Had a great time today as a member of TheRingfinders.com. I was asked to find a lost man’s ring in a small Creek in a remote area. After about an hour, with hopes dimming, I was finally able to return to an unsuspecting man in front of a great wife and friends. Of course, I couldn’t help a little pranking during the returned of this great ring purchased by his wife.
On 7/20/25 around 9 pm, I was enroute to finish up a prior ring search when I received a text from Christine. Her text read, “Hi Jim. My husband lost a St Christopher necklace today at Holden beach while swimming about 10 feet from shore. It was his father’s necklace who passed away last summer – and had an inscription from his mother to his father on the back. The necklace itself isn’t worth much of anything, but the sentimental value is priceless. Is this something you might be able to help with? I’m not even sure of the chances of finding it, but we are Desperate. Christine” I immediately called her and told her I was on another search but could come up after that. I told her it might be late and asked her what’s too late for them. She didn’t have a problem with it being too late.
I was able to finish off the previous ring search successfully and pretty quick and called Christine. I asked her for her address and plugged it into my GPS. I told her I could be there at 11:11 pm and she was good with that. After the almost 2-hour drive, I arrived at their rental and met both Christine and her husband Brent in the driveway. On the way out to the beach in the pitch blackness of night, I was told the back story of the St Christopher medal. Brent’s mother, Roberta had given the medal to Brent’s father, Mark roughly 50 years ago when he took the Bar Exam and Mark had worn it since. Mark had passed away last summer, and Roberta gave the medal to Brent who’s worn it since. Brent was out enjoying vacation, doing a little body surfing when a wave took the necklace right off his neck. Brent, Roberta and Christine had been devastated all day. I think Christine made it her mission to find a way to get it back. I had Brent give me an east and west boundary line and started on the east side. Hearing about what time this happened, which was about high tide, and looking at the current situation which was right at low tide I thought we had a good chance of finding it. This area had a high sloop so I was thinking the medal would be just about in the middle of the slope and out of the water. Brent thought I needed to go out deeper where the surf was braking on the sand bar, which in the dark at 11 pm wasn’t going to happen. I was going from just off the top of the sloop out to about thigh deep. The tide was coming in pretty quick, and thigh deep was getting more like waist deep. I was just about halfway across the search area when I hit a solid 30 on the detector’s VDI (visual display indicator). The medal was Sterling Silver which would hit upper 20s to lower 30s. I knew I had Brent’s St Christopher’s medal. I carefully dug out the target so I wouldn’t mess up the chain. Had the target on the beach, spread the sand and St Christopher was looking up at me. There was no chain attached nor was it still in the sand. I picked up the medal, and walked over to Brent, cleaning the sand off it. Christine had gone back to the rental, so it was just me and Brent. When I got to Brent, I held out my open hand so he could see it. He was overcome with every emotion. He hugged me so tight and lifted me off the ground. About that time Christine had made her way back and got the word and she got very excited. Next, we had to let his mom know. As we’re walking back to the house, his mom was on the back porch of the rental, I’m not sure if she’d been there the whole time but when she heard the news, I’m sure happy tears flowed. It’s such a great feeling for me when I can help make these kinds of things happen.
Roberta, Brent, and Christine – Thank you so much for trusting me to help find your truly lost treasure.
Jim
On 7/20/25, just before 4:30 pm, I received a call from Michele asking if I could help find her 4 rings she had lost. She stated that she had taken the rings off to put on suntan lotion and put them in her beach chair seat. She had forgotten about the rings until she went up to her room, ate some lunch, took a shower and then realized she didn’t have her rings. Her and her husband, Kraig went back down to the beach, where they had been sitting. By then, the tide had come up and water was covering the area where they sat. During our conversation, she told me this happened about an hour prior. Looking at the tide tables, this all happened about an hour before high tide. I told her that we could meet at 7:30 pm, which would be 2 hours after high tide. After we hung up, I got to thinking that 2 hours may be too long. I called her back and set up a meet time of 6:30 pm, she agreed.
