On Sunday, August 11th, I awoke to see multiple referrals, from my Facebook followers. A Men’s Wedding Ring, was lost in the ocean, the previous day, in Old Orchard Beach, Maine and my followers were telling the person to contact me. Since I had already been booked, for the morning, I did not contact the person that had made the posting. I figured I would wait and see if I was contacted, by the time I returned from my morning search. When I returned home, I still had not been contacted. A short time later I did receive the following text message, on my phone.
“Hello, I had a few folks recommend you and mentioned that you may be able to help me out, I lost a ring yesterday while I was at old orchard beach when I was in the water. I’m not super confident and think it most likely has been lost to the ocean but wanted to see if it would be worth a shot to try and find it. I have a picture of the ring and a location of where I was on the beach if you think you’d be able to take a look for me. Let me know, thank you”!
I replied
“Hi, So sorry to hear this. A few questions 1st
1) You say you lost the ring, in the water. Did you see or feel the ring come off?
2) Do you know what time you lost the ring. I will try to figure out the tide. Was it high tide, low tide, etc.. As you may know, the Rip Currents and Waves have been very bad, this summer. I may need to search, when the tide allows me to.
3) What area of OOB?
Also, just to be upfront, I do not charge for my time or my Metal Detecting Services. I do however, require a Transportation Fee, to cover my gas, tolls, wear and tear, etc.
Thank you, Dennis”
Patrick then replied with answers, to all my questions and since he lost it in the water, The tide wouldn’t be right, until approximately 7:00pm, when it would be receding and I could start searching, the area.
Cheryl and I arrived at 7:00pm and the tide had been receding for approximately 2 1/2 hours but was still very high, up on the banking/slope. I decided to start at the top of the slope, where the high tide line, meets the dry beach sand and work my way down to the bottom of the banking/slope and hopefully I would find it there. After 2 hours, at 9:00pm, I was now in the shallow water, at the bottom of the slope , in the dark, and the waves were rushing up all around me. I decided to end the search, for the night and return 1st thing, in the morning, when the tide and wave action would hopefully be easier to deal with and I could actually see what I was doing, In daylight.
I arrived back at the location at 7:30am and the tide was almost to the bottom of the slope. Patrick and I had agreed that I may not have been in the correct location, the previous night and I would move the search about 100 feet north of where I had been. The video I had sent him the night before was difficult to actually say I was in the correct locations. It is extremely hard to verify an area, when you can’t be there and are just going by a video. I sent Patrick a new video, when I arrived, In full daylight and he thought my new location was the correct location.
So, I went 1/2 way down the slope and started searching again. I was just gridding the area, horizontally to the water and following the receding tide out. Like the night before, I found a few targets, a few pull tabs and a kids Hot Wheels sports car. After approximately 25 minutes, I was very near the very bottom of the slope, when I received a beautiful low tone, that got my attention, quickly. The morning sun was extremely bright and I couldn’t see the VDI #’s on my detector’s screen, but I was loving the low tone. I plunged the head of my scoop, into the wet sand and threw the scoop full of sand, up onto the slope. I located the target, with my pinpointer and slowly wiped the sand, off of the top of it. I then saw, barely, the outline of a Gold colored ring. Could it be Patrick’s? Patrick had sent a photo of the ring and described his ring as,
“Yeah it’s this ring here, it’s a simple white gold band with yellow gold edges”
I picked the ring out of the sand, rinsed it off, to reveal a simple white band with yellow gold edges. Yes, I had found Patrick’s ring. I broke out, into my happy dance and had a very large smile, appear on my face. I then took a video and some photos, that I sent to Patrick. After receiving the video, Patrick replied
“Oh my god that’s it Dennis! You’re incredible thank you so much, I really really appreciate it. I work in North Berwick so I can meet you wherever is easiest for you once I get out of work this evening”
We made plans to meet up, once he got out of work. Patrick’s wife, Becky, also commented on her Facebook post, about the lost ring and said
“The Ring Finders of Maine you are absolutely incredible, Dennis. My husband and I are so incredibly grateful for you and your talent! This was the BEST possible news we could have hoped for. Thank you again!! ❤”
After leaving the beach dejected, the previous night, I was now on cloud nine, this morning. I called Cheryl, to come pick me up and as I waited for her arrival, the big smile m never left my face. I am so thankful and grateful, to be able to help people out in their time of need. I will now be adding Patrick, to my “Book of Smiles”.
Later this evening, Patrick sent me the following text
“Dennis, I truly can’t thank you enough, this ring had a lot of sentimental value to me and my wife and I definitely thought it had been lost for good. I will be more than happy to review you and recommend you to anyone that would need your services in the future. And my wife and I will be celebrating our 1 year anniversary in September, but we’ve been together for 11 years now!”
WOW!!! Patrick will now have his Wedding Ring, back on his finger, for his upcoming 1 Year Wedding Anniversary. Now that is a great way to end this story.
Happy 1st Anniversary, Becky & Patrick ❤️💍❤️
A nice fellow and his wife were vacationing here in Monterey, for his wife’s birthday weekend. The fellow went down to the water’s edge at Del Monte Beach, to wash off his kid’s sandy hands , in the ebbing surf. To rinse off his kids’ hands. As he did so, his ring slips off into the cold surf. But he was momentarily unaware of this. Then he went up to where the tidal zone meets the dry sand, and began to shake the water drops/sand off his own hands. And it was at that point he realized his ring was gone. He figured it must have “flung” when he’d made motions with his arms there.
