Thomas LeDew, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 5 of 5

Ring Found, Orange Beach Al

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

Tess lost her absolutely beautiful wedding and engagement rings while vacationing at the beach. She and friends searched the beach for hours, sifting the sand with no success and it was getting dark. She called me at 9:30 that evening asking if I could help. After discussing details of when and where, it was the best guess than it was lost either on the sandy beach or in the water. I said I would help and I would be there at daylight. Tess met me just as the sun was up enough to see and reviewed the area to search. It was a fairly large area. I decided to search the beach first before lots of people showed up and before the umbrellas went up. The search took about 2 hours. When looking for a gold ring, depending on the metallurgy it could mimic just about any other commonly found metals. Because of that fact I had to dig every signal. I did lots of digging on that beach and did not find her ring. Next step was to search in the water. Fortunately there was not that many signals in the water. I think I dug about 10 targets before coming upon a weird signal, the target data kept jumping around suggesting a soda can but the signals could have been a gold too, so I started digging. Digging has to be done with care to avoid and damage to precious property. It took me three gentle scoops before the target was in my scoop. The entire time I was saying to myself this is a soda can, I know it’s a soda can, but knew I had to dig everything. To my amazement Tess’s cherished ring was there safe and sound. I learn something new just about every time I do a ring recovery, her ring was really three rings probably with different metallurgy!

Found, Wedding Band in the water near Pensacola Beach

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

The shorebreak was still pounding on the beach this past weekend. Brett was playing in the surf when his ring slipped off his finger and disappeared in the foamy surf in about knee deep water. There was a strong down the beach current from the surf and Brett was afraid his ring got caught in the current. It was a big heavy ring with lots of area for the water to push on. He and his friends searched for quite some time with no success. Brett lived out of town and had go home but called me the next day and I said I would do my best to help. I started a search a few hours later based on Brett’s best recollection only to discover that the beach had change shape which is common on Pensacola Beach. The landmarks he relied on no longer existed. There were lots of people on beach the day before and once I got started searching four different people told me about the ring being lost and where it was lost, with each location being different in a 300 foot area! I called Brett and explained we needed to do a bit of detective work to locate the area to search. Fortunately he is very good at estimating distances. Based on structures off the beach, calculating the tide and waiting for the tide to reach the same depth as the time the ring was lost, I started the search again. Within about 45 minutes I got a good repeatable signal. Brett’s ring Apparently sank rapidly in the soft sand that was being agitated by the surf and soon was about 8 or 10 inch deep. After three scoops his ring was recovered. I immediately took a picture of the ring and sent it to him. It was a beautiful ring and Brett’s smile says it all. I was happy I could make his day.

Ring Found Pensacola Beach!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

it was a beautiful day at Pensacola Beach but the Shorebreak was really pounding. Chris was on the edge of the water putting on his fins and mask to do some diving. The Shorebreak hit him, he tumbled a bit and lost his ring. His wife called me to see if I could help and I said I would try. They showed me about where the ring was lost and I was able to find it in an hour hour and a half. We got to talking, he was from Pensacola and so am I. It turned out that we’re distant cousins! They departed all smiles. I was glad I could help and now have another family link. I guess it’s truly a small world!

Heirloom Diamond Ring Recovered

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

This young lady lost her Heirloom diamond ring in the water at Orange Beach Alabama. I was asked to find it late In the afternoon, arriving an hour before dark, I searched until I could no longer see what I was doing and promised to be searching first thing the next morning. I arrived at day break expanding the search area and found her ring within about 45 minutes. I called her to deliver the good news(it was real early, I might have woke her up). She was happy to tears and put the ring back on her finger with noticeable resolve that she would not ever lose it again. I went home happy knowing I had made her day and saved her vacation.

