Man’s Cobalt Wedding Band Lost on Ocean Isle Beach NC – Found and Returned
About 5:15 p.m. on Sunday, March 27th, I received a text message saying, “Hi Jim, My name is Lyndsey and I heard you are an excellent ring finder. Any chance you are available near OIB (Ocean Isle Beach)”. I called the number and talked with Lyndsey to get the details. She said her friend, Sean, had lost his wedding band while playing catch with her son in the dry sand. She said Sean had told her he had the ring on until he removed the ball glove and within minutes realized his ring was gone. The last thing she mentioned was that their group spent about 45 minutes looking for the ring with no luck. I told her I’d be there in 35-40 minutes, grabbed my gear and headed out. She texted me her address as I was driving out of my neighborhood.
I arrived about 6 p.m. and met Lyndsey in her driveway. She told me that Sean didn’t know that she had found somebody to try and find his ring and hoped we could surprise him. She walked me out to the beach and showed me the area they had been in. I asked what type of ring and she said she was pretty sure it was white gold. I knew the VDI (Visual Display Indicator) number range I was looking for so I started a grid search parallel to the tide line. Plus, since the ring had only been lost within the last couple of hours, it should be within a couple of inches. I completed the area passing up numerous deeper targets outside the range I was looking for. I confirmed the white gold and the time period and the only thing Lyndsey wasn’t sure of was the metal. She texted someone and found out the ring was made from Cobalt. I had no idea what Cobalt was, so I called a friend to see if he had any ideas on where that would show up on the VDI. He had no idea either, so I did another grid search perpendicular to the tide line over the same area expanding east, west and north. This time it took a little longer because I was checking some of the targets I hadn’t check before. While I’m searching, Lyndsey was checking her pictures on her phone and found one that saved the day! She moved me to search further east, which I did. About 3 more grid lines I hit a shallow, solid 9 on the VDI. On my second scoop, I saw the silver looking ring sticking out of the sand. Boom! After almost an hour and twenty minutes, I had Sean’s ring in my hand.
On the way back to the house, Lyndsey and I devised the surprise return, needless to say, Sean was Surprised! Lyndsey was taking the reveal video and didn’t want Sean to see her so the beginning of that part of the video is filming the floor.
Lyndsey – Thank you so much for trusting me to help find Sean’s ring and for taking the videos!!
Sean – happy belated 2nd Anniversary to you and your lovely bride, Kate. Wish you two all the Best.
Jim