I got the call and met him within 15 minutes on the beach. He showed me the suspected zone. But alas, nothing there. Then he casually mentioned how he’d been at the water’s edge for a brief moment with his kid. So we gave it a try further down there, and presto : There was the ring. Buried in the sand closer down towards the water.
Glad I could help. Thanx for the tip . 
Kyle called me up to see if I could retrieve keys from the boat dock. He had dropped his keys close to where the boat was moored, and since he was nearby, I rushed over to help. The water was 3-4 feet deep and got deeper gradually. My magnet didn’t work, so I dived into the soft seabed and found the keys with my metal detector. Sadly, my long-handled scoop was useless against the muddy bottom littered with oyster shells and twigs. I then used my Garrett pinpointer, took a deep breath, and dove where the detector had signaled. With a clear tone, I scooped up the muck and found Kyle’s keys. He opted out of a photo op and removed the truck key from the set for a picture. The boat in the photo is where we lost and recovered the keys.
Late Friday evening, I received a text from Lindsay, who said she had lost her wedding ring at New Smyrna Beach. She and her family had spent the day there, and she had placed her ring in the pocket of her shorts. Shortly after, she realized it was missing—it could have been on the beach or in the water. I replied to her text and told her to call me with the details anytime.
Early the next morning, I arrived at daybreak, just after low tide. As I made my way to the beach, a lady noticed my equipment and cheerfully said, “Happy treasure hunting!” I replied, “I’m actually searching for something someone lost.” She responded kindly, “Then I’ll say a prayer to St. Anthony.” I thanked her and got to work.
Lindsay had sent pictures to help pinpoint the area. I quickly covered all the dry sand and the area leading down to the water. As the tide started to rise and the surf grew more active, I decided to come back at the next low tide, this time with my friend, Brian.
When we returned, a massive storm had just passed. We wasted no time getting back to the search. Brian used his XP Deus 2, while I had my Minelab Manticore. We methodically swept the same area I had focused on earlier. As the storm intensified and lightning flashed around us, I headed north. Just then, Brian, with a hopeful tone, said, “Ok, St. Anthony, what do you have for me?”
Almost immediately, he got a hit—it was the ring! I quickly texted Lindsay pictures of the find and followed up with a call. Her joyous shouts echoed through the phone. Soon after, the beautiful ring was back in her hands, where it belonged
Edward Duffey, member, Theringfinders.com
If you’ve lost a ring or other valuable item in the Daytona Beach, New Smyrna, Ormond, DeLand area, call Detector Ed (https://www.facebook.com/lostringdaytona) at 757-419-0299 for the best chance of having it safely returned to you! Maybe a class ring lost in your backyard years ago…there still may be hope of finding it…give me a call.
While playing kickball at a Minneapolis park, a young man lost his wedding band. He found www.theringfinders.com
He was diving for a catch in rightfield when he felt it pop off. They looked for hours and couldn’t find it. The field was thick with grass & weeds.
Glad I could help you out –
Darrin
Thais, took off both of her rings and put them in a shoe before going out in the water. Good idea! Forgetting that they were in the shoe when leaving, not so good. As you might expect, the shoes were picked up by her spouse Syd and the rings ended up falling out and into the soft dry sand. What to do….leaving at 6am the next morning just 13 hours from then…..so, off to the internet for advice. TheRingFinders.com website to the rescue. I got the call from Syd about 4:30pm about a lost “ring”, grabbed my gear, and hit the rush hour traffic to the North Island Navy Base visitors parking to meet her. We then drove to the beach and walked a couple hundred yards to a distraught Thais guarding the likely drop zone. A couple of short passes later, I got a nice solid 8 on my Equinox 900. Not knowing at the time that more than one ring was lost, I said that this could be the ring, or, some foil. A probe with the pin pointer, and grab with my hand brought a beautiful wedding band out into the sunshine. I thought we were done….not. a second sweep just a foot away and I got a solid 13. I then popped out the even more beautiful engagement ring to Thais’s delight. I asked if there were more and was told no, that was it. They could now sleep easier that night and catch their plane in the morning without having to leave anything behind. A pleasure to meet you both, and thank you for the reward.
On a nice hot day Anton and his family were enjoying the day on at beach. This can be some of the most sought after relaxation one could ask for after a long day at work. And while people are on the beach there are many things they will do like , swimming, running, relaxing, picnicking, throwing footballs, volley ball, wrestling, etc. OH NO did I say wrestling ? That’s when things went wrong for Anton. In one of the 3 areas he was wrestling around that day his cherished cross was pulled from his necklace and lost in the sand. They searched for a few hours, even with their metal detector, without any luck. That’s when Nicole decided to give me a call to see if I was available to locate the cross. I met them on the beach a little while later and they showed me everything that transpired up to realizing the cross was missing. I started in the most likely spot and within a few moments I had his cross in my scoop. Another fantastic ending to a great day on the Jersey Shore.
While searching for another lost gold ring for a guy, a neighbor lady mentioned that her husband had lost his gold wedding ring a couple years ago, out from their pier, while handing items from boat to boat. She said divers had searched for the ring, but no luck, it’s very weedy and a muck bottom area.
After findng many pull rings, lead sinkers, beer cans, foil balls and fishing lures, I got a clean sounding target that was also quite a trick to scoop up, due to the thick snaggy weeds. After about 5 tries, the target sound was no more, so I checked the scoop and long behold, a nice thick men’s gold band was in there.
Trudged over and let the lady know I had likely found her husband’s lost ring. Handed it over and sure enough, that was it and they were shocked that I had found it.