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Time Capsule found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Tracey contacted me about a time capsule that she and her father had buried back in 1997. Inside were various “treasures” from various members of her family, including photos and letters from loved ones now deceased. Tracey knew the approximate location and had attempted to find it a year ago, but, without a metal detector, she was just guessing as to the exact spot and came up empty. The container was supposed to be a small steel box, maybe a foot squared or so. She was uncertain as to the contents other than the photos and letters. One of the interesting parts of this is that it was buried in a remote area of a public park! No telling if it was still there or not. Parks get relandscaped from time to time or maintenance crews might accidentally dig it up or bury it further, so, this was anyone’s guess.

We hiked to the spot which turned out to be just above a drainage ditch. The ground was on a slope, very rocky, and covered in leaves, branches, and other debris from the eucalyptus trees and various trash from park goers over the years. There wasn’t any obvious sign of where it might have been buried, so, I began my search systematically from one end of the search area to the other. Not a big area, maybe 10 X 20 feet, but, LOTS of target sounds, both ferrous and non. I started with the ferrous since it was supposed to be a steel box. After a couple of promising sounds that turned out to be chucks of pipe, I couldn’t find any large targets with my E-trac/ NEL 15″ Attack coil combo. I started in on the smaller ferrous targets. Just junk iron. Next was non-ferrous with similar results at first. I finally got a low conductive signal next to a tree. It was reading 12-09 on the E-trac. That normally is a wad of foil or similar. It didn’t seem like a large target, but being next to the tree it was hard to tell for sure. I started digging…..down a foot and still there…….got out the hand digger…..poked down a bit more and hit something that sounded hollow. Hmmm, could be, or maybe just a pie tin. Kept clearing the dirt and roots away until I could find the edges of the object and got the top cleared off. Yup, looks like a metal box to me! I carefully worked my digger and my fingers around the edges of the box until I could just reach under it. Ooops, nothing left of the side of the box. My fingers just went into a cavity. Not a good sign, as this indicated to me that the box had gotten flooded and rusted out. I finally worked it out of the ground and my suspicions were correct. Even though the box had been wrapped in plastic, the bottom was almost completely gone along with most of the sides. Since the lid was in pretty good shape, I flipped the box up side down on the ground so we could carefully pick through the contents without them spilling all over the place. Most items were water damaged, but, some may clean up. The photos and letters were wrapped separately in more plastic, but, they were waterlogged as well. The photos didn’t look to good, but, the letters might clean up. Tracey has a bit of work to do in that area! With careful rinsing and drying, they might survive. Even with the damage, Tracey was very happy to find the time capsule and recover the contents. I was happy to be a part of it and thank you for the reward.

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Lost Men’s Wedding Ring Found at Makalawena Beach, Big Island, Hawaii!

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I got a phone call in the late afternoon from a woman asking if I were “that Ring Finding guy”.

“That’s me!” I replied and another lost-ring story unfolded…

Marina and Sergey had been down on the remote Makalawena Beach taking photos while on their honeymoon. The couple, visiting from Oregon, had only been on the Big Island of Hawaii for a few days.

After applying sunscreen, the two posed for fun photos, playing in the wet sand near the water. One photo Sergey had his ring on – then the next –  he didn’t! They literally showed us photos in the series on-and-off!

“My ring!,” he’d exclaimed. A heavy, tungsten ring, it had vanished without a trace in the deep sand. The group spent the rest of the afternoon digging for it to no avail.

The next morning Sylvie and I picked up Marina and Sergey and their cousin in our truck and started the long, bumpy 4×4 trail that headed down to the remote beach.

Once we’d hiked to the spot along the beach, my heart fell. Though we’d checked the tide charts, high tide was on its way in force – washing higher and higher over the spot Sergey had noticed the ring had gone missing.

Switching the detector on right away I got a target signal but digging the spot only hit lava rock below a thin layer of sand. Sylvie scanned the beach above the tide line in case the ring had been washed up there during the night’s high tide. I came back and back to that same place where I’d gotten the signal, fighting the water and waves as they got higher.

Sergey had tried digging with his hands while I showed him the place. Our long-handled scoop was useless as it was blocked by the lava rock buried beneath the sand – the water came in waves too strong and too rapid to have a chance to get to it. Sergey was on his hands and knees. “Try to feel under the rock and in crevasses for anything that moves,” I told him as both his arms were buried in sand.  Almost two hours had passed at this point and we’d all lost hope that we’d find it.

