On Monday evening, October 13th, I received the following text, from Tony
“hello there I wanted to reach out my wife lost her wedding ring and band it’s 3 rings in total we were able to find 2 of them but the one that is still missing is very dear to us as it has my moms diamond in it who passed away when i was a child and we just are lost on what to do so we wanted to see what it would take to get your services we live in Buckfield, Maine”
I replied , a short time later
“Hi Tony, So sorry to hear this.
A few questions first, if you don’t mind
1) How long ago was the ring lost?
2) Where was the ring lost?
3) You said you have found two of the three rings. Were they all lost at the same time, same place?
4) Did your wife see or feel the ring coming off?”
Tony replied
“The ring was lost yesterday in our yard. I found two about 15 feet apart. We bought a metal detector that found them, but the most important ring to us we haven’t been able to locate. She didn’t feel them come off, she was playing outside with the kids and doing hard work.”
Wow, His deceased mother’s Diamond Ring is lost. We need to find this extremely sentimental ring and fast. Thankfully, the ring is on their property, so no one will be able to find it, before we arrive.
Tony and I agreed that I would travel to Buckfield, Maine and search for his mother’s Diamond Engagement Ring, now worn by his wife, Ashley. I told Tony that I would give Gary Hill a call and see if he could help me search, the area on Tony and Ashley’s property. Gary was available to help me search and I told Tony, the next day, that Gary and I would be at his property, on Thursday morning, between 7:00am and 7:30am. That was agreeable to Tony and the search was scheduled. Tony told me he wouldn’t be home but that Ashley would be and she would show us the area they thought the Engagement Ring would be in.
Gary and I arrived just after 7:00am, this morning and Ashley immediately came to the door. Ashley walked us through the events, of last Sunday, when she had lost all three of her ring. Ashley told Gary and I that she had been outside, playfully running around, trying to catch her children as they played in the yard. She had also been throwing a ball back and forth, with the children. When they finished playing, Ashley realized all three of her rings were missing. A visual search yielded no rings and Tony then went and bought a metal detector. They were able to find two of the rings , but not the Heirloom Engagement Ring, that was his mother’s. Unable to find “the important ring“ and becoming frustrated with the metal detector, constantly making “noises”, Tony gave up and sent me the text.
One of the rings, that had been found, was found close to the middle tree and the second ring Tony had found, was found about 15 feet away, between the middle tree and tree #3. Gary and I decided to start our grid search, at the two far trees, of the three trees, in the area. We would work our way towards each other, as we grid searched from the driveway, to the fence, along the hayfield. As we grid searched the area, we were receiving a few non ferrous targets but they were all deep, in the ground. There was also a lot of ferrous items, in the area, but we just ignored them. These ferrous targets are what was driving Tony crazy. If you don’t have any metal detecting experience, these constant noises will drive you crazy and you end up checking every little ferrous noise out, where Gary and I can skip over these ferrous noises and focus on the non ferrous targets, that would include all the precious metals, that rings are made of. To complicate the matter, the fence, at the edge of the hayfield, was barbwire and there was another wire, laying on the ground that was constantly making our detectors off and was registering as a low conductor, non ferrous target, just like gold. Gary and I really needed to slow down and listen intently, when we were up near the fence and wire.
As Gary and I were getting closer, to each other, Gary told me he would stop at the fence, to the hayfield. He would start searching, at tree #3 and work his way towards the road, and I could finish the small area left to search. This was because if Gary and I get to close to each other, our metal detectors will interfere with each other. It’s better to keep a distance. As Gary was grid searching towards the road, I arrived at the open gate. I was receiving many non ferrous low conductor signals. The signals being detected, were mostly coming from a thin wire, heading towards the road. I slowed down my swing speed, so I could hear and differentiate different tones. While doing this, I did get a repeating target about a foot or two, just off of the wire. I just knew this was a great target and a good chance it was the ring, we were looking for. I took my pinpointer out and searched the tall grass, until I found the target. As I pushed the grass around, I saw the ring, all the way down, on the ground. It was completely hidden, by the tall grass and it would never been found visually. Gary then went and got Ashley and when she arrived, we had her watch, as Gary relocated the ring, with his pinpointer. As she looked on, anxiously, she suddenly saw the ring appear and said, “It’s right here. Thank you guys so much. Oh my goodness, thank you guys so much. I really appreciate it, thank you so much. We looked everywhere and it was right there.” I told Ashley that “You never would have seen it. It was under the grass.” As Ashley now wiping away a tear, from the corner of her eye, she replied, “No, That means a lot, thank you guys.” It feels so great to see smiles, happy tears and happiness , when we are blessed to find these very precious and sentimental pieces of jewelry. As we left, I wished that Tony had been there to see the recovery of his mother’s Diamond Ring. Unfortunately, He had to work, so I sent him the video of Ashley see the ring, for the first time, since it had been lost. Tony replied
“Thank you Dennis so much!! It is a blessing we couldn’t be more thankful you guys are awesome again thank you for your time.”
You know you’ve had a great day, when you can put a smile on their face, a happy tear, in their eyes and a ring, back on their finger. We love doing this for others and I will say it again, “We have the best job in the world”😀❤️🙏
Fun park, animals, activities, blueberries and pumpkins. Kelcey texted me stating she lost her engagement ring and needed help finding it. She was on a field trip with her 6 yr. old niece when the ring came up missing. She saw the ring on her finger at the start of their visit and when riding back from the pumpkin patch on the wagon she noticed her ring missing. She and her fiance Matt had searched a couple of times even using a metal detector with no success. The thought was that the ring must have been lost when picking up her niece few times on their trip thru the park or having her niece on her lap in the wagon. I called my friend, Tom, to help me in this search as it could cover a big area. Tom and I met Kelcey and Matt at the site and we started to search the path she had taken thru the park. We were out on the trail next to the pumpkin patch when Matt spotted the ring laying right in the middle of the trail that the tractor and wagon had taken. Maybe the ring came off while her niece was on her lap and then dropped off the wagon. Matt was the hero for the day and we all celebrated the find. The wedding date is still in the planning stage and so happy to have the precious ring back on her finger.
