Richard Browne, Author at The Ring Finders

Centerville, MA Beach Holds a Ring for 3 Days, Found and returned by Richard Browne

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)
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July 8, 2025 I was having my second cup of coffee, catching up on the news and weather – thunder storms in the afternoon when a text came in for help with a lost wedding ring. I read the following: “I’m Mattie and I lost my wedding band at the beach. I found your profile on ring finders and was hoping maybe you could help. … I know it’s been a few days of shifting sands and beach goers, but I was curious if you might be available to check it out. … I’m at peace if the ring ends up being a beach treasure in the end: it was a family ring but my mother and her parents were huge beach lovers and in way it would be poetic. … it was a ring my Yia Yia (grandma) gave to my mom, who gave to me when I was about to get married and we used for our ceremony! I’ve worn it since. It was loose on my finger in the water so I asked my older daughter to bring it back to the chairs we had while I stayed with my younger daughter (safety first!) but unfortunately she dropped it in the way. I saw how heartbroken she was and I just knew that the right thing in the moment was to not stress and move on.”

What could I do but assure Mattie that I would go and search the area. I would also reach out to other detectorists that I know frequent the area in case I did not find the ring myself. Once on the beach and in the area, I could not guess why that one area was void of towel and sun umbrellas. There was one person with a metal detecting scoop, but no detector in sight. At the end of my first pass I stopped and talked with the gentleman with the scoop. A local that regularly detects the area. I told him what I was looking for and he assured me he had not found much of anything over the past three days. Oh well, back to detecting … a coin spill of 45 cents … well no one gets it all. Another two steps and another target was beneath my coil, a quick scoop and it was in my scoop. Boy will Mattie be happy was my thought as I saw what had to be her ring, and it was. No one had found the ring in its three days in the sand. It was truly a lucky day for Mattie and a happy ending to the story for her older daughter.

As the family had returned to New York, I would mail the ring the next day and wait for a picture for the Book of Smiles. Yes, I just love my hobby for making happen endings to stories just like this one.

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Lost, Found, Returned Oura Ring a Birthday Present Sandwich, MA by Richard Browne

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)
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July 12, 2025 Lost in beach sand just after applying sunscreen and trying to pick it up and put it back on. It just slipped off and into the sand. Several fellow beach goers searched to no avail. A Google search lead Imari to TheRingFinders.com and my phone. My usual response put Imari at ease and knowing I would be there within a half an hour. I made it by one minute.

A quick review of how the ring want missing and a recheck of its position on the beach with a cellphone application got me into the area. The first grid was not holding the ring so it was off to the second position that the application showed as the rings location. I admitted along the way that I was unsuccessful for finding the only other Oura ring I had searched for. But there was a good reason, it had been lost inside a car and the application defaulted to the last ping and not the current location. I guess that the application has improved in the last two years.

Back to the search… Dang, believe it or not, but Imari’s footprint was right on the precise spot that my detector alerted me to a buried object. And, yes, the object was the Oura Ring.

A few pictures were taken and a few detecting stories relayed before I was given two chocolate chip cookies that I said I would take home and make into an ice cream sandwich. As good as I know it will be, I will have to admit that the Ice Cream Sandwich in Sandwich, MA will be hard to beat. They make fresh cookies each morning and stuff with 4-5 scoops of you favorite flavors of ice cream. A must for anyone visiting Cape Cod

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Sunshine Diamond Earring Found and Returned by Richard Browne in Dennis Ma

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)
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July 7, 2025 Dana lost an earring, a sharp eyed swimmer had found the wire half and returned it to Dana. Dana also snorkeled for some time but could not find the diamond studded sunshine disk.

The old saying about “When it rains, it pours.” was surely true on this day. I had been called to find a ring that was lost on the 3rd of July when the text to help to find Dana’s sunshine lost in a fresh water pond showed up on my phone. It was first come, first served and I was off to the salt water beach. Found the ring and off to the fresh water pond. On the way I lost contact with Dana as her cell phone’s battery was depleted. So I was clueless as to the location in the pond the earring had been lost. I started the grid search and found only one piece of tin foil and a small pendent. I left the water and did a grid search of the sand area. After finding only one more target, a penny, I went back to the car to see if there was any phone response from Dana. Low and behold there was from Dana’s father. In the text there was a picture of the one earring Dana had. I could not believe it but the “charm” I had found on my way out of the water to the sand of the beach was THE earring, shining gold with diamonds.

