Received a call from a dad who lost a platinum wedding band while practicing soccer with his son in Highland Park, IL.
He knew about where he lost it so it was a quick hunt.
He considered renting a metal detector, but found me through the ring finders. He was very happy
I’m home from vacation unpacking & cleaning my metal detectors, and I get a phone call from Kate. She says that her husband was in the backyard watering the flowers when he lost his wedding ring.
I ask the usual questions when was it lost? Today Is there any metal fencing around? No Has anyone else looked? No. She said it was lost a few hours ago, they believe that it is in the neighbors yard, but its un-kept. They live in Philly. The thought about renting a detector and while searching for detectors my site came up. I looked up the address and said that I could be there in 45 minutes. She said make sure you come prepared, there are a lot of mosquitoes.
After searching for a parking spot for about 20 minutes I found one about a block away. I took 1 detector with me and walked to their house. I met Brett at the door. He showed me out back and where he was. He said he was watering the plants when a mosquito buzzed by his ear. He swatted at the bug an his ring flew off. He didn’t hear it land so it had to be in the neighbors yard. His yard is covered by a wooded deck.
The neighbors yard was a mess. It hasn’t been taken care of in years. The only way in was to climb over a 5 foot cement wall. Brett said that the neighbor game him permission to search, but he had to figure out how to get in & out.
The bugs were worse than I imagined. I had to go back to my truck and get a send detector with a smaller coil because of all of the trash. I also put on a long sleeve shirt and a hat that not only covers my head but mu neck too.
With the assistance of a step stool I was able to get into the yard, not sure how I was going to get out because it was much higher on this side. There were so many metal items in this yard my hopes were very low.
I decided to look around 1st. There was no grass, but plenty of weeds and 3-4 foot saplings. Weeds with sticker balls and the like. I searched for about 15 minutes just by looking. Moving the plants & saplings. I was just about to gram a detector when I saw the ring.
It was a beautiful tri-colored gold ring. White gold, yellow gold & rose gold. Brett said when he was looking for rings for the wedding he just couldn’t find one he liked. He told his dad the the only ring here really likes is the one his father wore. His dad without hesitation gave him his ring. So there was a huge sentimental attachment.
I found a milk crate to give me a little height to try to climb out of the yard. It was just enough for me to pull myself up and get over the wall.
We went into the house & took some pictures. I’m not sure if I would have found it with a detector, even with a 3 inch coil to get through the trash. I guess I am getting pretty good at this treasure hunting thing!!
While camping with his wife and in-laws at P.J. Hoffmaster State Park on Lake Michigan, Josh B. lost his wedding ring in the surf while tossing a football about 30 yards from shore. Since I love metal detecting in the big lake, I get alerts from the local weather service when there are hazardous conditions on the lake shore and I had just received one of those alerts before Josh contacted me. There were 6-9 foot waves and dangerous rip currents for the next two days and I knew it would impossible to search before Friday morning. Josh wondered if it was even realistic to be able to find it after those conditions. I told him of a similar situation that had occurred at Grand Haven State park last year and that I was successful in locating a wedding ring after that storm. If he knew where the ring had fallen off there was a good chance I’d be able to find it. Josh took a couple hours off work Friday morning and we made the trip out to the beach getting there shortly after sun rise. Since there is no public parking in the campground, we parked about a half mile south of the campground at the public beach and made the hike north to the State Park beach. During the hike north, Josh asked what my success rate was at finding rings in Lake Michigan, I said 100% so far (I hoped it stayed that way!). The waves were still a good three feet and tossed me around a little but was I able to locate Josh’s ring in about 20 minutes.
