Richard Browne, Author at The Ring Finders

Wedding Band Lost 16 Years Ago Found and Returned. Chatham, MA

from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)
Contact: 1-860-309-3307

16 years ago a young sea-goer’s wedding band was pulled off his finger while trying to secure a friend’s boat to a buoy. Searching the surrounding seaweed covered area was unsuccessful in locating the ring. It was to remain hidden for the next 16 years.

While detecting, enjoying my hobby, and avoiding the Corvid-19 virus I found a wedding band with the initials of T.L.F. and a date of 1989 inscribed on the inside of the band. As usual, as I have never been able to find the owner of a wedding band with that information, I was about to put the ring into my pouch for safe keeping when I noticed a name on a large mooring buoy about four feet from me. The name began with an “F”. Could there be a connection between the “F” in the ring and the “F” on the buoy? I had to do some web searching when I got home.

I searched Zillow for street names in the area, the town assessor’s online data base, and other personal information locators for a family name beginning with an “F” and contact information. The search first lead me to a disconnected phone number, several distant possibilities, and a Trust Fund name and finally to a Financial Group, its name was Odyssey. The name was exciting enough, I had to contact them. Of course the financial specialist, Kim, could not give me any information, other than she knew the family. Do to the privacy laws Kim could only promise me she would inquire of someone in the family that may be able to help and have them contact me. A call came back from Kim with bad news…no one with the initials of T.L.F. was know to the contacted family members. Well I tried. But…wait…

About an hour later I received another call, this time it was from Trish. Yes…Trish had some information, but the owner’s initials were not T.L.F. as they were not the owner’s initials, they were an abbreviation for True Love Forever. The owner, Brian, was and still is a close friend of Trish. An arrangement was made for the return of a long missing wedding band. The return sequence of leading to a wedding band’s return was a first for me, all thanks to a coincidence, hunch and the internet.

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KUUIPO – Hawaiian for – “My Sweetheart” Ring Lost/Found at: Craigville, MA and returned

from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)
Contact: 1-860-309-3307

From Hawaii, 20 years ago, to August of 2018, just after a Cape Cod fishing trip and an afternoon splash in the surf, the Kuuipo ring having been to many places and seeing numerous memorable occasions it decided to take a rest in King Neptune’s domain. From being purchased as a promissory ring in Hawaii to beneath the waters of a popular beach the ring stayed hidden and resting for over a year until I brought it back into the sunshine. Thinking that the uniqueness of the ring would draw some attention if posted on social media, I made a posting. As luck would have it, Luke, another RingFinder, had been contacted and searched for the ring to no avail over the past year. The news of the ring being found spread swiftly and Luke picked up on the finding and called with the owner’s information. I then made contact with Brina and made arrangements for the ring’s return.

A couple of days later the ring was reunited with Brina who passed on the story of the ring and why it was no longer a complete circle. It had been cut off a finger several years ago but not by choice.

Although a lost object may not be initially found, there is always hope that someday it will be found and through our network of friends and the RingFinders the owner will receive the sentimental item back. Luke and I have done this in the past and look forward to our next return.

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Two Rings Lost, Two Rings found and Returned… Provincetown, MA

from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)
Contact: 1-860-309-3307

Twenty years apart, different rings, same happy smile. August 30th saw the morning sun rise in a clear blue sky beckoning Teri to come out for a quick morning swim at high tide. A bit of weight loss and the cool water caused Teri’s wedding band to slip from her finger in water over 6 feet deep. A search for help ensued leading to a several phone calls for help in locating the wedding band. One lead to Luke a member of TheRingFinders. However, due to work requirements, Luke could not make leave work early enough to be able to search the bay area at the far end of the Cape in time to do a proper search at low tide. Five hours after the ring’s loss the low tide was on its way and I was heading for the end of the Cape. The ring’s resting place was now high and dry, well not quite dry. At least waders were not needed for the search in the warmth of the summer sun.

Searching the beach’s slope only yielded a couple one coin and a few odd bits of scrap metal. As an answer to a request for me to search higher on the slope I did but with no signal from the missing ring. Time to go to the damper section of the bay’s tidal area. On the second pass the second signal was the ring. The ring was once again heading back to its proper pace on Teri’s finger. To say the least Teri was sporting a big smile and neighbors having said a prayer to St. Anthony joined in on the joyous sounds.

This return was a bit special as my wife was there to watch me “do my thing”. After pictures were taken and a few stories passed between Teri, her husband, her family members and myself I left with a feeling of satisfaction of a requests fulfilled. On the way home my wife and I stopped for a traditional Cape Cod “Lobstha Roll” over-filled with only claw meat. Now everyone could go home with a smile on their face. Now, this is how every lost ring story should end…with big smiles on everyone’s face.

