Uncategorized Category | Page 397 of 584 | The Ring Finders

Allie Gruenwald of Waukesha, Wisconsin, was mowing a patch of waist-high weeds behind their country home when a low-hanging tree branch caught her diamond earring stud, flinging it into the thick tangle. The earrings were a gift from her husband, Chris. Now one of them was gone.

I received a phone call from Chris on July 5th asking if I might search for the lost earring. The prospects of detecting such a tiny piece of jewelry in such circumstances is like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack! From my 40 plus years’ experience as a metal detecting specialist, I knew it would be a challenge even with some of the most sophisticated metal detecting technology at my disposal.

Upon arrival at the Gruenwald’s home, I experimented with the matching earring to get a reading on my equipment. Even in clean ground without any electro-magnetic interference, the response was barely audible. I calibrated my machine and set to work. It was almost completely dark when I picked up a very faint signal in my headphones. Upon investigating, the small gold retainer appeared about an inch and a half down in the mud; the earring could not be far away. I marked off the area and left instructions to cut the vegetation off level to the ground using scissors or pruning shears. I would return and scan the area again with the coil right on the ground. Having located the retainer, I was confident the diamond stud was close by.

Sure enough, I received a text message from Chris the next day with the happy news that the earing had come to light as expected!

Allie, may the story of your earrings continue for many years to come!

New Berlin resident, Emily Griskavich, enjoyed a picnic at Triangle Park with her children on July 7th but later that evening discovered that her wedding band was missing. Returning to the park she scoured the grassy area and sidewalk areas without success. Had someone already found it? The possibility was troubling.

I received a phone call from Emily asking if I might help search for her ring. We agreed to meet on location after work on July 11. Once at the location, Emily took me to the picnic area and retraced her route along the sidewalk. It seemed a long shot because Emily was not entirely certain the ring was lost at the park. I explained how I could eliminate search areas by ruling them out and which might help narrow her search to other locations. That is unless someone had already found it.

My detector of choice for the search was an XP Deus with a high frequency elliptical coil. It is extremely sensitive to gold targets. I started scanning the grassy picnic area where Emily had spent the most time playing with her children, treating it as ‘ground zero’ in my search efforts. Barely twenty minutes into the search, my Emily’s ring appeared deep in the grass! She was flabbergasted at the sight of her precious love token!

Thanks, Emily, for the privilege of searching for and finding your ring. May its story continue for many more happy years!

Barely one month engaged, the unthinkable happened to Belgium, Wisconsin resident, Shannon Cooper. She was celebrating the 4th of July with her fiancé’s family on Lake Winnebago near Oshkosh. That’s when Shannon’s diamond engagement ring slipped off her finger and vanished into the lake’s murky depths. It was an emotionally shattering experience which left her feeling sick to her stomach. After a sleepless night, Shannon reached out to me through The Ring Finders directory of metal detecting specialists.

A couple days later, on July 6th my wife joined me for the ninety-minute drive and kept Shannon company for over seven hours while I swept the lake’s bottom with my Minelab Excalibur Detector. Unfortunately, the winds, waves and rains kept moving my buoys, making the grid search almost impossible. We would need to resume the search another time. Tears were visible in Shannon’s eyes when we parted. It was plain to see her heart was breaking. I encouraged her not to give up hope.

The next Saturday I arrived just as the sun peaked over the horizon. The water was like glass. Using photos taken from the boat 10 days before, I was able to triangulate off various shoreline structures and drop a buoy where the boat had been anchored. A grid search ensued from this point. Two and half hours later, Shannon’s beautiful ring lay gleaming in my sieve!

Matthew, Shannon’s fiancé, arrived not long after. He was prepared to spend the day searching with me. I outlined a search strategy, not letting on the ring was in my possession as I did so. I love being creative with the reveal! When I finally produced the love token, Matthew responded by throwing his arms around me. A text and phone call to Shannon conveyed the happy news!

I received a heartwarming note from Shannon a few days later. She wrote,

“Thank you for all the kindness you have shown to me and Matt in dedicating so much time and energy in finding my ring! While it wasn’t a pleasant trial, we got to see so many blessings through it, including the privilege of meeting you both… Thank you Paul for being relentless in your search.”