Matt gave me a call and informed me of the following ” I lost my wedding ring last weekend in about 8 feet of water as I was reattaching our water trampoline to its concrete block anchors”. I had a busy schedule and luckily the ring was lost in a private dock area, I was able to meet Matt the next weekend and search the area. It was a quick dive, truly about 2 minutes. Matt had removed the chains from the blocks and marked the area with a buoy tied to a rope. This helped out as the ring was found right next to the blocks, if the chains had still been attached; it would have masked the tones from my metal detector. Thanks for preparing the site Matt!!! Glad I could help out –
Darrin
Rick Magyar a fellow Ring Finder called me the other day and asked for help finding a lost ring in the Grand River. What had happened is Cory V. had received a 14k gold wedding band from his grandfather who had passed away a week before. This ring was going to be used in Cory’s upcoming wedding. Cory and some friends where in the Grand River enjoying themselves on a hot summer day when just before getting out of the water he felt the ring slide off his finger. The river was about 2 to 3 feet deep with weeds and about 6 inches of mud. Rick had been out on a hunt previously and was unable to locate the ring so he called on my help. When we arrived at the river we met Pam who’s house they were at when the ring was lost. We went down to the river and proceeded to search. While I went out about 4 feet from shore Rick was looking closer to shore than where he looked before. Rick got a hit and Dave B. verified the hit with his AT Pro, because of the muck Dave let Rick use his underwater pointer and after Rick grabbed a handful of muck the pointer continued beeping as he pulled it up to search. There it was mixed in with a handful of black mud gleaming slightly in the sunlight.
We took the ring up to Pam and she called Cory who lives out of town it turned out to be a happy day for all involved. We asked that Cory send us a close up picture holding his ring for our Book of Smiles. So watch for an update to this story in the next couple of weeks.
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Rick M on the left
Pam in the middle
Gregg L on the right
You have to keep an open mind when looking for a ring. Carl M. said he had his ring in the bottom of his kayak and forgot about it when he took the kayak out of the water. Carl called me while I was in Tennessee and I told him I could make it out there in a couple of days. Seeing that the ring was lost in a private swimming area I was not too concerned about someone else finding it. He said it was by the dock where he pull the kayak out. He figured it must have fallen out when it was turned over in about 3 feet of water and carried across the yard to the condo. After searching everywhere on the grass and in the kayak and not finding it he thought it’s time for the internet. Finding me on the Ring Finders the search began. I have built a team of detectorist my brother Doug, Dave Boyer (a soon to be Ring Finder in the Holland and South Haven market) and myself. Doug and Dave spent about an hour looking in the water which had large cement slabs with deep cracks and rocky bottom. Checked the lawn between the dock and condo and came up empty. Finding rings takes a lot of detective work and elimination. The water and grass was checked the only thing left was to look at the kayak one more time. The kayak was rolled over on it’s top and the ring fell out. Lessen learned, “always start from where the ring was last seen”.
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So two successful ring finds in one day on opposite sides of the island and I’m feeling pretty stoked. I’m cruising home it’s 7 PM, getting dark and my phone rings so I pull over to answer it. It’s Don my fellow ring finder. He tells me he just got a call from Dylan from San Francisco, CA who is leaving at 11 AM the next morning. His fiance Majolyn lost her engagement ring on Waimanalo Beach and Don has to be at work in the AM so he wanted to know if i could take it. Hey, he’s calling now I’ll do what I can. Dylan & I arranged to meet at his vacation rental at first light to see if we could find the ring. Story goes Dylan & Majolyn had gone down to the beach to take some photos. While she was holding her nieces hand a rush of water came up and while trying to hold on her ring got pulled off. Majolyn immediately put her hand down to retrieve the ring but the next wave erased that idea. It was gone! Devastated, she and Dylan had the foresight to note exactly where they were on the beach. I arrived at the vacation rental about 515 AM it was still dark. I asked Dylan whose vehicle he wanted to take and he said we can walk the beach was just beyond my headlights view. We grabbed my gear and walked to the beach together. Dylan showed and explained the scenario to me and I told him I would start my search high on the beach and work down to the surf. Our east side surf is the worst nearly year round. I was dreading having to go into it and trying to remain stable enough to search properly. Also I never searched this beach so I was unfamiliar with the trash situation. My first pass was silent and so was the second. On the third pass the gnarliest sound came across the Excalibur. That’s either a hunk of trash or a very ornate ring. Three scoops down I finally had the target and not wanting to knock a diamond loose if it was the ring I went to the waters edge to rinse my scoop gently. Voila! That is one gorgeous ring in the scoop with just enough dawn’s early light to see it. I yelled up to Dylan & Majolyn “Got It” Dylan gave me the biggest bear hug I’ve had in a long time and Majolyn was so grateful and in disbelief it only took two minutes. Vacation ends on a high note! Three successful ring finds in exactly 18 hours is certainly tops for me. Aloha to Dylan & Majolyn.