Suddenly, Sergey stood up and yelled, “I got it!” – He’d felt under the rock and took hold of what moved in his fingers. If it had slipped, the ring would have been sucked out into the now-heavy surf.

All of us jumped around and celebrated. “This ring couldn’t be replaced,” explained Marina. “It was blessed by the church and we believe that we can only get one of these in our lives!”

Better get it resized!

 

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bimd-sm-biz-card--with-bleed-legAlso check out www.BigIslandMetalDetecting.com for more photos!

Click here for a Google link to pics of the beach.

Wedding Rings Found in Seekonk MA

  • from Charlestown (Rhode Island, United States)
Contact:

Last Tuesday, Christine was walking a trail through a wooded area in Seekonk MA with her two daughters.  In a clearing near the path, she bent to brush off her daughter’s jacket, and her wedding band and diamond ring flew off of her hand.  They were lose as she had lost some weight.  Christine thought the rings had flown into leaves and brush that surrounded the clearing.  After searching the area, she couldn’t find either ring.  That evening, Christine and her husband, Bright, located me on the internet at theringfinders.com, and Bright called me for help.  The next day I met the couple in the area and had Christine reenact what had happened the previous day.  I determined that the rings had probably not flown into the brush and leaves but were on the ground in the clearing where they were lost.  Sure enough, Bright found her diamond ring on the ground in the clearing.  Immediately after, I was able to locate her wedding band.  It was a pleasure to help this couple and to see the rings back on Christine’s finger where they belong.

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Big things found in Small town of Williamston, Michigan

  • from Manistee (Michigan, United States)
Contact:

I received a call from Sean T. Sunday evening asking me for help in finding his lost wedding ring. Late Saturday evening Sean was emptying out his cat litter box in has back yard. He walked in the dark from the back of his shed to the middle of the yard and felt his ring fall off his finger. He immediately put down the litter box and came in the house to have Jenna T. help him find the ring. The grass was 6 to 8 inches tall and they only had a flashlight and scissors. They started clipping the grass and throwing it in a pile but could not find the ring. Sean searched the internet for a metal detector and found the Ring Finders.

Sean and I worked out a plan for me and my fellow Ring Finder, Dave Boyer, to come out to his house and find his ring. On Tuesday afternoon we arrived at their house and after some introductions we started a grid search in the area where the grass was cut with no positive results. We then started from the back of the shed forward, still no results. I then set a grid pattern several feet from where the grass was cut and deep in a clump of grass I got a great signal on my Fisher F75 and there it was.FullSizeRender (24) FullSizeRender (25)Sean Is a little camera shy so I said I only want to share his smile with everyone who will read the story. Another wonderful  day in the world of ring finding.

Sean and Terra own a little store in the heart of Williamston, Michigan called Michigan Market and sell Specialty Foods and Unique Gifts made in Michigan.

Platinum wedding band lost along the lane to the house.

  • from Holland (Michigan, United States)

Gregg Larabel, my RingFinder friend, received a call from Jason G saying he lost his wedding band on his way home from work.  He was driving into the lane to his home and threw a candy wrapper out of the truck window; his ring went flying with it.  It was dark, and he really did not have an exact spot where the ring was lost, but he knew it was just before the driveway to his neighbor’s house.  The next morning he did find a candy wrapper next to the lane and he marked this with a stick.  Gregg and I went out there and hunted for about 2 hours in the brush and heavy downfall of leaves with no success for that day.  Jason did say that he was sure the ring was thrown farther east of where he found the candy wrapper and we concentrated that day on that area.

Three days later Gregg and I called in some extra help — Fred Johnson, another Ringfinder, plus Denise M. and Jack B.  After preparing a test ring with a red ribbon on it, we threw it out a vehicle window to see how far it might have gone into the brush.  Then all five of us set out flags and started to grid the area.  After about an hour I found the ring very close to the original spot that Jason had marked for us, five feet or so from the edge of the road in a small clump of brush.  After some high fives we waited for Jason who was on his way home from work. Gregg had called him while he was on the road and told him the good news.

Jason presented us with a generous reward and after splitting that five ways, we all went home with smiles on our faces.  This hobby cannot get any better than this!

 

 

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Ring lost in the sand on San Diego Bay Found!

