West Yarmouth, MA: Lost Pinky Ring Found and Returned
July 17, 2024
Zack was on vacation enjoying one of the many small beaches with friends. While frolicking in thigh deep water he felt his pinky ring slip off his finger. Others on the beach offered the information about TheRingFinders and another member’s phone number and called. Unfortunately, Luke was on his way off Cape Cod for the weekend and could not help except to pass my number onto Zack. A call to me and of course I was on my way to what was to be a quick return. Well, that was not to be.
Zack told me that he was very sure of he area he lost the ring at. With the information of the area and depth in the water he was when the ring fell off, I started searching parallel to the shore line with no success. Time to search perpendicular to the shore line, gridding the area. Nothing. Maybe as Zack next suggested he might have been a bit more the the right and so I opened up the search area. Again, nothing. Zack then said “No, I am very sure I was over here…again nothing. The tide was coming in and it was getting late. I called off the search for the evening and would be back the next day.
The morning came and I and detecting partner Leighton were on our way for another search. About forty minutes into the search in the original area, I found the ring. Hey, if you miss the ring by an inch, it might just as well had been a mile. I just did not pass my search coil over the ring the day before.
Zach had gone to another beach and it was not for another couple of hours and a cup of iced tea that we met up with Zack at his vacation rental for the returning of the ring. And as usual pictures, stories and many thanks with smiles all around, Leighton and I left for another beach to do some recreational detecting with no pressure to find a specific target.
On my way home from work I received a text from Habib. He was very anxious to see if I would be able to find his wife’s beautiful diamond earing she accidentally lost at a large family party the day before. He sent me some pics and I was relieved to see the size, due to the fact many diamond earrings are extremely hard to locate. We agreed on a mutual time to meet later in the day, and for him to bring the other earing so I would be able to scan it with my metal detector, which helps tremendously, knowing exactly what tone to listen for. With that information I am able to block out most of the other tones I will receive in a backyard setting. Once on location I met with a gentleman who showed me the entire party setup, and the main areas Saba, Habib’s wife had spent most of the time that day. I decided to begin the search, as Habib was going to be about another 15 minutes due to some heavy traffic. I had quickly covered an area where the tables were set up, especially where Saba was sitting. The yard area was quite huge, and there were many food stations, and activities going on throughout the day. Once Habib arrived I listened to the other earring, and was quite pleased with the solid low tone it gave off. With that information I was able to move quite a bit faster, due to the fact that not may signals of that type would be present. I of course would check anything fairly close. I had changed direction after the first location was done, simply due to the fact the foot traffic would be moving in the direction I was working. I made one pass, and just after I turned to make another one, BINGO, my metal detector emitted a tone that I was almost certain was Saba’s missing earing. After moving the grass around a bit, there it was pressed down even with the dirt, just out of human sight. Luckily there was no damage to the earing. I looked around to find Habib, and he had walked way over to the neighbors house, where there was valet parking, and another possible area the earring could have been hiding. When I showed Saba’s earing to him, he was it total shock, as this recovery could be labeled “a needle in a haystack” Once again all parties involved knew the tiny details to narrow down this vast search area, to just the areas where his wife had spent most of the day.