A text and within 5 minutes Dana and her father arrived to claim the earring.

I was getting ready for my next call, and read Andrew’s last text that read “Rick, thank you so much we found it! There was a guy with a heavy duty metal detector… He found it in about 15 minutes. That was good news for me as NOAA was transmitting a severe thunder storm warning. Time to head home for the safety of the house, out of danger’s way and dinner.

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Cartier Love Ring Found and Returned by Richard Browne

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)
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July 5, 2025 The 4th of July started with visions of a great day; but ended with despair after I failed to locate a Cartier Love Ring. I had come to the Dennis Beach where Jack had lost the ring. He gave me the area to search, but after 2 hours of sky rockets going off down the beach and over my head and the tide going out, but not far enough I called it quits until the next day.

The 5th of July was another beautiful day with the tide going low until 2:30 or so. I got ready about noon and headed to the beach. I had a better idea of the ring’s location after talking with other family members and started gridding the sandy area beyond the area I had searched the night before. I finally got out far enough that I was detecting in the water. About my 6th pass I heard the best signal I had heard all day. One scoop, a rinse in the salt water and the only thing left in my scoop was the Cartier Love ring.

There were no family members to share my thrill with, but the other local residents were more than interested in my find and were impressed with my success. Many wanted to know more about TheRingFinders.com and my hobby of metal detecting. I finally made it to shore and then to my car. On the way others were interested if I had found the ring, they had seen me the night before in the water doing something.

Back at the house and my car I was told Jack was working at a restaurant close to my home. So I was on the move again. At the restaurant Jack and I met for a quick photo and a long Thank-you. Jack went back to work and I to home to wait for the next call for help.

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Falmouth, MA Wedding Band Lost and Returned by Richard Browne

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)
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July 4, 2025 Right after finding an engagement ring and returning it I was on my way to Mike and the group that had given up looking for Mike’s ring in the sand.

A few questions, precise answers and I was searching after moving a few beach chairs. Their metal legs caused false signals to my detector. However I worked as close to them as I could. I was told it was only 45 seconds before I had the wedding band in my scoop and ready for Mike to remove it. Of course no one really expected to see it recovered so fast. He removed the ring from the scoop and replaced it on his finger expressing the thrill with many thank-yous and a few hugs. A couple of photos and I was off to the gate keepers tent then to my waiting wife who had stayed in our car. At the beach and back at the tent and then car, no one could believe that two “lost” rings had been found in such a short time. I guess it could only happen in Vacation Land on Cape Cod with the help of a member from TheRingFinders.com.

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Falmouth, MA 4th of July Engagement Ring Lost, Returned

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)
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July 4, 2025 The 4th of July is usually a day of family, food, frolic and fun in the sun on a sandy beach of Cape Cod. The 4th started off that way but soon would see frowns and nervous feelings for Erin as her engagement ring slipped into the sand not to be seen for a few hours. Searching by hand, and a digging tool or two before a desperate trip to the closest store that had a metal detector and back. Unfortunately the detector did not provide the results was hoped for.

The next thought was to search the web for help. There to results lead Erin’s group to Brian, another member of “TheRingFinders” who was to tell Erin’s husband that they would be the 4th on the list for help. Brian suggested that the try calling Rick Browne. The call came and within 45 minutes I was at the beach and met up with who I thought was Charlie but no, it was another man with a request to help find a “lost” ring. He would be number 2 on my list when Charlie spoke up and led me to the bay side of the peninsula and the area Erin had “lost” her ring.

I was shown where the ring slipped away and the holes dug while looking for it. Within 15 steps I had one signal which was from a pull tab, the next signal was the ring. I should have known it was going to be one of those days as I had left my cellphone in my car. I would have to rely on Erin, and her sister-in-law to text me the photos and information I needed to write this blog. I bid the party good bye and a reason to enjoy the rest of the day and return to making memories of the 4th. I was off to the next lost ring that was on the opposite side of the peninsula.