Graduation Ring Recovered

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

This young man recently acquired his high school graduation ring that he was proud to wear. Unfortunately at a gathering of his buddies graduation night he high fived a friend with a bit to much enthusiasm that resulted in the ring flying off his finger, bounced across a wooden deck, onto a wooden dock, and disappeared into about 5 foot of water. Because it was dark the exact path and ultimate location could only be determined by sound. The boys rummaged around on the sandy bottom feeling with their feet with no success. They called me the next day and I started a search early that afternoon. The bottom had quite a bit of trash metal mixed with the sand as you would expect near a boat dock. I’ve a very good totality waterproof detector and carefully, slowly searched the area in a grid pattern, after about an hour searching I located his ring on the edge of a neighbors dock slip. He and a his friend were very excited to get the ring and we exchanged high fives all around… but with a little less enthusiastic force. 😎

Beautiful Wedding Ring Recovered from the Gulf of Mexico

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

Jen lost her beautiful wedding ring on Friday while taking her children to the beach. Her youngest was in her arms while she walked along the waters edge, he squirmed and stripped the ring from her finger and immediately it disappeared in the fluffy white sand at Orange Beach. There was knee high shore break and she felt her ring was long gone. Jen contacted me and I said I would try to recover her ring. I arrived early the next morning, the sand had eroded and covered the location she lost the ring with about a foot of extra sand in knee deep water. I searched for about an hour, the sand was to deep and I wasn’t getting a signal, both Jen and husband Ted were looking worried. I told them I don’t give up. I ended up systemically removing 6″ or so of sand then using the pinpoint function to hunt at maximum depth. After about another hour and several attempts at digging I heard a very, very faint signal, I was hopeful that was indeed her ring because the way the signal repeated which each pass. I carefully set the scoop for maximum depth but with finesse so as to not damage the ring. It wasn’t in the first scoop so again I set the scoop as deep as I could. Sure enough the ring was in the center of a heaping scoop of sand and shell. I estimate the ring was covered with about 16 inches of sand. As I stepped from the water I held her ring up for her and Ted to see. They were amazed I found it and Jen let everyone within ear shot know how delighted and excited she was. Ted, Jen and thier 3 kids left the beach all smiles and happy. I left satisfied that I made their day and that persistence and a little experimentation lead to a truly difficult recovery.

Found! Very special three part ring from the water at Orange Beach, Alabama

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)


This super nice couple came to Orange Beach from Atlanta. They normally vacationed in Panama City but damage from Hurricane Michael changed their plans. The rings were lost while wading about waist deep in the Gulf, but she didn’t know where it was lost for sure. Both she and her Husband were skeptical about someone being able to find a “needle in a haystack”, I assured them I would do my best and I don’t give up. I first searched around where they set their towels to no avail. Next I set flagging so I could accurately search a grid in water. I could tell they were gaining some hope in my ability. Because there were 3 different rings of unknown metallurgy I felt I needed to dig everything. On the first grid line I got a nickel signal, when I set the scoop they lit up with anticipation and unfortunately let down when I showed them the nickel. I think I dug 4 other items and half way through the third grid line I found the “needle”! I looked in the scoop with a big smile on my face and they knew it was recovered. They were all smiles and gratitude. What is so special about this ring set is the ring with the blue gem stones. Her Husband is a Law Enforcement Officer and always on her mind. It made my day that I could help them out. They went home happy with smiles on their faces, and that’s a success story for me!

Found! Beautiful wedding ring lost in the Gulf of Mexico at Orange Beach Alabama

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

This young lady lost her stunning 3 part wedding ring while playing catch with her son in the Gulf of Mexico. The next day a very worried husband called me and I said I would do my best to find her rings. I arrived at the beach and the couple briefed me on the location, it was about a quarter acre, half on land and half in the water! I started the search in the water using flagging placed lined up on the beach so I could maintain a tight grid with overlap to insure complete coverage. The surf was steadily building that afternoon with some waves breaking over my head. Searching was near impossible and even thought I was able to locate several promising targets I did not dig in fear of the rings settling deeper than the my detector would locate. So, I retreated to the beach and made a complete search with out finding her rings. She was very concerned that her rings were lost for good but I told her I don’t give up. Together, I showed her the tide charts and surf report that identified the next late afternoon as the best time to search the water. She was very concerned because they needed to head home the next day. Based on their plan I arrived the next afternoon early and the waves had laid down quite a bit. I had mental notes of where I found targets the day before and started my search at the target I thought had the best signal, I found her ring in about 5 minutes and lucky the three parts were still together. She was exuberant on getting the news that I had found her ring that I felt she thought lost for good. The smile on her face made it all worth while! The family went home happy!

lost wedding ring found