My wife and I had just sat down and ordered dinner when I got a text message saying “Hi, is this Jim the ring finder?” I called the number and talked to Blythe, who stated she was on the beach taking photos and when she stood up and brushed the sand off her pants, her Tungsten wedding ring went flying. I told her that I’d be there between 9:30 and 10.
After dinner, I dropped my wife off at home, grabbed my gear, texted Blythe telling her I’d be there in about 30 minutes. When I got to the beach, I met Blythe, Cassi and their dog, Jasper. It was very dark as we made our way out to the beach and the area both Blythe and Cassi were sure they were when Blythe’s ring came off. I turned my Equinox 800 on, literally took two steps and got a solid 17 on the machine. I knew I had Blythe’s Tungsten ring. This is the type of ring searches we pray for – lost in the dry sand, and the owner putting us in the exact spot! I scooped the sand up, checked the hole and knew I had the ring in the scoop. As I shook the sand out of the scoop, I heard the familiar sound of a metal ring clanging in the bottom of the scoop. Cassie and Blythe heard it too. I walked over to Blythe, holding the scoop out for her to pluck her wedding band out. Cassie kept saying “you found it already?” Big smiles and hugs, and I think Jasper even got a little excited.
Blythe and Cassie, thank you for trusting me to help find your lost treasure! Have a great rest of your trip and a safe drive home.
On this cold and dreary day, Gregg Larabel, my fellow ringfinder and I went looking for the ring Ryan lost while he was mowing his lawn on his riding lawn mower. Like all of West Michigan this time of year, Ryan’s fairly large front yard was covered with leaves–and the front yard is where Ryan thought he probably lost his ring. We started hunting right away and found a few coins, then, after about an hour of hunting, I got a good signal and parted the leaves to see his ring lying right on top of the ground near a tree. I stuck a stick in the ground to mark it, and left it where it was.
Ryan was not home from work yet, so we raked up a few leaves from his driveway while waiting and worked on how we were going to surprise him with the ring. As he arrived home with the two kids in tow we told him we did not have much luck, and showed him the coins we had found. We gave him our story that there must be some kind of buried pipe under the lawn over by that tree. I gave him my pin-pointer and told him to check that area near the stick I had stuck in the ground. It took him a couple of seconds to move some leaves and see his ring for the big surprise. His reaction made our day!
A one-acre house lot developed in 1929 has evolved into a park-like setting sprawling with mature trees, ornamental bushes and perennials of every description, not to mention its thick, well-established lawns. This was the scene where Beloit resident and property owner, John Clark, lost his custom-made wedding ring on October 25th while mowing and cleaning up freshly fallen leaves. He knew the ring was on his hand that morning but when he removed his work gloves at the end of the day, his ring finger was empty of its cherished love token. But where to begin looking?
I received a phone call from John the next evening. His son, Eric, who was visiting from Colorado, found The Ring Finder’s Directory online along with my contact information. After questioning John about his activities on the day of the loss, it was clear the ring had to be somewhere on the one-acre estate. Anyone who has embarked on such a search will understand the magnitude and challenge of locating a postage-sized piece of metal in such conditions. A needle-in-the-haystack metaphor seemed an appropriate description.
My wife and I arranged to meet John the next day. It was gorgeous. John met us at the door and introduced us to Kay, his lovely wife of 54 years. Kay showed us the ring on her finger which matched John’s. Mountains were carved into the ring’s circumference with three suns rising between their peaks, each representing one of their three children.
John retraced his activities as we walked around the property, stopping to remark on places he had stopped his lawn tractor or gathered up leaves and fallen branches. He had woken up in the night remembering how he had thrown some branches over a steep, leaf-covered embankment. I set to work sweeping these strategic areas with my XP Deus detector coupled with a High-Frequency elliptical coil. Ninety-years of human occupancy and numerous roof replacements impregnated the ground with nails and metallic debris, making it necessary to fine tune my equipment often.