It took me about 40 minutes to get to her condo, and I text her saying, “I‘m here” after I found a place to park. As I’m walking across the parking lot, I heard my name and I got to meet Michele and her husband Kraig, As we’re walking out to the beach, Michele explained what I was looking for. She told me that 1 ring was her grandmother’s wedding band that she wore for more than 50 years. Her grandmother gave it to her when she and Craig got married 38 years ago – priceless! The 2nd ring was her mother’s mother’s ring – again priceless. The 3rd ring was her own mother’s ring, and the 4th was the engagement ring Kraig had given her many years ago. All 4 rings had significant sentimental value and importance to Michele. Michele and Kraig pointed out the area they thought they were in. They were close to each other but far enough apart, so I started a north/south grid line. Probably on my 4th line, I got a signal, but it wasn’t much to go on. All 4 rings were Yellow Gold, so I knew I’d be looking for numbers on the detector in the 13-16 range. I kept running the coil over the area to get something clear and finally dug a scoop of sand. The signals were a little better but still not clear enough to give me a good feeling. I dug a couple more scoops out of the hole and dumped the sand on the beach. Ran the coil over the area and got a solid 16 signal. Found the ring in the pile of sand and held it up for Michele to see – Bingo, grandma’s ring is in Michele’s hand. Took another scoop or two and Michele’s mother’s mother’s ring was now in hand. Two down, two to go! Another couple of scoops out of what is now about a 15–18-inch hole and got Michele’s engagement ring. After about 30 minutes of pulling out more sand, spreading the sand around on the beach, running the coil over the sand and all 3 of us trying to eyeball the ring, I just couldn’t find it. I asked Michele if she had had the ring sized and if the solder could have come apart making the ring not a whole ring. She told me that the ring is unique in that the top of the ring comes to a fork on both sides and the stones set on top of the forks. So, the top part of the ring does not connect to the other side. Now it’s time to come up with a plan B. I told Michele and Kraig I was going home to get a different detector and would be back in an hour and a half. I decided to get my White’s PI, a great machine but it’s heavy and does not discriminate. So basically, the machine sounds off on any metal under the coil. Before I left, I paced off and had a landmark to get me back on the spot.
When I got back, I text Michele and went to work to find my mark. I turned my PI on and waved the coil over the filled in hole and got a faint signal. Ok, this is working. I kept taking scoops of sand out and the signal got louder. After 4 or 5 scoops, the target was on the beach. By now it was dark, so I turned my headlamp on and started looking through the sand. Boom, I saw gold and pulled Michele’s mother’s ring out. I started walking up to the condo so I could get a decent picture and got to the door about the same time Michele. She was speechless; all 4 priceless and irreplaceable rings are back where they belong.
Michele – Thank you for allowing me to help you get all your rings back safe and sound!
Jim
This guy called me about a ring that his Grandmother had made for him that included ruby’s from his Grandfather’s ring. He put his shirt on a picnic table and laid the ring on the shirt in an attempt not to lose it. He forgot that the ring was on the shirt and when he picked it up, the ring went flying. When I got out to the river to meet with him he pointed me in the right direction. After about 5 minutes I got a 19 on my equinox 800 and when I shook out my scoop, I saw the ring.
I was contacted Sunday evening, July 20, by Sonny B. about a lost wedding ring. “my grandparents were married on May 31st, 1943. My grandfather passed away in January of 2011 and my grandmother in November of 2016. She gave my grandfathers ring to me in 2016 for my wedding on June 11th, 2016. Another cool fact is today, the day we found the ring, is my Grandmothers Birthday. You can’t make that up. Thank you so much!”
Sonny was on a boat and when he got off going to shore he caught a football from a friend in about ankle deep water. Just as he caught the ball he felt his wedding ring fall off. The ring was immediately swallowed up by the waves and fresh beach sand. As an IT tech he had the smarts to search the internet and coming across the Ringfinders.com. he gave me a call. After his call we agreed to meet at his family’s cottage on Portage Lake in Onekama MI. The following morning we parked our cars and took a long walk on the Pier leading out to Lake Michigan and another long walk to a friends private beach. Once in the water I was directed to an approximate area where the ring fell off his finger. I started my search about 10 feet to the left of where Sonny was standing and detected the water line. When I got in front of him in ankle deep water I got a good gold hit on my CZ21, got a scoop full of sand and as it filtered through scoop the ring appeared. Sonny lifted it out of the scoop in amazement and couldn’t stop thanking me as he talked about how much the ring meant to him and his wife. After some pictures were taken and more thank you’s, we walked back to our cars and said our good byes. This helping people in their dark hours never gets old.
I was contacted today by Lauren who informed me that she lost a pendant from her necklace while in her barn preparing food for her livestock. She mentioned it was quite small and that it was most likely somewhere in the hay on the barn floor. She went on to say it was just lost that morning and that after searching for a while in the hay she realized that it was going to be near impossible to find it without professional help.
We made plans to meet in the afternoon. Upon arriving, Lauren took me down to the barn and led me to the specific area that she felt it should be. Luckily the area was small and fairly undisturbed other than the searching that she did earlier. I immediately got to work and after getting a few false signals, I got a hit and…………….. 
…………BOOM! Can you see it in the picture?
I know Lauren told me it was small, but wow………
………….this was by far the smallest recovery I’ve made in 20+ years!
Lauren ventured by up to the house prior, so I texted her to come back down to the barn. The joy and relief I saw on her face I will never forget. It was plain to see how much this tiny little cross meant to her! I’m happy to say it is back where it belongs!
Another lost gold ring in the water! This ring was lost while the couple was training their dog at the waters edge. The ring came off while lifting the dog in and out of the water. The dog did fine but the ring did not! The husband ended up in the dog house while the dog roamed free! In the end we got him out of the dog house and put the dog back in! Smiles all around!
