Engagement & Wedding Ring Set Lost in the Water…FOUND by Ring Finder in Nashville, TN!
Christina McCree – Ring Finder/Metal Detectorist for northern Alabama and southern/middle Tennessee…call or text ASAP, anytime 24/7…610-504-6135
Sunday evening (June 18, 2023), I received a call from Sam and Jon. Sam explained that the day prior she had lost her white gold wedding ring in a lake in Nashville, Tennessee. This was actually 3 rings — the engagement ring soldered between 2 wedding bands. Sam was trying to save her dog from drowning (dog is doing great) and the wedding ring set slipped off her finger in about 2 feet of water. I was off from work the next day, so we arranged a search for Monday morning.
I met Sam and Jon at the lake around 10 am on Monday. We were in-between rain showers, but the sky was clear at the moment. I began searching with my Minelab Equinox 800 with the 10×5 Coiltek coil. The lake bottom was very rocky (both large and small rocks), so the smaller coil allowed me to get into the tighter spaces. I searched the main area where Sam thought she fell for about an hour. I only found a fishing lure and some junk metal.
I asked Jon where he thought Sam fell at. Both Jon and Sam walked over to the shoreline where he was standing when it happened. I was detecting closer to the shoreline and caught a glimpse of something shiny. I put my goggles on and dipped my face into the water. Sure enough, it was Sam’s wedding ring set! I picked it up and cupped it in my hand. I stood up and Jon said, “I think Sam fell right where you’re standing at”. I asked Sam if she thought this was the right area and she wasn’t sure. I then said, “I think we need to call it a day and head home.” Both Sam and Jon looked puzzled. I then said, “because, I just found it!” They said, “no way!” I held up the ring for them to see and they were both so happy and relieved. I really love this part of the search! I walked over to them and handed Sam the ring. She was so happy to have it back! We all gave each other a high five and took some photos. It had just started raining, so that was perfect timing.
Sam was standing much closer to the shoreline than she remembered, but she was also in a panic with her dog. I’ve learned that our memories can be a bit off, but we just have to keep expanding our grid search area. In the end, it doesn’t matter how long it takes, I’m just happy we found it and it’s back where it belongs.
We enjoyed a nice chat on our walk back to the parking lot. They thanked me again for my efforts and we parted ways. Another happy ending! I thank God for another successful recovery and safe trip home. Looking forward to the next adventure…
Thursday morning early I received a call from Chris. He and the family were playing on Pensacola Beach late Wednesday afternoon when his wife, Katarina, noticed her engagement ring was missing. Chris asked if I could help, that he and the family were due to check out of the condo they were staying in a few hours and had to travel back to Austin that day. They had a photo of Katarina or the beach with the ring on her finger and she hadn’t gone in the water so the assumption was it was lost somewhere in the sand. I told him I would be glad to help and would come immediately. Fortunately my gear was already charged up and in my van. I quickly kissed my wife bye and headed for the beach. I arrived about two hours before condo check out time so I got with Chris and Katarina right away and got details about where they were on the beach and the activities they took part in. They pointed out approximately where they set their beach chairs, but there was significant surf the night before and the beach had significant erosion from the waves. Now beach erosion is very common here, sand is constantly, moving around, but their spot was able to set the longitude axis so we started there. Katarina said they played catch with a ball and she had jumped up several time with her arms raised with finger reaching out, which sounded like the place to start searching. All in all the area was pretty big, between one half and two thirds acre. Because the ring was lost in late afternoon and this was the next morning I assumed it was not deep in the sand, my first mistake. Because they were under time restraints I was working faster than normal, my second mistake. Two hours later we got together to reassess and I started again but this time I set the detector to search deeper and moved much slower. I started from the spot where the beach chairs were located and followed the anticipated route Katarina may have taken to where she played ball. About half way to that spot I got a fairly good signal but it was two to three times deeper that I expected. I set my recovery scoop as deep as I could so I could get under the target causing no scratches or damage to a ring, spread the sand on the surface and checked for a signal, got nothing. I quickly stuck my detector coil in the hole and received a much better signal, carefully digging a second scoop of sand and spreading it out I ran the detector over it and pinpointed the ring. Reached down and held it up for Katarina. She was overjoyed! Now there were probably thirty people on the beach many who had watched me hunting not really knowing why. When Katarina received her ring and held it up most of those thirty or so people understood and started clapping. Her two daughters were excited and when to get their Dad. I apologized to Chris for my two mistakes that delayed their trip home, but he didn’t care he was just glad they were returning home with the ring that had been on her finger for 15 years! I think both had half way come to accept the ring was lost forever. It was a happy ending all around. I do not know how the ring was able to get maybe 8 to 10 inches deep and was glad I found it after about three and a half hours but I would have kept going till it was recovered.
it went once we were searching the right area.