After two hours of searching, the ring came to light in among the foliage where it had come to rest. I didn’t let on to John right away that I had found his ring. Instead, I made pretense of stopping for coffee and of moving to the next search area. It’s my sinister nature to create a memorable reveal. But I didn’t wait long—John was in enough agony.
Holding out my palm with the ring nestled in it, I stated in a matter of fact way that his ring couldn’t be in the lawn area because it was in my hand! Hugs ensued. Time to celebrate! And John’s smile tells the rest of the story.
I received an email from Marta, she was asking if I could help find a small gold earring. She said that they tried renting a metal detector and the machine would not beep when testing with the other earring. She asked if I would travel to Malvern, PA.
We made arrangements for early Sunday morning to try to beat the heavy rain that was forecasted. I arrived at 7am, and it was still dark. I must have made the deer in the area curious, they all came out to see what I was doing. I waited on the long narrow driveway until I could see without a flashlight.
I was met by Marta’s husband. He showed me the area of the search. He had set up a barricade so the landscapers wouldn’t cut the grass in the area. He even sprayed the area with orange spray paint, it looked like there was a murder there. He stated that his 5 y/o daughter was watching caterpillars in the grass, when for some reason she took off her new earring, given to her from her grandmother, and dropped it. They were a special handcrafted set of earrings from Portugal.
The rain didn’t hold off. It was raining by the time I made it to the search area. They didn’t think I would show up in the rain. I put the remaining earring in a sandwich baggie and set up my machine to find gold nuggets and tested the earring in the baggie. I mentally recorded the number and sound in my mind.
Off to search. There were coins in the area that I didn’t dig. I was looking for a certain number and sound on my detector. I didn’t want to waste time digging in the chilly rain. 10 minutes into the search I get the number that I was looking for. I spread the grass and see gold. It was the earring that I was looking for. I never expected this search to be a quick one. The weather conditions alone could have played a major factor. It took longer for me to put on my Gordon’s “like” rain then it did to find this precious gold earring.
They were amazed that I found it so quickly. The surprised look on dad’s face when he saw 2 earrings in the baggie was awesome. Another happy client!!
I was contacted earlier in the week by a lady who lost her wedding band. She had been outside her house exercising her dogs, doing laundry, dishes, and getting her 4 kids ready and loading them into the car to take them to Cub Scouts. Earlier that day she had put her rings into a pocket, and this particular pair of pants had extremely shallow pockets. When she was about to leave, she reached into her pocket to put her rings back on, the wedding band was missing.
She wasn’t sure where the ring could’ve fallen out, but she knew it was either in the house or on the lawn. Her children and friends helped search visually with no luck. She borrowed a metal detector from a helpful neighbor, and had no luck with that either. So, she contacted me for help.
We agreed on today for a search, the weather was cool, but dry. I got there early because I thought it could easily be one of those full day or even a multiple day search. She showed me the large back yard and hill, the most likely area it would’ve been lost, and I got started. In a little while her oldest son came out to watch and help search. He showed me the areas that he remembered seeing his mother go. I had brought 4 detectors with me, because I thought her kids would like to run them. After some instructions, he got started with one of them.
He gave me good direction, because shortly after I got a good signal and found her ring deep in the grass! His Mom was very happy!
After that, he and I detected for awhile, hunting for coins, relics or golden treasure. I sure was hoping he would find something, but after all, it is a hobby that requires extreme patience…
Please click on my name above to read more success stories or to get my contact information.
While at work on Wednesday I received a call from Krissy regarding a lost diamond engagement ring. Krissy communicated to me that several days earlier she was at a playground in New Castle, DE and while playing with her 2 year old her ring slipped off her finger. She was very upset and very convinced that the ring fell off in a very specific part of the playground and slipped beneath the rubber mulch. Prior to calling me, she and her husband and several others had spent quite a bit of time on hands and knees looking for the lost ring. I told Krissy I would meet her at the playground on Friday afternoon.
