Man’s Tungsten Wedding Band Lost for 9 days in the Ocean – Found and Returned North Myrtle Beach SC
I got a text message from Sara on Sept 14th, saying “Hello! My husband lost his wedding band Monday of last week in Cherry Grove beach around 50th Ave N. I made a post about it and a couple people told me to reach out to you.” Along with the text, Sara sent a couple of pictures of the ring. I responded asking if they were still in the area or could send a Google map showing the area. I also asked about the time, whether he was in the water, and if so, how deep. Sara sent a Google map with the spot pinned and said, “He was hit by a wave, and it just came off.” I told her I’d go later in the day, a couple of hours before low tide and see what I could do. In the meantime, I contacted a friend, Mike, who hunts that area quite a bit to ask if he had come across it. I was concerned that the ring had been out there for 9 days, and I know that area gets hunted quite a bit. Mike responded that he hadn’t seen the ring and had been at 50 North that morning. He also said he had met up with half a dozen guys detecting in that area over the last week. This was not what I wanted to hear!!!
About 3 p.m. I grabbed my gear and headed to the beach to look for Sara’s husband, Jacob’s, ring. I was optimistic and kept a positive attitude even with the information Mike had passed along. When you think about it, I’m trying to find a quarter size target on a vast area of beach. Most of the people I see metal detecting start at one point and do a snake like pattern down the beach. When I’m looking for someone’s treasure, I do a grid search to ensure I don’t miss an area. In this case, it paid off. After an hour plus of grid searching, I hit a solid 18-20 VDI (visual display indicator) on the Equinox 800. These numbers were exactly the numbers I was looking for for a man’s Tungsten Wedding Band. After a couple of scoops of sand and spreading the sand out with my foot, I saw the ring sitting in the sand. I texted Sara and sent her a picture, but she didn’t respond until late evening. When she did respond she stated, “That does look like it might be it.” Now I’m second guessing myself, by the end of the night (2 a.m.), I concluded that we had the right ring. She and Jacob live locally so we set up a meeting spot to transfer her treasure. When we met, she did indeed confirm the ring was Jacobs. She told me she and Jacob were High School sweethearts and they picked out their matching wedding bands, which had a very sentimental importance to both of them. After a 9-day absence, the ring is back where it belongs!
Sara – Thank you for calling and trusting me to find your lost treasure. All the best to you and Jacob!!!
Jim
I got a call from Kelli about noon on Wednesday asking if I could find her wedding ring. She and her husband had been married for nine months and the ring was designed by her husband and custom made. She first called my son in law, David Cartee, who wasn’t able to help because of other obligations that day but he recommended She give me a call. Kelli’s ring was lost in a lake off a dock in Andalusia Alabama. It had been a couple day since she lost it. She got in the water up to about neck deep and tried doing a visual search but the bottom was muddy and she had no luck. Listening to her story I felt sure the ring had sunk out of sight in the mud. I told her I would help. I was in the Pensacola area at the time and Andalusia was about 2 hours away. I felt time was of the essence because I didn’t know that lake and fearing the ring might settle deeper in the muddy bottom over time. The lake turned out to be a reservoir used by the power company to generate electricity and the bank was very steep. When I saw how quickly the grade dropped off I began to worry about it having vanished in the deep water or my recovery activity dislodging it to deeper water. It was most important to plan carefully so that would not happen. I took my time making sure the search coil didn’t touch the bottom and to carefully completely search the area before moving my feet to deeper water. Fortunately I got a good signal, the ring had settled on a slope in about 5 foot of water. I set my recovery scoop and both husband and wife stood by in anticipation. I peered into the scoop then looked up at them and smiled, her beautiful precious ring was recovered and returned to her finger. Smiling faces and no more worries all around!