I received a text from Sam on a Monday afternoon because his girlfriend had lost a ring the Saturday before that he had given her 6 or 7 years before while they were in college. The ring had been his grandmother’s and he was hoping I could help. I was at work then and couldn’t help until the next day but, knowing the state parks groom the beaches every morning, I suggested he contact one of the other Ring Finders who could get there right away. He had already waited a couple days before contacting me so he had pretty much resigned himself to the fact that it was probably lost forever. With just a photo he had sent me to approximate where they were on the beach I tried the following Friday to search for the ring. After about 20 minutes I was surprised to see a gold ring with a beautiful green peridot in my scoop.
On 7/20/25 just before 11:30 am, I got a text message saying, “Hi Jim, my name is Eric. My family is staying in Garden City beach and I am reaching out to you for help because I lost my wife’s engagement ring and wedding band on the beach this morning. Please let me know if you are able to help. “I called the number attached to the text and talked to Eric. I found out the rings were lost in the dry sand and told him I’d be there in about an hour. I also ask him to text me the address. Once I plugged the address in the GPS, I text him letting him know I was on my way with my ETA.
When I arrived, it took me a few minutes to park and then make my way out to the beach. Eric saw me and waved, so I made my way over to their spot. Eric explained that his wife had taken her rings off and put them on top of a bag. Eric moved the bag, along with some other items and the rings disappeared into the sand. He told me both rings were yellow gold. So I turned my detector on and knew I was looking for numbers on the detector in the 11 to 13 range. I checked where the bags were originally and its final resting place with no luck. I moved a couple of chairs under their umbrella and swung the coil. The first signal I got was an 11, so I knew I had the wedding band. I reached a little farther under the umbrella and got a 13, the engagement ring. I took a scoop of sand for the wedding band and then scooped up the engagement ring. I gently shook out the scoop and both rings were in the bottom of the scoop. Unfortunately, Eric’s wife, Liz was up in the room taking care of their 1 ½ year old. Day 1 of their vacation came to a happy ending.
Eric – Thank you so much for contacting me to help find your wife’s lost rings.
Jim
On Friday, July 18th, Gary Hill and I were returning from Short Sands Beach York Maine, in York Beach, Maine. We had a successful recovery, after Gary had recovered a lost pendant. As we were approaching the Town of Wells, Maine, my phone rang. The caller identified herself as Sarah. Sarah told me that she was at Scratch Baking Co., in South Portland, Maine and she had just lost a very small gold earring. As she and her daughter, Eliza were eating lunch, outside on a bench, she had felt and seen the gold earring, become entangled in Eliza’s hair. As Sarah went to grab the earring, from Eliza’s hair, Eliza spun away and the earring fell into the grass and acorn shells. They had been searching for the earring, for a half hour and just couldn’t find it. She asked if I could help her. I told her Gary and I could be there in approximately 45 minutes, as we were still on Rt 1, in Wells, Maine. Sarah and Eliza would continue to search for the earring, as Gary and I made our way north, to South Portland Maine and Scratch Baking Co…
Once Gary and I arrived we saw Sarah and Eliza sitting on the beach, under the tree. They told us they still hadn’t found the earring. Gary had brought his 8” sniper coil, as this would work best for extremely small gold items. We decided that Gary would start grid searching, with the Minelab Manticore and 8” sniper coil. I would visually search and run my pinpointer through the grass, hoping to get lucky. After approximately 20-30 minutes, the earring still wasn’t found. Just amazing how these things disappear from sight. Gary and I decided to switch roles. I would grid search vertically, where Gary had searched horizontally, to the street. Gary would now visually search and man the pinpointer. After about 5 minutes, I received a repeatable target of 06 – 07, on the VDI screen and the sweet sounding low tone of gold. I still couldn’t see the target but could definitely hear the target. I reached down and moved the grass and still couldn’t see the target. I then moved a few pieces of broken acorn shells and staring back at me was an extremely small gold earring. I looked over at Sarah and Eliza and said “I found it”. Sarah jumped right up and came towards me, saying “Did you really? Thank you so much”. This earring would not have been found by just visually searching. How did the earring end up under the broken acorn shells? We may never know for sure but most likely the shells ended up on top of the earring during the initial search, by Sarah and Eliza. As they were walking, in the area and running their fingers through the grass, they may have inadvertently moved the shells, onto the earring. Either way, Sarah now had her gold earring back and was very happy with that. Sarah and Eliza are from Massachusetts and had been in the area, when they stopped at Scratch Baking, for lunch. The lunch turned out much longer than they had planned and they were very excited to be getting back on the road, to drive home. That is one reason, why there are so few photos. We didn’t want to hold them up any longer than necessary. Gary and I were also happy to be heading home as we had now been on the road, searching for lost items, for 6 1/2 hours. After two successful recoveries today , it was time to go home, get something to eat and reflect on our day. We absolutely love doing this for others and have the best job in the world.