We met at 3 pm, Friday afternoon at the playground. After introductions I did what I always do when I meet people who have asked for my help…I show them how all my equipment works. I do this for 2 reasons…1) I want them to feel confident that if the ring is there I’m going to find it and 2) If I cover the entire area in my search they can be 100% confident that it must be somewhere else!
We walked around the playground and she pointed to the specific area that she was horsing around the most with her 2 year old. My intent was to start there and basically cover the entire playgrou nd if I had to. I didn’t have to!!! About 3 minutes into the search I heard a sweet low tone in my headphones…my pinpointer immediately identified her ring about 3 inches deep in the rubber mulch. I said Krissy….and pointed. The emotion of seeing her ring got the best of her for a second and then it was just pure joy for both of us. This job as a Ringfinder is so much funner when you’re successful in finding the lost item and Krissy’s joy made my day!!!
Three years ago I met Phil and Carolyn O. at a college bowling tournament. Their son, Justin, bowls with my grandson, Chase B., for Robert Morris University. They also have a daughter LeAnn who attends the tournaments with them. We frequently talk about my ring finds during the bowling season and it makes for good conversation. A few months ago LeAnn asked if I could find a key to her condo that she lost while on a 6 mile walk around the Spring Lake, MI area. Needless to say we could not find her $2 key but while on the 6 mile walk she mentioned a ring that she had lost 10 years ago. This is where the story picks up. When LeAnn was born her dad gave her mom the gold ring with LeAnn’s birthstone and small diamond, at age 16 her mom passed it off to her. When she was 18 and at her friends cottage, at Matteson Lake, she fell off the end of the dock and her ring fell off. Now ten years later my Ring Finder partner, Dave Boyer, and I went out to the cottage. The water bottom was very muddy but after about 10 minutes the ring was recovered in about 10″ of black mud. The picture below shows how it was blackened and bent but after I took it to my jeweler, he cleaned it up to look like new. LeAnn wanted to show her appreciation and gave me my own ring, A Ring Pop!
While on vacation, I received a call from a fellow Ring Finder, Steve Pacifico. He received a request to find a lost wedding ring, but he was at work. He knew I was at the shore, so he gave me the contact information.
Arrie lost her ring on the beach in Atlantic City. She got up off of the sand to go back to her room, started to brush off the sand from her legs and her ring went flying. She said she spent several hours on her hands and knees combing the sand looking for her ring. She didn’t tell her husband.
I told her that I would be there within 30 minutes. She met me on the beach and showed me the area. I started searching. I showed her everything I found, penny, bottle caps, pull tabs. After about 20 minutes I found what I was looking for.
I wanted to surprise her, so I dumped my scoop back in the hole, made it look like I was still looking for something. She looked away, so I picked up the ring and put it on my little finger. I went over and while pointing said could it be over that way? She said maybe. I pointed again, over there? She still didn’t see it. One last time I may be over there? This time she dropped to her knees and screamed. The lifeguards were all looking at us now.
She said the big diamond was given to her husband from his family. It has been in the family for a few generations. I told Arrie that she should go gamble since it was her lucky day. The smile on her face was priceless.
Teamwork paid off for Arrie. Atlantic City is heavily searched by people with metal detectors. By getting there quick we were able to put a smile on Arrie’s face!
Today is my mom’s birthday. She helped me with a recovery today.
Angela contacted me earlier in the week, asking if I could help her find three pendants from a necklace. She was at a wedding in Wildwood last weekend and lost the very sentimental items.
She is a nurse and has odd hours as I do. We decided to meet on Sunday morning, my mom’s birthday. The weather forecast was not looking good with rain and wind predicted before sun up. Angela asked if the rain would be a problem. I told her that I would be there rain or shine.
I got there about a half an hour early, no rain but I did see a beautiful sunrise. Thanks, mom! Angela arrived and showed me the area of the crime. The wedding reception was at the Star Beach Bar in Wildwood Crest. She was around the fire pit, a cabana, and sat in the couches. There has been a lot of wind at the beach this week, so there was a lot of sand drifts around the cabanas and tables.
