Diamond Stud Earring Lost in the Dry Sand, Found and Returned Ocean Isle Beach, NC
On 7/29/25 just before noon, I got a call from Nancy saying she had lost a Diamond Stud Earring on the beach and wondered if I could help find it. My first question was if it was lost in the dry sand. She responded it was. I only have one detector that can find stud earrings, my Gold Bug 2, and it’s useless in wet sand or the ocean because of the mineralization. Plus, there’s just a small post on stud earrings and it’s usually not enough metal for most detectors. So, I felt we had a good chance of finding her earring. I was just finishing up my yard work and told her I could be there in about 45 minutes. She agreed. Enroute to the beach, I called her asking if I could park in her driveway. Parking isn’t easy on the beach communities. She sent me her address and directions out to the beach to where she was.
When I arrived, it was a quick walk out to the beach to where Nancy was set up. She showed me the area. She explained that a bug was on her ear and when she went to brush it away, she hit her ear and the earring flew off. Before I got started, I asked if she had the other earring that I could test. She did, which made it a lot easier. I tweaked the Gold Bug detector and started searching a 5×5 foot plus area. To help me sift the sand, I brought along a child’s sand sifter with tiny holes. I got a few targets that turned out to be very tiny pieces of aluminum. I must have tested her other earring 4-5 times to make sure I was able to detect it. Finally, I got a signal that was good enough to check out. I laid down in the sand, ran the sifter under the small area and filled up the sifter with sand. I started feeling through the sand and uncovered Nancy’s earring. I was as shocked as Nancy was when I handed her earring back. She told me that her husband had gotten her those earrings when they were in Grad school and before they got married. She also said how they were very sentimental and special to her.
Nancy – Thank you for allowing me to help find your lost treasure. Enjoy the rest of your vacation.
Jim













The gentleman, who preferred to stay anonymous, gave me a call last week as he had lost his wedding band! He had hosted his daughters birthday party in their backyard and between buckets of ice, setting up the outdoor projection movie theater for the kids, and all the clean up, he had a few ideas where it could be but had not had any luck. I came by the following afternoon and started by walking the property with him and trying to get an idea for where it might be, then he left me to work and less than an hour later I was able to locate it. The ring had slipped off near where he had been dumping the coolers out! I was glad to have made this recovery and reunited this special wedding band with the owner.
