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Unsuccessful underwater ring search

  • from New South Wales (Australia)
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It’s not often that I’m unsuccessful on a ring search but last Friday at Cables Water Park at Penrith in Sydney, Australia brought a long run of successful searches to an end.

About a week earlier James had been at Cables with some friends and had noticed his white gold wedding ring missing at some point during the afternoon session. Staff at Cables suggested calling me after a successful search for a wedding ring in the park a few weeks prior.

Due to the fact that James did not actually recall the moment that his ring came off his finger, it was always going to be a difficult search.

I made four hour drive from my home on the Mid North Coast arriving to coincide with the arrival of Cables maintenance staff about three hours before the park opened to the public.

James had figured out several locations where his ring was likely to have fallen off his finger and we started at the most likely one; the Dog Bone, where I marked a datum line on the lake bed with a string line. A detailed search of the area did not produce James’ wedding ring and over the next two hours several likely places were searched in similar fashion.

The visibility underwater at Cables would probably best be described as zero and the bed of the lake consists a mixture of mud, coarse sand, seaweed and lost sunglasses. The whole area is crisscrossed by anchor cables that secure the multitude of floating, really fun-looking gadgetry that makes up the park. It’s not the place for an inexperienced diver that’s for sure.

The park opened to the public at 1000 and James and I retreated to the coffee shop to formulate Plan B. We returned at 1700 when the park closes to the public and hit the water again. Sadly, after searching approximately ten more likely locations and uncovering two rings, a watch, a bracelet and three million pairs of lost sunglasses, I was unable to find James’ wedding ring.

Staff at Cables shared the best of the sunglasses and the other items found are on their way back to the park’s Manager, Kylie in the hope that they can be reunited with their owners.

James, I’m truly sorry that I was unsuccessful in finding your wedding ring. Don’t lose hope though. If Cables will have me back, it may well turn up on a future search and I promise that you will be the second person to know if it does.

Thank you once again to Kylie, Garry, Nick and the other Cables people for allowing me access to the park and your patience and support for what I do.

Nick Read the rest of this entry »

Engagement ring lost in the sand

  • from New South Wales (Australia)
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Following a successful in the surf last Thursday I was called to Dudley Beach in Newcastle on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia where Ruchika and Yannick had been searching for hours for Ruchika’s white gold and diamond engagement ring in the sand.

On arrival I saw a clearly marked square in the sand and after a short chat to get the detail of the loss I began a grid search with my Minelab Excalibur II. After only a few minutes I heard an excellent tone and marked the object with a plastic tent peg and continued to grid the marked square.

After hearing nothing more from the Excalibur I returned to the peg and drew a cross in the sand and suggested that Ruchika might like to dig there. Ruchika’s reaction in feeling her ring burried in about two inches of sand is what this gig is all about.

Ruchika and Yannick thank you for calling me and waiting so patiently for me to get to you and for having the presence of mind to mark the search area. It was a pleasure to assist you and I thank you for the generous reward you gave me.

Nick

Engagenent ring lost in the surf

  • from New South Wales (Australia)
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I teceived a call from Amy last Thursday hoping that I could assist her to locate her 18 carat gold and solitaire diamond engagement ring that she had lost in the surf on Samurai Beach on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia the day before. No worries I told her and jumped in the car for the two hour drive.

The surf was small and it was low tide. After a pooling of memory resources from several people who were present at the time of the loss and helped Amy in the initial search, a search area was set up marked by PVC poles.

What concerned me was the very soft sand at one end of the rectangular search area. If the ring fell off there it was going to be burried deeply. Maximum sensitivity on the Minelab Excalibur II was required. After about twenty minutes of searching and one random target recovered, I heard a feint yellow gold tone and the dig was on. Because of the large diamond in the ring I dug by hand for fear of dislodging the precious stone from the ring with my scoop and after about ten minutes of digging I felt that unmistakeable ring shape with a large lump on it about 18 inches down. Out came Amy’s engagement ring to a huge round of applause from all those watching.