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Zack left an urgent message on my cell phone voice mail stating that he had lost his 4 day old wedding ring in the sand across the street from where he was staying on his honeymoon. When I finally heard the message, I called him back for the details and arranged to meet him there at 11pm. We both arrived a bit early and Zack escorted me down to the area were he had lost it 3 hours earlier. He had been brushing sand off his hands by rubbing them on his pants when the unthinkable happened……the ring went flying into the sand and disappeared. Zack contemplated renting or buying a detector but found The Ring Finders online and decided to give us a try. Initially, I was told it was a silver ring, so, I expected a high pitched screamer for a target on my E-trac. Right after I fired my machine up, I get a low pitched, solid 12-06 moaner in my ears on my first swing. I asked again about the metal it was made of, and he said “silver, but it has some gold in it too”. Great, now I need to scoop virtually all non-ferrous sounds, starting with this one. Well, in this case, first time was the charm, as this 12-06 was his ring! So much for it being mainly silver. A happy Zack couldn’t believe I found it so quick. Getting me to the right spot was the key here, so, good job Zack! I hope you and your new bride enjoy the rest of your stay here. Great to meet you and thank you for the reward.

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Worker loses Wedding ring at Kelowna worksite, Found and returned.

  • from Kelowna (British Columbia, Canada)
Contact:

Kyle was installing fencing at a new home, and just for safety he put his 14k diamond wedding ring in his pocket so as not to lose it. On his way home he went to his pocket to put the ring back on, and it was missing. He checked out the W.W.W.  found The Ringfinders, and gave me a call, I responded within 30 minutes and found the ring 2 inches deep in the dirt by a fencepost. His concern was that it could have been anywhere on site, or even in the concrete around the post`s.  Another happy customer.

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Lost wedding ring found Minnesota

  • from Twin Cities Metro (Minnesota, United States)

Sara called about her husbands lost White Gold / Diamond wedding band. Lost at a local play area while out with the kids. Hard to explain, though the ring was just a bit deeper than my detector can scan, I have an in-line sunray probe which I can get just a bit deeper into the play area  – My last try and I very luckily scanned it – This was a one in a million shot, and it paid off!! Congrats to you and your husband Sara, so glad I could help out.

Darrin –

 

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White gold rind recovered from Commerce City park

  • from Denver (Colorado, United States)

Patrick was out playing in the local park with his son with a boomerang type toy. Being afraid of losing his ring, Patrick took off his ring and placed it in his son’s hat which was on the ground. As they were bringing their play time to an end, Patrick’s son went to pick up his hat when he noticed it was crawling with ants so he gave his hat a kick. And with that Patrick’s ring went flying and disappeared into the grass. Patrick went to a local metal detector store and rented a detector. After several minutes of searching he had not found his ring and ended up calling me for help. Luckily I was only a couple of minutes away and even though I was running late for a dinner date with friends and my wife I couldn’t resist helping out.

After 15 minutes of searching my CTX gave me a nice ring signal, there sat Patrick’s ring peeking out of the grass. Quickly we gave high-fives and snapped a couple of photos so that I could race home to my diner date.

Ring Recovered 10-10-15

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Lennon, Michigan Wedding ring lost, wedding ring found

  • from Manistee (Michigan, United States)
Contact:

I was called by Chuck M. yesterday to find his wedding band that he lost while setting plants in his yard. Chuck and his wife Sharmon live on an 80 acre farm in a small village of Lennon, Michigan just north of Swartz Creek, MI.

While doing the planting Chuck noticed his ring missing after planting 2 small bushes and taking some dug up sod and dirt across the yard and throwing it in a ditch. Chuck and Sharmon looked for the ring with no results, frustrated, they went to their computer and found The Ring Finders and gave me a call. I generally have my Ring Finder friend Dave Boyer go with me on hunts as I go with him on his calls. We make a pretty good team with a high percentage of finds.

We arrived at the farm and introduced ourselves to the Chuck and Sharmon and after they pointed out the area they were working in we got to work. Dave turned on his AT Pro and went to the first bush and up popped a penny. He tossed it to Sharmon and we all thought it was the ring which got a big laugh. A moment later my Fisher F75 gave me a hit and there was Chuck’s titanium wedding band. The total search lasted about 2 minutes. Smiles lasted longer than the hunt and another happy couple goes into the Book of Smiles.

It was our pleasure meeting this nice couple today and finding his lost ring.FullSizeRender (22)

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