She said last weekend she and her friends searched, including removing the cushions from the chairs. It’s a good thing as the chairs have been removed for the winter. They also raked the beach. They only found a few coins.
I started a grid search. I expected to find a lot of bottle caps. I was amazed only to have found one. I found a lot of coins. I guess Angela was getting frustrated that I hadn’t found her precious items, so she started to walk around.
I heard a scream. My first thought was an animal came from under one of the cabanas scaring Angela. I went over to find out what happened. Here she found the smallest pendant of the three we were looking for. It looks like the wind had blown all of the sand off of the pendant. It was just sitting on the top of the sand.
So now I had a place to continue the search. The only problem was it was next to the cabana, and it had wood & metal framework. So every time I swung my detector it went off. Angela found a shovel and a rake. I started to shovel large amounts of sand away from the cabana and detect the piles.
Finally, I received a good hit and found the silver pendant.
The last pendant is mostly jade with just a little bit of 14k gold on it. A new strategy, set my detector up to search for gold nuggets. After about 15 more minutes of digging and detecting, we found what we were looking for. Angela was amazed and I got a very big hug. I love my hobby!
Ten minutes after I got into my car for the journey home it started to pour. Thanks for the help mom, and Happy Birthday!!
I connected with a guy named Felipe who lost his wedding ring on a Baltimore, Maryland sports field that is utilized as a kickball field and dog park.
He lost the keepsake while playing an adult game of kickball. He was on a league team that was playing against another league team. He believed that during the game the ring must have slipped off his finger because he had remembered seeing it on his finger prior to the game and even during the game at some point. The question for him was, “Where did it end up?”
When he realized that he had lost the ring, he gathered up his teammates and even acquired the help of the other team’s members to join in the search. There must have been 20 people or more searching for his missing gold wedding band! After everybody finished searching, there still was no recovery of the ring.
Brian Rudolph with The Ring Finder’s Discovers Felipe’s Lost Wedding Band on Sport’s Field in Baltimore, Maryland
The loss of the ring took place a week before I corresponded with Felipe who was desperate at that point to find the wedding band. He texted me and said, “I really appreciate your help. I cannot meet up with you on the field for the next few days, but I sent you a map of the general location of where the ring may have come off. I also tried with a metal detector with no luck.”
I assured him that if someone had not picked up the ring off of the sports field since the time of its disappearance, I would recover it for him with no questions asked. I was that confident. But come to find out, it would not be so easy to find the ring!
I responded by saying, “I can get out there tonight. Let me know what time the park closes…”
Felipe responded, “Sounds great to me….really, I married my wife not a ring…so it’s just sentimental. If you find it.. it would be awesome!”
Felipe sent me a Google Earth photo of the field and he marked two most likely areas where he thought the ring might have fallen off.
He also texted me some additional clues: “I was behind first base receiving a foul ball….5 feet away from the trees. I also dove and threw someone out running home….leaping from pitcher’s mound to home plate direction”. This was some good information for me to process when I got out on the field later that night.
That evening, I drove to downtown Baltimore City to the specified park where the ring was lost. It was still daylight but the sun would be setting quite soon. Once I got to the correct field, I studied the map that he provided for me and I got my bearing straight as to where he might have been in the grass when he lost the ring. I searched everywhere. Along the tree line, within the tree section, all over the field where he was playing kickball, the sidelines, and even in the areas where he walked to go use the bathroom. I searched between trees and all kinds of brush. I thought it was a good sign when I found a handful of keys on an old key ring that must have been lost during a past game. However, there was no sign of the ring anywhere. Soon, I was wearing my headlamp and doing a second grid search after I had finished initially going north to south and east to west already. Still, there was absolutely nothing found. After 4 hours I finally had to call it quits for the night. And because the park was over an hour away from my local area in Maryland, I had resolved that I did all that I could and it would be too difficult for me to return to the search site again since I thought I did what I could in all that time.
