Rich Hageney, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 4 of 6

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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Platinum wedding band lost, recovered and returned in Berwyn, PA!

  • from Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, United States)
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Dan found me via The Ring Finders directory. He was deeply worried about losing his very sentimental platinum wedding band. He said he just celebrated his 1 year wedding anniversary and the ring was so important to him. He told me the previous Saturday he was at his niece’s wedding reception in the backyard of his brother’s house in Berwyn , PA. The reception was a big affair with a DJ and a dance floor set up in the middle of the grassy backyard. He was partying and dancing up a storm when he decided to head in the house to use the bathroom….that’s when he noticed his ring was missing. He was 100% sure it was on his finger before the party started. He and family started searching immediately both at party and next day. He finally contacted me on a Tuesday and and I agreed to start to search on Wednesday. Dan lives in NJ so he put me in touch with his brother since it was his yard I would be searching. I met his brother that afternoon in the backyard of his house…it was a 50 x 5o foot grassy yard with much of the grass compressed and still littered from the big party. In the middle of grass you could clearly see the 20×20 foot square where a wood dance floor was installed and then removed.  As you become more experienced as a Ring Finder you start to get more intuitive on where the lost ring might be when starting a search. You prioritize the most likely areas…not only based off details and circumstances of how it was actually lost but also considering the fact that many people have been looking for it for many days with just their eyes(not a metal detector). Most of the grass in backyard was very short or non-existent…if the ring was there they would have found it themselves. However, there was one area off near the dance floor where the grass was higher…if it fell there it would be difficult to find without a metal detector. Soooooo…..I started there. Bingo…I immediately got a perfect ring signal. I bent down…pushed aside the high grass to reveal Dan’s ring! I immediately texted Dan’s brother who came out and was just amazed how quickly I found it after so many people searched for hours. He, in turn, immediately called Dan to share the good news! It brings me great joy to be able to come through for people with a successful recovery!

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Cell Phone lost recovered and returned in Chadds Ford, PA!

  • from Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, United States)
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Greg found me via The Ring Finders directory. He contacted seeking help to find a very important lost Iphone. We spoke on a Friday night and Greg shared with me that 2 weeks prior while enduring some very difficult and personal trauma he absent-mindedly left the phone on top of his car prior to pulling out of driveway of his home. He got to the end of the 400 foot driveway when he realized he left the phone on the roof of the car. Unfortunately the phone was no longer there and obviously slid off at some point during the short drive. To further complicate things the driveway was lined on both side with either leaves or pachysandra ground cover. Greg spent several hours over the last 2 weeks searching with a rake for the phone. I agreed to meet him on a Saturday afternoon. When I got to his home he was prepared with an old phone to reenact the incident… while I observed he put the phone on the roof of his car and once again pulled to end of driveway. It was clear that the phone must have slid off to the left side and most likely in the curved area of the driveway with thicker ground leaves. I booted up the detector and made a first pass parallel and closer to driveway…no luck. Halfway trough a 2nd pass quite distant from driveway in an area of thick leaves I received a screaming loud signal on my detector…to me there was no doubt what that was! I gently pushed away a a few inches of leaves to reveal his Iphone 7! I called Greg over and asked him to look down…the relief and joy on his face when seeing his lost phone made my day!

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Massive platinum wedding band lost, recovered and returned in Chadds Ford, PA!

  • from Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, United States)
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Jay found me via The Ring Finders Directory. He told me he was in the front yard of his beautiful Chadds Ford, PA home putting up Christmas lights when he took a break to throw a football with his son. His son threw him a deep high pass and while reaching to catch it he felt(but didn’t see!) his large platinum wedding band fly off his finger. He actually borrowed a metal detector from a neighbor and spent several hours looking for the ring himself prior to contacting me. When talking to him I told him that I have had many people contact me after renting or buying a metal detector themselves…I feel the experience of the operator of these machines is as important as the machine itself when searching for something as important and valuable as a ring. Anyway, I met Jay on a Saturday afternoon and we reenacted the incident. Jay was convinced the ring must have flung off his finger straight back and far toward the side yard. After 20-30 minutes and not finding…we reenacted the incident again and considered other angles and expanded our search. Still nothing! We decided to reenact the incident one more time but this time Jay was going to actually fling a ring sized object to see how far and what direction it might go. He just returned from his garage with the ring sized object in his hand and was preparing to fling it…I was standing next to him in an area he never thought possible his ring could be…but sure enough I got the perfect signal on my detector. I bent down with my pin pointer and sure enough…there was his massive platinum band! The funny thing was Jay had his back to me still about to fling his mock ring….when I tapped him on shoulder and told him to stop! I held up his ring and we both started laughing…he couldn’t believe where I found it. We had the angles all wrong! All’s well that ends well! Jay was very happy to get get his ring back!

 

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Important keys lost, recovered and returned in Wilmington, DE!

  • from Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, United States)
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Got an email from Dan in Wilmington, DE. Apparently his wife was making snow angels in a huge leaf pile in her parent’s backyard when her ring of important keys came up missing.  They had been raking leaves and had created a massive pile on top of a tarp…after playing in the leaf pile they dragged the leaves to a secluded part of the backyard. Not a 100% certain the keys were lost among the leaves they spent several hours over several days searching for the keys inside and outside of house. Dan came to the realization that his only hope might be a metal detector to search the huge pile of leaves. He said he briefly considered buying a metal detector but after a quick google search came across the Ringfinder directory. I got his email around 1 pm on a Wednesday and arrived at the house by 330 that same day. I met Dan and his mother-in-law in the backyard and was shown three possible areas where they thought the keys might have been mixed in with all the leaves. Like I always do,  I took a minute and demonstrated how my equipment works so they can have confidence that if the keys are there…I’ll find them. I had a few options as far as where to start the search…I decided to start in the very middle of the largest pile. Within 30 seconds I had a very strong signal deep in the pile…I broke out my pinpointer which immediately confirmed a good target. After a quick pushing aside of leaves…there they were! Its always fun to see the amazement on peoples faces when you are able to find something so quickly that they thought was gone forever. Dan was extremely happy and immediately called his wife to share  the news of her recovered keys!

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