After the successful ring search at Hilton Hawaiian Village I had a call on my phone from Ashley from Birmingham, Alabama. Apparently her husband Adam returned from the beach and after going back to the room to retrieve his ring hidden in his shoe with his wallet it was no where to be found. They scoured their room and the path to the area they were at on the beach but it was gone. It was nearly 3 PM and rush hour traffic was soon to be upon us. I rushed home to get a bite to eat then immediately got on the road for Turtle Bay which is 48.6 miles from my house. That’s about the farthest destination on Oahu for me. Surprisingly I was able to make it in about an hour and a half. Adam & Ashley met me at the beach shower and we walked over to the area they were on at the beach to start the search. We marked off the sand the size of a parking stall and I went to work. It only took 5 minutes and the area was sterile. Not a single target. This wasn’t going to be easy as now we had to retrace the long path they took back to their hotel room. Miraculously Ashley found a picture on her phone that she took earlier in the day that showed exactly with landmarks where they were on the beach. The new search area was about 20 feet to the East and a family was occupying that spot. They kindly offered to move and I started again. Ten seconds later a brand new quarter and a moment after that the roar of a ring. One scoop down and Adam was beaming with a smile of relief. Honeymoon saved. Aloha to Adam & Ashley.
On Monday David Sheldon a Ring Finder on Maui passed a lost ring on Oahu to Don Bryant. Since I’m very familiar with the Hilton Hawaiian Village area Don asked me to join him on the hunt. A 1 carat diamond ring is so special we weren’t going to let one of the other detectorists snag it. We met Brian & Brittany at the beach to get details. Brittany entered the water and the rocks were hurting her feet. Brian told her to just dive in and swim towards him where it was sandy. She did and on the second stroke her ring came off. They searched fruitlessly for a few hours and had to give up. That’s when they Googled lost ring and found David. When we started the search the tide was up and the rocky area was murky and it was all Don and I could do to dig targets. After three hours we had fishing lures, weights, coins and two other rings but not Brittany’s. The best time to search this area is at low tide which was 1209 PM the next day. I was able to get off from work but Don is extremely busy this time of year. We told Brian and Brittany I would be back at noon and give it another shot and bring scuba gear if necessary. After searching another hour the next day with nothing but more change and lead weights I asked Brittany if she could demonstrate for me as much as possible in the water what she did. It turns out she realized she was much further out than she originally imagined. Great, deeper and clearer water. I shifted my grid search and on the start of my second leg the sound of a platinum ring was screaming in my headphones. I slipped under water with my snorkel but couldn’t see the ring. I turned on my underwater pin-pointer and there about 2 inches down a shiny object came to the surface. Wow! That was a big rock compared to the Size 6 ring. I stood up and yelled to Brittany who was now tanning on the beach. “I think I got your ring” “Really, are you kidding?” she replied. I said, “Come out and look…no stay there I’ll come to you.” As we met on the beach I could see the emotions pouring from Brittany’s face. Overjoyed and a sigh of relief were so apparent. She immediately put the ring back on her finger and gave me a tremendous hug and thanks. She called Brian who was in the room and he rushed down to see what they thought was gone forever. Now their vacation could begin in an upbeat fashion. Aloha to Brittany & Brian.
Katelyn was to have her engagement ring and wedding band soldered together this week because she was going to be married this Friday; the only problem was she had just lost her engagement ring in Lake Michigan! Her cousin Kim called me and asked if I could come out right away, I said, “Absolutely, I’ll be there in about 40 minutes.” Katelyn’s Aunt Carol and Uncle Tom stayed with her in the water to mark the approximate location that Katelyn saw her ring fall off while I made the drive out to Holland State Park. The three of them, with Katlyn’s younger cousins, Mikayla and Sawyer, spread out to form a 20′ square area for me to do a thorough search in. At first I thought it wasn’t in the area they thought as I got no hits at all after my first pass though the area. I went back and searched again and found it right next to Mikala on the edge of the search area; I was probably standing on it when I started my search. It actually only took about 10 or 15 minutes to search the 20 sq. ft. area and find the ring. That was one very happy bride to be and another smiling face for my book of smiles.