If there was any time that I felt self-defeated it was after this search that I conducted. I had promised Felipe that I would find the ring if it was still out there and I just did not know if it was or not after I finished the search. But I gave it four hours and turned up nothing. I thought that maybe somebody may have seen it on the path that was adjacent to the play field and took off with it sometime following the game. But how could anyone know unless it was turned in?
I called Felipe and left a voicemail message requesting for him to call me. In addition to that, I texted him and said, “I am so sorry that I didn’t find your wedding ring. My search was extensive and careful. It’s possible that it might be in the tree line area even though I did check it. But I did not check all of the spots since I had so much of the field to grid, as well.”
Felipe responded, “Thank you so much Brian! We will definitely go back and look more in the area where the trees are. A million thanks man…..and I will absolutely let you know if we magically find it. I, and we appreciate it so much. Thank you”.
I thanked him, as well for giving me the opportunity to try to find the ring, and I just felt terrible that I could not pull the special keepsake from the field. However, something just did not set right with me when I had to call off any future searches because of the factors I mentioned above.
Felipe and Anne Express Their Happiness Upon the Return of Felipe’s Special Gold Wedding Band
Another week had passed since my initial search, and I just could not shake the thoughts about not finding the ring. I wondered if Felipe found it out in the field or if it might have been picked up by someone, or that it may have still been left out there untouched and unfound. I decided to text him and see what the status was regarding the ring.
I said, “Hey there. Just checking to see if you guys found the ring yet. I will be in North Baltimore this evening and if I find the missing ring for this other person, I could shoot out down to the park if you would like me to if you haven’t found it already. Let me know. I can check the woods a bit more thorough.”
He responded, “I still haven’t had any luck….and still working late hours.”
I said, “Would you like me to give it another shot? I can check those woods out much more carefully.”
He replied, “That would be amazing…”
I told him that I decided that I would return one more time to see if I could pull the ring from the field if it was still there. I explained to him that I just did not feel quite right about giving up even though I thought I gave it all I had. He really appreciated my willingness to return and he said that he could meet me out there with his wife to help in the search and perhaps guide me a bit more in terms of where the bases were and where he was in the outfield.
I said, “If you feel pretty sure that that ring is still out there, I will find it,”
We planned to meet that evening around 6:30pm out on the field in Baltimore. Felipe and Anne were already there on the field when I arrived. We greeted one another and then reviewed all of the possibilities once again as to where the ring could have ended up.
I told the two of them that I am a man of prayer and that God does do mysterious things for us when we least expect it. Even regarding things like rings being found when they’ve gone missing. Anne said that after I suggested that they join hands and pray as a couple over the situation with the missing ring, they in fact prayed for the first time together that the ring would be found. She said that that was very new for them to do. I smiled with excitement and encouraged them and then we started searching the field.
I did most of the searching around the wooded areas at first. They took to the kickball field parameters and eventually I ended up searching in places that covered the field where Felipe played. He showed me the approximate locations where the bases were set up. I metal detected a new grid all over the areas then I searched a week prior. But this time I went farther out into sections that extended outside the boundaries of where the game was played. I detected every type of metal in places leading to where Felipe had walked away from the field to use the bathroom and I went into the woods to retrace every step that he took on that day when he lost the ring.
It was inspiring to see husband and wife searching everywhere to claim back Felipe’s wedding band. I will never forget his words that he shared in front of his wife recounting what he said to her back at their house after the ring went missing and they couldn’t find it anywhere. He said something like, “If I can’t get the ring back, I still have the most important part of my life anyways”. That really touched me hearing him say that and his wife Anne gave a huge smile towards her husband and big love embrace!
We looked hard for a couple of hours before it was time for the couple to leave the park. They gave up for the time being because they had to attend to something else. They said their goodbyes to me and thanked me for trying again. I was highly optimistic and motivated to keep searching and expressed much hope to them that it could still be out in the field. I think I may have prayed with them that God would help me find the ring. I explained to them at some point that God loves the covenant of marriage. The wedding band and engagement ring are symbols of that covenant love and commitment. That’s why I ask for divine favor from above when I’m out there looking for rings. Unfortunately, sometimes, circumstances present themselves in such a way that there is no possible way for me to get the ring back, (for instance, if it was picked up and taking away by somebody already), and in the end, I know I did all that I could do.
