Lost ring Oxnard Shores
Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to try and find a wedding/engagement ring lost on Thanksgiving weekend on the beach at Oxnard shores, just south of the Channel Islands Harbor. This is a beautiful location known for it’s quiet streets, multi-million dollar homes and simply just an awesome stretch of beach. Cathie, my client relayed to me how she had lost the ring, she was relaxing on her beach towel, took her ring off for a minute and forgot it was on the towel. She got up to leave, shook out her towel and launched the ring. This began her series of unfortunate events. She realized when she got home the ring was gone so she and a friend went back using a colander to try and find it. That didn’t work so she got a friends metal detector and she and her friend tried to use it to no avail. Since this was now the end of fall the county begins the process of beach replenishment and right in her rings flight path was a giant 5 foot tube used to transport sand from the dredge. All of this and the most rain and storms we’ve had in 6 years of drought had made the ring virtually disappear.
6 months later Cathie posted an ad on craigslist and we met up to try and find the ring. I spent 4 hours gridding with my CTX 3030 an ever larger area around the lifeguard tower but couldn’t find the ring. Since I hate to quit anything I promised I’d come back with my Pulse Induction machine as it reaches deeper and retry the area. Again I came back and re-gridded the same area with my pulse and found some items buried 24+ inches but none were her wedding ring. As with any hunt it’s never over until it’s over and I promised Cathie as I’m in the area I’d watch for erosion and if I see a change in the sand structure I’ll hit it again.
Every new attempt at recovery is a learning experience for my clients. Cathie realized that had she thought of calling myself or any other ringfinder her chances at a positive outcome would have greatly increased. Learning to use a metal detector is the same as learning a new language. She found out that learning what her friends metal detector was saying was a lot like trying to interpret what R2D2 is trying to say if you’re not a Jedi.
If you have lost an important piece of jewelry or a sentimental ring don’t hesitate to call a ringfinder right away. We are experts at using metal detecting equipment and if you put is in the right place you’ll likely get your ring back.
Jared wrote, “Hello! I wanted to reach out to let you guys know how grateful I am for Mike McInroe! What a blessing he is. Our lost ring story begins 33 years ago when my mother was pregnant with me. Due to the swelling she wasn’t able to wear her wedding ring anymore and being from the poor midwest, she felt awful not having her ring on and being pregnant. Despite their financial situation my father came home one day with a new, larger ring so she would have something to wear while she was pregnant. It wasn’t much but it meant the world to my mother! She decided while she was pregnant with me that one day she would give it to me or my spouse to wear when we were expecting our own. 33 years later, that day finally came. While she was visiting us for our baby shower in Orlando from the cold of Minnesota she brought the ring to give to my wife and to share that story with her. Heartbreakingly she never got the chance. The day she decided to give it to my wife we were all fishing off our dock in the canal. My mother was wearing the ring on her pinky finger and when she went to cast the rod–she dropped her precious ring of 33 years into the muddy water. Needless to say my mother was heartbroken– as was I for her! I searched in the water for an hour or two, to no avail, bringing up bucket after bucket of mud in a hopeless search. Meanwhile my wife was laughing at me–having no idea why in the world I would be in the water and having no idea about the ring or the family story. We did not find the ring and my mother flew home to Minnesota heart broken. (A few weeks later she bought and mailed us a ring that looked similar, feeling it was all she could do.) I was determined to find that ring! In my search to figure out how to build a pump and dredge system to dredge and sift the mud, I found theringfinders.com while searching for “How to find a ring underwater.” I emailed Mike on a Friday morning and by that evening we had a time set for the following day. The next morning I explained to Mike how the ring had been lost 4 weeks prior and showed him the dock and where we thought it might be. He said a little prayer as he climbed down the ladder into the canal and began his search. About 20 minutes later we heard the wonderful buzzing of his metal detector, picking up a strong signal. A couple of muddy scoops later and with a huge grin on his face, he pulled the ring out of his muddy sifter. Mike was an amazing spirit and a blessing to come and find our lost ring. We had our baby just a few short days after finding the ring and I can’t wait to surprise my mother when she comes down to meet the baby and to find out we found her ring–the ring she had been holding for 33 years!