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Rose Gold Ring Found and Returned Smuggler’s Beach Yarmouth, MA by Richard Browne

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)
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June 30, 2025  Chris and his wife were enjoying the sun, sand, and surf when the combination of a loose ring, sun tan lotion and cool water working together let Chris’s ring slip off his finger. A call for help was placed to J&E Enterprise resulted in a call to me. I took the information and headed to the beach. It was 3 hours past low tide and was coming in fast. The pinned google photo showed me I should be working on the edge of a sea weed bed. It was the first day I braved the water in a bathing suit and to my surprise the water was comfortable but the sea weed patch was just beyond my reach by some 5 feet. I worked the area from the deepest I could go, inward to knee deep water. An hour and a half passed with only one dug target. I was about ready to give up until my detector gave off with the best signal I had heard. I took a scoop and missed the target. Took another scoop, a shake or two and saw the handsome rose gold ring in the bottom of my scoop.

Now all that was left was to contact Chris and set up the return. It turned out that I would mail the ring to his home address. Which has been done and I now have another photo for the Book of Smiles.

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Campground Beach, MA Lost / Found / Returning of Wedding Band

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)
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June 25, 2025

With sunshine and high temperatures the desire to “Go to the Beach” to cool off is a prime cause for more rings to be “lost” and the need for a member of TheRingFinders.com to find the lost ring.

Jon found himself in just that situation on the 24th. As the tide was rising he and Kaden, his son, dug a hole on the sand bar. Then today Jon called for help. Within 2 hours I was ready for another search. I arrived an hour early due to the lack of beach traffic. Jon had left the beach to run an errand, leaving Kaden to show me the hole. I was glad to have a guide, otherwise I might still be looking for the correct area to search. At the hole which was the point were the loss was to have occurred. I started to drag my scoop to line a box in the sand. I had gone about 15 to 20 steps before getting a signal. One shallow scoop and I had the wayward ring. Now all I had to do was wait for Jon’s return.

When Jon showed up I went to shake his hand. He felt the ring and could not believe I had found it and he quickly put it back on were it belonged and gave me a big hug.

Lesson learned: Always leave a good, lasting impression. In this case there were two, the hole in the sand and a big hug.

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Private Beach in Brewster, MA – Platinum/Diamond Wedding Band Lost, Found, Returned

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)
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June 25, 2025

When you believe you are doing everything correctly, something has to go wrong. Mary Rose found out the hard way at the beginning of her vacation on Cape Cod. It happened on the beach and started with Mary Rose putting her two rings into a plastic bag for safe keeping. Well, safe until she went to put them back on. Instead of two rings on her finger, she had only one. The other, a platinum ring with 8 diamonds, her mother’s wedding band, could not be found in the sand where it fell.

In the hours that followed, her husband made a mad rush to purchase a metal detector. It was the best tool for the job. But with most tools the detector has a learning curve for one to be successful with its use. With a bit more practice and a better sand scoop I believe the ring would have been found. As easy as it looks, it takes many hours of a metals detectors’ use to be able to use it proficiently with the ability to identify a target as good or trash. Then one also needs the correct accessory to retrieve the target.

The family put a few hours into searching and even using kitchen strainer to sift the fine, dry sand. After the hours with no success, an internet search for help ended on TheRingFinders.com website and my contact information. Within three hours I was on the beach and searching. A small area, knowledge of what my detector was telling me, and a beach scoop, the ring was located and pulled from the sand in less than 2 minutes. Another few seconds passed and Mary Rose had the sentimental ring back on her finger and a smile on her face.

Before leaving I spend some time in explaining my equipment and a few suggestions for son, Will, on how to use his new detector to become a more proficient metal detectorists. The most important suggestion was DO NOT to bury his grandmother’s ring in his practice of using a detector.

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BMW FOB Lost in the Sand – Bank Street Beach Harwich, MA Found and returned

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)
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June 22, 2025

The warm temperatures and bright sunshine had brought quite a crowd to Cape Cod’s beautiful beaches. One such fun seeker was Charlie who hails from England and drove his mother’s car to the beach. It was a wonderful experience, soft sand, good friends all enjoying the day…until it was time to leave. A frantic search started for the missing car fob, without it there was no way home.

The search for the fob failed and an internet search for a metal detectorist that could help. TheRingFinders.com showed up on the search results and Luke was the closest. Luke had another commitment and reached out to me. As luck would have it, I had just returned home from returning a lost/found wedding band and I could leave immediately.

The short story is I met Charlie and his friends in the parking lot, walked to the area where he had spent the afternoon. The area marked out for me was relatively small and in less than five minutes the fob was in my scoop, we were heading back to the parking lot and then onto home. The next day was to be even better weather wise and of course, to find a more secure place to put the car fob while on the sands of Cape Cod.

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