Felipe and Anne took off and I continued my search. Evening fell to complete darkness outside. The happy yellow lights shining from the fireflies reminded me that I was not alone out on the green grass. Occasionally, someone walking their dog would come by and it was nice to know that there was still activity going on around me.
I pressed on for about another hour and a half and I gridded the entire kickball field once again and searched farther outside the imaginary base lines, hoping that something would turn up. There was nothing at home plate, and nothing around first and second base. My last area to grid out was approximately 10 yards outside of the third base area. Back and forth I went, yet nothing turned up. I was getting all kinds of signals and I was checking everything on the ground that appeared to be close to the surface, if not on top of the surface. But every time, it was a pull tab or a coin left behind by someone playing on the field. Then, I hit a signal that gave a nice loud sound in the detector and I looked at the screen and the target appeared to be on the surface. The numbers that appeared were right in the range of what a man’s gold wedding band would show up as! I started to kneel down with my handheld pinpointer to investigate the target, and there in between pieces of grass, I saw Felipe’s beloved wedding band! The yellow gold was calling out for me to pick him up and bring him home! I was so elated! I found the ring! Yes, I found the ring! I could not have been more happy at that moment! My decision to return back to Baltimore and drive all of that way and spend all those hours out on that field, even into the late hours of the night, completely reaped the results that I was looking for! I was feeling just like a little kid who had just found the buried treasure that was lost in the thicket of the grass and I just fell completely to the ground and rolled around in utter excitement! I couldn’t wait to share with the couple that our prayers were answered!
There were some people walking by who saw how thrilled I was at whatever it was that I found and so I got to share my discovery with them! They too were so happy for what Felipe and his wife and for the good news that they were about to hear and what they were about to receive back!
I packed up my gear after saying goodbye to that group of people and headed for the car. I was smiling from ear-to-ear all of the way back to my parking space about a quarter of a mile away! When you search for so long and nothing becomes of it, and then you determine that you’re going to return after time has passed and you start all over again, wondering if it will lead to anything positive, and then you “hit gold”, there are no words to describe the awesome feeling!
I wanted to surprise Felipe with the news so I called him and left a voicemail message when he didn’t pick up. Then, I texted him and shared, “I left a Vmail. Left the field. Bugs eating me alive even with spray. Call to debrief. I did all I could do.”
When I said that I did all that I could, I was not dishonest in the least! I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to connect with them but I was certain that they would get back to me sometime in the next day. Well, I didn’t have to wait that long to break the news because just as I arrived at a Royal Farms convenience store up the street from the park to grab a drink and a snack for my hour and fifteen minute drive home, Felipe called me back!
These are the moments that I love the most when I get to reveal the wonderful news! Sharing that the priceless keepsake had been found and that it will once again be returned to the hand that once wore it, is the most exhilarating experience!
Felipe had read my text and was not thinking in the least that I had found the ring! But after I played with him for a moment or two, he got the best surprise of his life! In less than 30 minutes, Felipe and his wife were pulling into the convenience store parking lot with a bottle of champagne in hand to celebrate the precious moment when Felipe would be reunited with his very handsome wedding band that was presented to him by his wife Anne only a short time ago! I will never forget that evening when we all partied in the parking lot as we celebrated such a fantastic moment for Felipe! Anne shed such special tears of happiness as the reality of the situation sunk through her being! I was so honored to be called upon to help return what was once lost!
If you would like to watch the SEARCH VIDEO and RING REVEAL pertaining to this story, the YOUTUBE link will be provided shortly. To receive the notification letting you know when the video is uploaded to YOUTUBE, feel free to SUBSCRIBE to BRIAN’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL by typing: THE RING RETURNER.
CALL BRIAN RUDOLPH WITH THE RING FINDERS AT (301) 466-8644 AND HE WILL RETURN TO YOU WHAT HAS BEEN LOST!
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