Uncategorized Category | Page 420 of 584 | The Ring Finders

Ed & his wife Julie from Southampton were visiting friends for the day frolicking on Swanage Beach.  Unfortunately it ended in disaster when Ed noticed the ring which he had been wearing for the past ten years disappeared into the soft sand.

When called I was concerned about its recovery due to the close proximity to a small stream cutting through the beach washing items deeper into the sand and for the fact it had been several days since its initial loss.

The search was pretty standard- scanning up and down and mapping out a grid by dragging my scoop. after 15 minutes of search up she come with a bellowing noise through my headset.

Ed &  Julie were very pleased to have the ring back and made a kind donation to the Margret Green Animal Charity.

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin resident, Betty Jo, lost a one-of-a-kind wedding ring while cleaning up her garden. The ring was designed and created in Thailand many years ago. Betty Jo’s late husband had it made for her. Now it was gone.

I received a phone call from a kindly neighbor friend, Karen. Would I come and search for Betty Jo’s ring?

I met up with Betty Jo the next evening. She was visibly grieving the loss of the ring and all the memories it held. I followed her as she retraced her steps to where she was the moment she suddenly realized her precious ring was missing.

Equipment in hand I worked my way down a row of small bushes, probing the foliage and leaves as I went. Betty JO searched with me. Indeed, the ring suddenly appeared when she raked away some leaves that were covering it.

Mission accomplished!

Wedding rings belonging to Sussex, Wisconsin residents, Mark and Shandell Geyer were lost in an overgrown tangle of burdock bushes, vines and raspberry canes at the end of their garden. To make matters worse, the remains of a long forgotten chain-link fence lay partially buried in the mud next to a high-voltage electric cable. These conditions were a metal detectorist’s worst nightmare.

I received an email from Mark asking if I might help. He had rented a metal detector but the conditions proved futile.

My first search attempt was in the dark. After a few hours, it was clear to me that the area would need to be systematically cleared of the growth and metal debris. I arranged a second visit, spending the better part of an afternoon and evening pruning away the brush and extracting old metal pipes, fencing and rubbish. Once cleared, I was finally able to detect the area and adjust the settings on my XP Deus metal detector to minimize the electrical interference, but in the end I had no rings to show for my efforts.

Another week went by while Mark cleared yet another section of brush. I returned a third time to sweep the area. Mark’s hope was reflected in his text to me when he wrote, “Third times a charm!”

When a sweep of the newly exposed area failed to bring the rings to the light of day, I began to seriously entertain the idea that the rings may have been lost elsewhere. Construction of a new house close by threatened to cover the search location with dirt and rocks. The rings would be lost forever if that were the case. As impossible as it seemed, two faint signals on the perimeter of the construction site invited further investigation. And amazingly, Mark’s ring first came to light and then about 8 feet away Shandell’s ring appeared in the muck.

With the precious rings in my pocket, I explained to Mark that the rings were definitely not in the area we had cleared. The disappointment was visibly apparent in his face. While walking towards the construction site, I relayed how I investigated a faint signal beneath a partially buried sediment barrier. Then, pulling the ring from my pocket I said, “This was all it was!” Mark was speechless. I then told how another very faint signal beneath the newly bulldozed dirt pile some 8 feet away prompted another dig. “But,” I explained as I pulled the mud-caked love token from my pocket, “it was just Shandell’s ring!”

Perseverance pays. It was like Mark said, “Third times a charm!”