in Snow, Found and Returned in Paoli, PA

  • from Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, United States)
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Vijay found me via The Ring Finders Directory. He texted me looking for help in locating his lost gold and diamond wedding band. We spoke on the phone and he told me he was on an early morning walk around his neighborhood in Paoli, PA admiring the snow that was really coming down hard. He went to take a picture with his phone and while reaching for the phone he felt his ring fall off his finger straight down into the 8 or more inches of snow at his feet. At the time he didn’t have gloves on so he went home to get gloves so he could dig around and find the ring but by the time he got back…uh oh…the plow came through. I live about 15-20 minutes from Paoli so I was there within 30 minutes. First thing Vijay said to me was that next week is his 1 year wedding anniversary…and he made it clear the ring must be found! We met at the area where he dropped the ring, it was a parking lot of a school, and he showed me exactly where the ring was dropped. It was clear that the ring was definitely swept away by the plow and most likely was in one of the 3-4 foot mounds of snow near where the drop occurred. I had 2 detectors with me…One with a small coil and one with a larger coil. I started searching first with the larger coil but it was tough going and I couldn’t sweep the mound very effectively. I switched to the smaller coil and after each pass without a signal I took my shovel and dug the mound down by a foot or so. The detector depth is only a foot so I was assuming the ring was probably deeper toward bottom of the mound. After 20 minutes and on my 3rd pass I finally got a really good signal(a 22 on my Equinox 800). I called Vijay over and told him I’m liking this signal…we looked together as I dug down in snow. We were both elated to see his bright yellow gold band appear! I tell this to people all the time…being a Ringfinder is a lot “funner” when you are able to come through for the person! I’m so happy that Vijay can celebrate his 1 year anniversary next week with his beautiful band on his finger.

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Gold wedding band lost, recovered and returned in Manayunk, Philadelphia, PA!

  • from Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, United States)
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I’m still laughing about it….Hopefully Taylor and Scott are too!

Taylor found me via the Ring Finders Directory after her husband, Scott, lost his large gold wedding band. They live in a row home in the Manayunk area of Philadelphia, PA. Apparently, Scott was horsing around with their dogs on the front porch when he felt(and heard) his ring slip off his finger and bounce into the front yard. Unfortunately, the sloping front yard is quite unruly with the presence of 2-foot deep ground Ivy vine. They had been searching for hours in the dark the night before and then again the next morning before they finally asked me to come with my detector. I showed up around lunchtime the next day(1/18/21). When I walked up to their front door I noticed the search area was going to be quite a challenge….it was quite overgrown and sweeping my detector was not going to be possible. Not to be deterred I made me way into the deep brush with the intent to poke in and out of the brush with my small search coil. I worked my way up through weeds to the top of the slope closest to porch and noticed that they had been hard at work cutting away and removing the first 2 feet of deep weeds. Scott and Taylor were on the porch looking down on me and talking me through the actions that lead to the loss.

Now keep in mind…I’ve been there 60 seconds and haven’t even turned on my detector…I look down in the middle of the small area that they had cleared that morning…and hey….that looks like a ring???? I bend down and ha!….it is a ring. A large, white gold wedding band. I pick it up and hold it out to Scott…who is clearly shocked? dumbfounded? amazed? embarrassed?

We laughed and laughed. Who knows how they could’ve missed it…I just told them how happy I was to be able to find for them. And then I told them it was their loss that they didn’t get to witness my mad detector skills!

So much fun to be a RingFinder!

 

 

 

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Diamond engagement ring lost in snow, recovered and returned in Bensalem, PA!

  • from Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, United States)
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Received an email from Catie on December 17, 2020 looking for help finding a lost diamond engagement ring. I gave her a call and she shared the details of what happened. Here in the Philadelphia area we had a significant snow storm Wednesday night through Thursday morning. Catie was clearing snow off her car in the parking lot of her apartment in Bensalem, PA when she suddenly noticed her relatively new engagement ring was no longer on her finger. She was quite certain it was on her finger prior to her starting to clear the snow off the car. In somewhat of a panic she dug around in the 10 inches of snow with no luck. Prior to calling me she had actually borrowed a metal detector but told me it was of no use and she didn’t know how to work it. After speaking to her I told her I would be there the next day at lunch time….I stressed to her not to touch, move or shovel anymore snow and to make sure no one shovel the snow around the area.

I met Catie at her car at around 130 pm and we re-enacted her movements that led to the lost ring. Based on her description of her movements I guessed it couldn’t be far from her car and most likely in the snow behind the car. I learned over the years to prioritize search areas…start a quick search in the most likely area it fell…even if that area is sort of in the middle of the entire search area. I made a first pass along and behind the tail gate of her car with no luck…the snow was deep! I turned and began making a 2nd pass a little more distant to the rear of the car and BOOM! A surface 8-9 tone on my Equinox 800 detector! Those of you who are detectorists know…if you get a solid surface signal in 10 inches of snow…its going to be a winner. The signal was so clear and obvious I wasn’t surprised when i bent down and wiped away a few inches of snow to reveal a beautiful diamond ring. Total search time – 2 minutes?!

Catie happened to be standing 10-15 feet away….watching with hopeful yet anxious eyes. When I got the signal…even before bending over….I gave her a wink(like babe Ruth calling the homer!). After bending over and picking up her ring I think she was in a bit of shock when she saw it in my hand. Then tears of joy of course! To this day I find the best part of being a Ringfinder is the visceral joy and relief on faces of people when I hold up their lost ring. What can I say…its a rush!

Catie is scheduled to get married September of this year…I certainly wish her the best!

 

 

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