Amy, it was a pleasure to meet you and the people who assisted you. Thank you for trusting me to recover your ring and for the generous reward.

Nick

Lost Platinum & Diamonds Engagement Ring at Outrigger Canoe Club Waikiki…FOUND!!!

  • from O‘ahu (Hawaii, United States)



This ring find began when I got a call from Ashlee who lives on Oahu. While she was standing in the shore break at Outrigger Canoe Club beach she was taking her ring off to put on her beach towel for safe keeping when it fell in the water and the next wave erased it from view. Slightly panicked Ashlee and her husband Greg tried searching for it but it was no where to be found. Ashlee went on line and looked for metal detecting service and that’s how she got my number. I was relaxing at home watching a football game but told Ashlee the game was a blow out so I’d pack my gear and come right down. Waikiki is only 10 minutes from my house but it seems like I hit every single red light and slow bus along the way. Ashlee had her husband Greg meet me in the parking garage which was nice as there is zero parking on the holidays. We walked down to the beach and Ashlee was standing in the water where her ring fell off. I started a grid around her location and down to the low tide mark but no ring. Seeing how tiny Ashlee’s fingers were and knowing it was a 1 carat diamond I suspected the first wave probably carried the ring up further onto the beach. Finally I got my first target and one scoop down there was Ashlee’s beautiful ring. My guess was right. Ashlee gave me a big hug and Greg a thankful hand shake. A few spectators on the beach told me congratulations and I thought what a great way to start the New Year. Aloha to Ashlee & Greg.

Lost 14k yellow gold Ring Recovered in Louisburg, NC on 12-31-16

  • from Hillsborough (North Carolina, United States)
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This Ring was recovered on 12-31-16 for a nice woman who had lost it in her yard almost 2 months ago while cutting grass on about 6 acres of land. I’m not going to go into too much detail about how she lost it but I was able to find the ring in less than a hour and return it to her. I was very happy to help her out and she was very happy to see it returned after a couple months of being lost. It is always a pleasure to help someone out by finding there lost items.

Lost Gold Wedding Band at Kuhio Beach Waikiki…FOUND!!!

  • from O‘ahu (Hawaii, United States)



This ring find started when I received a Craigslist alert for a lost gold wedding band. I just started drinking my morning cup of java and reading my email when the alert came in. The post was just 10 minutes old so I knew they must be awake so I gave the number a ring. A gentleman named Steve from Washington DC told me his ring fell off while he was walking in waist deep water at Kuhio Beach. I told him I lived 10 minutes away and he gave me some coordinates on where the ring fell off but he was leaving for Maui soon and was probably not going to be able to show me exactly where. I know the beach well and I was planning to detect that morning anyway so it might as well be there. After about 30 minutes of hunting a gentlemen came down to the beach and asked if I was Joe. It was Steve and he was able to narrow down the search area. I drew a few lines in the sand as shore markers and went to work. Steve came back and said we needed to move the eastern most mark more eastward as his wife was watching from their room in the hotel across the street and thought that area was more exact. In the end she was exactly right three lines into her extension area and I got the nice low gold tone and two scoops down was Steve’s gold wedding band. This was an hour after they departed for Maui so when I got back to my truck I texted Steve a pic of the ring. He responded immediately and asked if I could Express mail it to him on Maui. Steve got his ring back around 4PM today and sent me the pic above with it back on his finger. Aloha to Steve!

