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I had only been home about an hour from conducting a successful ring search on the other side of our great state of Wisconsin when I received an email from Phil Johnson in Greenfield, WI. On November 14th he lost his wedding ring while cleaning out the rain gutters on his house. He had no idea where to begin searching. Carly, Phil’s wife joined him, scouring the immediate vicinity of the house but without success. The white gold inscribed ring had vanished.

Like an increasing number of people in his situation, Phil turned to the Internet for tips on searching for lost rings. That is where he discovered The Ring Finders website and my profile on its directory of Metal Detecting Specialists here in Wisconsin.

Phil had plenty of questions. What kind of success rates did I see? How long does a search take? Are there terrain limitations I needed to be made aware of? How quickly did a search need to be done? How could he go about scheduling a search? And when could I come? It was clear from Phil’s questions he was a detail man. I like that because recovering lost rings is all about details. Details can mean the difference between a successful recovery and a ring that eludes discovery despite even the best search efforts.

It was my plan to drive over to Phil’s house the next morning. However, work responsibilities and pouring rain combined to delay my search until late in the afternoon. By the time I arrived, the rain and the wind had increased significantly. The street in front of the Johnson’s home was like a torrent of water. I donned rubber boots and rain gear, calibrated my XP Deus wireless detector and made my way to the front of the house. In my mind I settled in for a long soggy evening searching the entire .3 acres.

As often is the case around houses, the ground was full of metallic debris. Further fine-tuning was needed to discriminate against ferrous metal and high mineralization in the ground. I also used a test ring of the size and gold quality that closely matched the one Phil described. Tuning complete, I made exactly four sweeps of the coil when suddenly I heard a perfectly matching signal to my test ring. Thinking I needed to make further adjustments to my detector, I bent over to look more closely in the gathering darkness. As I did so, rainwater poured off my parka. Parting the grass with my wet fingers, I saw to my utter surprise it was Phil’s wedding band!

Phil, you asked, “How long does a search take?” Well, congratulations for being my client with the fastest ring recovery to date! I conservatively estimate it took less than 4 minutes to fine tune my equipment and locate your ring. Your recovery was also my third one in just 7 days, a personal hat-trick record!

It was great meeting you both. May the story of your ring continue for many years! And thanks for your generous reward.

Veterinarian, Dr. Sarah Slaby, was assisting her husband, Noah with chores on their family’s Cozy Creek Farmstead near Arcadia, WI. All was routine until Sarah arrived back at house and realized to her horror that her wedding rings were missing! That was Saturday evening, November 14th.

She recalled having the rings on her finger as she removed nylon netting on a bale of hay out in a field. Some of the strings had become entangled on the ring’s diamond posts. It crossed her mind to remove the rings and put them in a pocket for safekeeping, a precaution she later regretted not heeding. Thus began a desperate search. But where does one begin to look for a ring on a farm and in a barn full of hay, cattle and manure? The proverbial needle-in-a-haystack metaphor seemed very real.

After fruitless hours searching on her hands and knees through feed troughs and around hay bales it was all Sarah could do to fight back the sickening feeling at the thought that her precious wedding rings might be lost forever. Had a cow ingested them? If so, they could be anywhere by now.

The next day I received a call from Sarah. She was thinking of renting a metal detector but while looking on line she stumbled across The Ring Finders website and its directory of metal-detecting specialists. Would I consider coming to Trempealeau County, a four-hour drive away? Dr. Slaby was able to provide a precise chronology of her activities, a factor that contributes greatly to successful recoveries. History, in fact, is key.

I arrived at the Slaby homestead the following morning around 9:00 a.m. The weather was threatening rain and so we began the search outside in a field where she had last observed the ring on her finger. The rain, however, forced our retreat to the barn and to an area where she had been stripping hay from a large round bale and feeding it to the Holstein herd. Almost immediately I picked up a distinctive signal from my XP Deus wireless metal detector, one I was hoping to hear. Unbelievably, beneath a three-inch layer of hay and straw lay Sarah’s wedding rings! The accompanying photo of the rings is complete with dust, just as they were found. It wasn’t quite like finding a needle in a haystack, but I think it came awfully close!

Thank you, Sarah, for allowing me the privilege of recovering your precious rings and for your generous reward. Our success was largely due to your precise chronology of events, without which, the recovery would have been nearly impossible. My four-hour journey home was a satisfying one knowing you and your family would be savoring your ring’s story and the video that you took of the occasion with little Zionah. We prayed for success. God, by His grace, was pleased to answer our prayers.

A glorious fall day in South East Wisconsin was robbed of its joys for Krystal and Chris Schlegel when Krystal’s 1-karat solitaire diamond engagement ring vanished into a thick leafy carpet in the couple’s backyard. Renting a metal detector only turned their hopes to greater despair when all it yielded was a cacophony of squawks and screeches regardless where they searched—the ground was full of ferrous metal debris! That is when they discovered The Ring Finders website and learned of my metal-detecting services right in their hometown of Menomonee Falls, WI. An email and a phone call was all it took to make the arrangements.

I met up with Krystal on the afternoon of November 10th. She showed me the area where they believed the ring went missing. About an hour’s search using my XP Deus detector with its unique, all-wireless technology, was all it took to locate the ring’s hiding place amidst the rusty rubble. The smile on Krystal’s face was, well, her picture speaks for itself. So glad I was able to help you find your ring, Krystal! May its story continue for many happy years to come.