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Heirloom Australian Gold Ring Returned: West Dennis, MA

from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)
Contact: 1-860-309-3307

It was August 23 and the summer day was just too wonderful not to go swimming while vacationing on Cape Cod. Even in the 74 degree waters the combination of suntan lotion, hot sun and cooler water caused a very sentimental wedding band to slip from Kevin’s ring finger. The ring was to rest beneath the salt water of the Cape overnight.

The next morning due to prior commitments Luke had to leave the search area without finding the misplaced ring. Luke call me and asked if I would help, sure and I was on my way. Searching the primary area and not finding the ring I moved to an area outside “the box”. Not too far, only about 20 feet, five minutes, the ring of gold was in my ears. A quick scoop and the ring was no longer misplaced, it was on its way back to the owner.

I called Luke. He in turn called Kevin’s wife to tell her the ring had been found and that I would be calling to arrange the physical return. Within the hour Jane and Kevin were at my home relaying the story behind the ring. The ring had been reworked form Jane’s great-grandmother’s gold. A ring that could never be replaced and of unmatched sentimental value. Kevin relayed to me that his finger felt so bare he had purchased a Claddagh on the day his ring was lost and that it will be worn while swimming in the future.

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A Picture Narrows Search Area for Lost Ring: Dennis, MA

from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)
Contact: 1-860-309-3307

August 20th was one beautiful day at the beach that ended on a sad note due to a missing wedding band. Michael was enjoying the day of sun, surf, sand and picture taking to remember the beautiful day. Little did he know that four days later one of his pictures would aid me in finding his ring that had slipped from his suntan lotion applying finger.

An E-mail with the photo attached sent me to the location on one of the endless beaches of Cape Cod. I held the picture displayed on my cell phone trying to place myself in the location of where his photo had been taken. At the location, I see a beach goers blanket on the sand with a metal detector on top of it. I cut to the chase, I asked the owner if she had detected and found a wedding band. No, she had not. So I continued my search pattern. Another couple of passes and about 5 feet from the idle detector a strong signal rang in my ears. One scoop later and Michael’s wedding band was shining in the sunlight once again. After a short conversation with a few children that had been watching and showing them the ring and how the detector found the ring I was on my way home.

Michael had left the Cape and through E-mails I arranged the ring return to be made via the mail.

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Wedding Charm Sails Away from Wedding Bouquet: Barnstable, MA

from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)
Contact: 1-860-309-3307

Karoline’s day was going perfectly, family, friends, food, beverages, weather, entertainment, you name it it was all perfect, well almost. It seems a bit of wind had untied the knotted string holding a family heirloom, a gold sailboat, close to the bouquet. The sailboat ran aground mooring itself in the soft sand which was soon to be covered by water of the incoming tide.

Many eyes searched and fingers sifted the sand to no avail. As a last resort I was called. My search lasted a bit over two hours covering both the area on the beach and yard also to no avail. About ready to call it a day Karoline’s sister came running and said we have a neighbor’s pictures, some 135 of them, and one shows the sailboat at the feet of the bride and groom. The entourage was on the way to the beach.

Trying to match the photo up with the landscape was no easy task. After the third area was isolated, and I searched it, an area only about 3 inches from one of my previous search marks, the commandeered sailboat was scooped from the fluffy sand. Now I had the fortune to return it to its rightful mooring. One can talk about a million in one, finding the sailboat in the one picture was one of those winning odds.

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Double Ring Return at West Dennis Beach: Dennis, MA – PART 2 OF 2

from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)
Contact: 1-860-309-3307

While looking for a lost platinum wedding band I had been told about another lost ring. The first ring was found in about 20 minutes. Now the pre-teen’s father and mother were standing on the beach hoping to “see the Ring”. That was not likely to happen. After a short conversation I started searching for the ring high on the beach face working to the water’s edge. Not finding the ring where I thought it would be, I right away started searching perpendicular to the water and on the second pass the second platinum ring of the hour was in my scoop.

I rinsed off the sand from my scoop and the ring and then let the owner remove his ring from my scoop. Total time from starting to search for one lost ring I ended up finding and returning two rings in less than 40 minutes. What a thrill, for me and both of the men needless to say their wife’s thrill when I gave the sentimental rings back to their husband.

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Double Ring Return at West Dennis Beach: Dennis, MA – PART 1 OF 2

from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)
Contact: 1-860-309-3307

Dave had called, left a message and sent an e-mail alerting me to his lost ring at a local beach about 22 hours past. It was near Lifeguard chair 2. I was ready and headed out for what I hope to be a quick search, recovery and return. Aha, the dreaded seaweed had invaded my area of search. That seaweed really slowed my search speed down but not my results.

Just after I started searching two pairs of two pre-teenagers asked if I was looking for the lost ring. I said “yes” and was told that I was in the wrong place. Two of the pre-teens were infatic that I needed to go about 20 yards down the beach and that the ring had been lost today. Well, not the ring I was looking for, the ring I was searching for had been lost was laying on the ocean floor for the second day. Little did I know at the time the ring the two boys were talking about was the pre-teen’s father and he had just lost his ring. You guessed it I now had another ring to search for. I told the pre-teens if they stayed away that I would look for their father’s ring right after finding the one I was currently looking for.

