Engagement Ring Lost In A Pile Of Hay, In Shapleigh, Maine, Found With A Metal Detector
On Friday morning, January 17, 2025, my phone rang but because of my recent knee surgery, I was unable to reach it quickly. When I did reach it, I had the following voicemail
“Yes, Hi Dennis, this is Nick ****** calling. I found your information on the Internet that you are able to find rings. Anyways, my sister has lost her ring, in the hay. My parents have a farm and I was wondering if that was something you’d be able to help us with If it is, if you wanna give me a call back 207-***-****, thank you very much…”
I immediately called Nick back and he explained that the previous night, his sister, Rebecca , had gone out, to feed the cows, at the farm, in Shapleigh Maine. After throwing a bunch of hay down, in front of the cows, Rebecca had noticed her Engagement Ring was missing. It was extremely cold and she thinks her fingers had shrunk, just enough, that the ring came off. I was a little concerned that the cows had already eaten the ring or the ring was lost, somewhere else, on the property. Nick said his sister wasn’t positive about the exact location, the ring was lost in but that the hay, would be the first place to search. They had all visually searched the area, last night, but the ring was not found. The search would expand to other areas, if not found in the hay.
I also let Nick know that I would be unable to personally search, because my left knee was replaced 10 days ago and it just isn’t healed or ready to get back out there, just yet. I told Nick that I have a friend, Gary Hill, that goes out and searches for me, when I am unable. I immediately called Gary and he said he would head right out, to the farm, in Shapliegh, Maine, from his home, in Hollis Center, Maine.
Gary arrived in Shapliegh, at 9:20am. Once shown the cow feeding area, and hay on the barn floor, Gary saw just how difficult this search could end up being. There was a lot of metal, all over the barn, which may interfere, with the Emergency Metal Detecting Search. Gary got to work. Steve, Rebecca’s husband was there to help Gary, by using a pitchfork, to remove some hay, as Gary searched with his metal detector. The hay was quite high and when Gary searched an area, Steve would then remove a foot or two, of the searched hay, exposing new hay below, for Gary to search. Because of all the metal, in the barn, Gary had to use his small 8” coil, so as not to pick up as much iron targets, keeping the White Gold Ring, isolated and given a better signal. After approximately 40 minutes of Steve taking layers of hay off the pile, Gary received a very promising 16-17 on his Minelab Manticore’s, VDI screen. Definitely in the gold range and certainly not a nail. As Gary searched through the pile of hay, with his pinpointer, he saw the ring, at the bottom of the pile of hay. Gary was extremely relieved the cows hadn’t eaten the ring and now Gary wouldn’t have to check the cows dung. A great day indeed.
Steve was extremely happy that his wife’s engagement ring had been found, as was Nick. What they all thought would be an extreme long shot to find, ended up with smiles on everyone’s faces.
The Ring Finders of Maine, take great pride, in being able to get to a local as soon as possible. Today is another example of me getting a call at approximately 8:10am, calling Gary and Gary arriving on scene, in just over an hour, at 9:20am. This includes the drive, out to the farm, in Shapliegh.
This was literally a ring in a haystack and thankfully, Gary was able to make the recovery. There is no better feeling, than to be able to quickly help people like Rebecca, Steve and Nick. It is also a great feeling knowing that Gary has my back, when I am unable to search. Thank you Gary, from all of us!👏👏👏