Lost ring in Kaplan, LA – Found

  • from Lafayette (Louisiana, United States)
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Ashley called on December 22. Her husband, Rahn,  lost his wedding band, while working in the yard. Carrie and I were in California, spending time with the grandkids, so we set the 28th for the hunt. We arrived back from California and went the next day to FIND THE RING. Rahn had worked in the back yard but security camera footage showed the ring still on his finger as he left to do front yard work. He next went to the front yard to clean grass from three grated yard drains. The grass was tossed to the side and the ring may have left his finger with that motion. Carrie and I each hunted around a separate drain with no luck. I went to the third and final drain. The metal grating had caused problems searching the others but I got a strong signal a foot from this drain, far enough for the metal grating to not interfere. Buried in the grass was the prize. Ashley was beyond excited. It was a pleasure reuniting Rahn with his beautiful ring. Thank you for your generous reward. This allows us to continue providing our services.

Ring lost in car-Maurice, LA – Found

  • from Lafayette (Louisiana, United States)
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Carrie and I had just found a ring for a client and were packing our detectors up when we received a call for another lost ring. The location was actually on our way home. We headed out and were at our search site within 15 minutes. Lindsey said she was in her car with her wedding set in the console. When she removed the rings, the engagement ring fell on the passenger side floor and the wedding band on the driver’s side. She found the engagement ring but not the other. She was “very” pregnant at the time and could not do a serious search. We told her that we could not use metal detectors but would be happy to search. Carrie and I made a visual search with flashlights and just felt around where we could not see. Lindsey went to get a mirror when Sid located it, by feel, in a low spot under the driver’s side. The low spot had a plastic vent to bring heated/cooled air to the back seat. Sid was only able to get his hand in the spot after he removed the vent. After giving Lindsey her ring, we put the car back together and headed out. Thank you Lindsey for your generous reward. This allows us to continue offering our finding services.

Promise Ring Found In Claremont Horse Country

  • from Santa Monica (California, United States)

Monday December 26

On Christmas day, I received an email from a hopeful mother, Diane whose daughter just received a promise ring right before Christmas. Her daughter Summer was devastated, and wasn’t sure whether or not to break the terrible news to her boyfriend, to go buy a metal detector and search for herself, or what the next step should be. Diane and I came into contact and although I was unable to make it Sunday night, I made the drive early Monday morning. Luckily, it was nearby and only 6 miles up the hill in Claremont, Horse Country. Summer didn’t know where the ring could be, but she narrowed it down to either being in the stall while cleaning her horses, or outside where she was photographing her new prized possession. I worried that one of the horses may have kicked the ring and we wouldn’t be able to find it. Since the ring is white gold, it is harder for the metal detector to pick up any signals. While searching in the stalls, the friendly horses nudged and kissed me, as they curiously watched the pursuit for the ring.  After turning up the sensitivity, I soon heard a faint signal. I scooped up a pile of hay, and there in the screen was Summer’s ring. She was overjoyed to see her ring once again, and I suppose Christmas came twice for her this year. I was glad to have made someone’s day, and was on my way.

Lost Go Pro 4 in Aulani Disney Resort Ko Olina Lagoon…FOUND!!!

  • from O‘ahu (Hawaii, United States)



This hunt began when I got a call from Alex at Aulani Disney Resort. He told me a gentleman named Christian lost his Go Pro 4 with all their vacation photos while paddle boarding in the lagoon. I told him I could be there around noon to look. While en-route I got stopped at the freeway entrance as President Obama’s motorcade was heading to the North Shore. Thankfully the wait was only 15 minutes. Not many route options on the island of Oahu. When I arrived I went down to the beach to get the locating data and to meet Christian. The lagoon was extremely murky from the high west surf and visibility was only about ten feet which is horrible in Hawaii. Alex paddled out to the area as I snorkeled out. The depth was about fifteen feet so I started my search. I bring my metal detector in case the camera gets covered in sand and silt. As I started my grid the Go Pro came into view lying among some rocks. I put it inside my wet-suit and continued my metal detecting for other lost treasure. This time I only found a tungsten wedding band, a pair of sunglasses and a few coins. Never know around here what you might find. Christian and his wife were ecstatic that I found their Go Pro. It was still on when I found it. Aloha to Christian.