I found the first ring in about 15 minutes, a very nice platinum wedding band. I was off to find the second ring. The ring was reunited with Dave an hour later at my house.

See Double Ring Return at West Dennis Part 2


 

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Engagement Ring Returned to Owner by a Ring Finders Team Effort in Dennisport, MA

from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)
Contact: 1-860-309-3307

Kate never gave up faith that either Luke or I would find her engagement ring. After four low water tries no sparkle of her ring was to be seen. Lost on the 31st of July it was not until the morning of the 2nd of August that everyone came to an agreement on just where the ring should be and we should be searching. It is unbelievably true that both Luke and I had detected over that area more than once. At early morning light I started to the east and Luke to the west of the point. The depth of water were the ring slipped from Kate’s finger was still up for discussion. Needless to say Luke and I would cover the area very carefully again. Within a minute Luke had a signal, dug and re-dug, nothing more was to be heard or seen of the target. Two steps later he heard another signal, dug and re-dug at the target, again the signal was gone, a good sign that the target was in his scoop. Looking into his scoop he saw nothing, no ring, no piece of junk, just a few shells. Then, with laughter and a smile on his face, he called me over to look into his scoop, I saw nothing. “Look harder” Luke said, I did but still saw nothing. “Look on the scoop’s brace plate” I did and there was Kate’s ring, resting on the plate.

Talk about a ring that wanted to hide, Kate’s ring was that ring. It had taken a total of 12 hours detecting before her ring was to be found. During the searches another 5 rings, two religious medals, several fishing weights and lures, coins, pull-tabs, a champagne seal, and many other smaller pieces of metal were retrieved from the sea bed. Upon pulling one ring from the depths I thought I had found the ring. I was unsure of the exact ring style I was searching for, after all how many white gold diamond rings could be lost in such a small area? I took the ring to Kate and she told me it was not hers. It looked like white gold with a diamond on top…turned out to be a silver ring with a clear topaz. As I walked back to the water, even more determined to find Kate’s ring, I was feeling less than wonderful, to say the least. Kate’s ring really took a team effort to find. To Luke and myself it really does not matter, except for bragging rights, who finds a “misplaced” item; it only matters that the owner gets their item returned to them. And that is what we do and did. Best of all was the sincere emotions, appreciation and gratitude shown by Kate and her fiance.

At Luke’s request I am made this post as he has been very busy scuba diving for other lost rings, working and taking care of personal concerns. Please be sure to visit Luke Berube’s blog page here at: TheRingFinders.com/Luke.Berube/ for more of his return blogs.

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Lost / Found / Returned Wedding Band Turns Bad Vacation GREAT! in Dennisport, MA

from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)
Contact: 1-860-309-3307

July 22, 2019

Not knowing how a splendid Nantucket Island vacation was to come to a memorable end Dave and his wife boarded the Hi-speed ferry headed to Hyannis. It seems the weather was bad and many of the passengers were not sea worthy or had not taken their Dramamine to combat motion sickness, heck it is only a short hour ride how bad could it be? It turned out to be one of the longest hours of the vacation. More long hours were still ahead of them that they had not imagined.

Check-in and the accommodations at one of the Cape’s renowned B&Bs promised better times were on the horizon. But that is where they stayed, on the horizon for the next 20 hours, beyond the murky water in the seaweed filled swimming area. Trying their darnedest to make the best of the rough waters and accompanying seaweed, into the high surf they went. Unfortunately that is where Dave’s wedding band decided to spend the night under the watchful eyes of King Neptune and Davey Jones.

A late night E-mail was answered at 2am with a promises I would be ready to search the area at 10:30am or before. Time flies fast when you are having fun and I showed up two hours early. I knew I was in trouble when I saw the dark expanse of seaweed. It looked like it was covering the area that Dave’s wife had marked on a map for the area to search. The best I could do was search the edges of the mass as it was moved by the tide, it was just too thick to swing my detector through. What to do…search outside of the seaweed – for three hours while the tide moved the seaweed away is just what I did.

It was time for Dave and his wife to head home trying to beat the mass exodus from the Cape that happens during the summer months. Three times I was told they were leaving. But, so I was told later, my searching was just too mesmerizing for them to leave. On the third notification I told Dave, not to worry, I would mail the ring to him. However, should I find it within another 15-30 minutes I would call him so he could turn around, come back and pick the ring up before leaving the Cape. He left and in five minutes the ring was in my scoop. I ran to get my cell phone while sunbathers cheered me on. Well, to cut this short, Dave and his wife were still watching from inside the breakfast room. Pictures, hugs and thanks took some time, hopefully not so much as to slow the return trip home caused by heavy vacation traffic. I am sure they would not mind a travel delay after what they had been through and the outcome of my search and the return of Dave’s ring.

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