Tim and his wife were at Venice Beach, CA. for the day and walking off the beach to their car. When he put some trash in the trash can . Tim felt his gold wedding ring slip off his finger as he pulled his hand away. The ring fell into the sand disappearing immediately.
I received a call about 11:30 pm as I was driving home late that night. Tim apologized for calling that late, but I was totally ok with the call. It allowed us to set up a search time for the next morning when he could be there to show me the general location.
We met at a time that allowed us to evade the morning traffic rush. The area of the loss wasn’t in a location that the beach cleaning machines would have been a problem.
When we met there was another obstacle. There was a movie crew set up exactly where we were going to search. The crew said it would be alright to do my search as I assured them it would be a short time.
I began my grid search and immediately had one 3’ x 3’ area that seemed to have a cement with rebar under 6’” under the sand. The metal detector could not work well with that interference. It might require hand sifting with my sand scoop. You never know what challenges can come up until getting to the search location.
Just before having to resort to hand sifting the area that had metallic interference, I got a decent signal up against a wood piling in the sand. Boom!.. Tim’s ring in the scoop. About 8 0r 10 members of the movie crew witnessed the recovery, which gave me a chance to tell them about TheRingFinders.com.
Another fun recovery which, wasn’t as simple as I thought it might be. It was awesome to see how happy an grateful Tim and his wife were as they have this ring back where it belongs.
If you need to find a valuable lost in the sand call a person the has experience operating a metal detector. Also someone that can get to you in a timely manner. Call as soon as possible..
If you lose your ring or other metal item of value, don’t wait, time will work against you, please call as soon as possible. 310-953-5268
Harry called about 5:30 PM the day before last, he had lost his platinum wedding ring while throwing a ball to his dog. He threw the ball, and his loosely fitting ring flew off of his finger. He and his friend watched as the ring hit the sand, then a wave washed over it, and it was gone in an instant. The tide was on the rise, and where it was lost, with the high surf, it would have been nearly impossible to do the search that night, so we arranged to meet the next afternoon at low tide.
When I got to the beach the wind was blowing with an extreme ferocity, and the wave action was strong. I put on my waders, knowing I would be getting in the water for the search. Harry and his friend James met me and showed me the area of the loss. I had brought 2 detectors down for the search. With the strong surf, there was a possibility the ring might have rolled when it hit, so I was going to search in the water to ensure a thorough search. I did my search of the area with a PI detector with no results. I then went over with a multi frequency VLF detector, again with no results. I wasn’t giving up, and because it had been a full 24 hours since the loss, I put the other 2 detectors away, and brought my best multi frequency VLF detector with a 17 inch coil down thinking the ring might have sunk into the sand further than the other detectors could reach, and performed another grid. I could see that Harry was getting discouraged. He even came to me ready to throw in the towel, but I told him I was going to complete a few more passes in the general area of the direction of the toss. Up, down, and up again, wait what was that tone, a sweet tone in the headphones. I dug once, dug again, and again, deep, very deep, and out of the hole after I kicked the sand aside was the beautiful shimmer of platinum. I looked at Harry, pointed to him, reached down, and lifted his ring out of the sand, to which he and his friend came running over in disbelief; we had been there close to 3 hours. It was a very happy day for Harry, and I was happy to be of help to him!
Don’t let the County beach cleaning machines take your lost valuable, call as soon as possible! I will work hard, using the most up to date metal detectors, to help you find what you thought might never be found again. I search, Beverly Hills, Hermosa Beach, Huntington Beach, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, Newport Beach, Northridge, Pasadena, Redondo Beach, Santa Monica, Seal Beach, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Torrance, Venice Beach, Zuma Beach, and all parks, yards, gardens, and ponds (to 5 foot depths) in all of Orange County, all of Los Angeles County, and Ventura County.
One week ago a lady reached out to me for help finding her husband’s ring. Prior to calling me, she had posted on Facebook requesting help and had a map of where she thought it might have been lost. She sent me the Facebook link that included three streets highlighted. I replied that I would be glad to help, however, more information would be helpful. What was happening on that day? Riding a bike? jogging? driving? While waiting for her reply, I walked the sidewalks of the highlighted streets. The next day the husband called. He stated he had been moving from one house to another 1.7 miles away. He had removed his ring and placed it on the right fender of his truck. I went to the house and there was a small loam area that had been raked and searched as well as a circular stone drive way. I detected all of that and then went onto the street. I covered the area on the right shoulder of the ‘highlighted streets”. I estimated it to be half a mile. The next day I searched the yard for a second time. I called the husband and went over the time line again. I learned the truck was at the second house. This is where he first noticed he was missing the ring was . I also walked the shoulder of the street about a mile . On the third day I went to the second house and searched the truck with no luck. Finally, I said I am going to walk back so I have at least covered the whole route. Just a little distance from the second house there was the ring sitting real close to a storm drain. It had traveled 1.6 mile on the fender of the truck!!!! A few days later I was able to drop it off at their office. I never got to meet them but I am sure they were happy to get the ring back. It did suffer some damage while in the wild. I think it must have been run over at least twice. Bill
.This afternoon a gentleman called about a ring he lost four days ago. He lost it in a really huge field on his daily walk after work. He had placed his ring in his pocket and later on the walk placed his shirt in the same pocket. He was pretty sure the ring came out when he removed his shirt. The story sounded logical . We walked about a mile out into this field to an area where he usually puts his shirt back on. He was uncertain exactly where but somewhere within 50 square yards!! I detected and keep talking to him about that day . He seemed more uncertain as time went by. I told him that was normal . He wasn’t expecting someone to grill him over all the details of his relaxing walk. We moved on back out to another area he frequently replaced his shirt, again no ring. He thought it was useless being such a huge area and I said lets just work our way out kinda slow . At one spot he starts to go through a real wet area. I said wouldn’t you have gone up around the corner. He said maybe and headed for the corner. I keep right behind him swinging like crazy. thirty yards further and I see the circle of gold. I placed my foot over it and said “Hey come back here for a sec.” He came back and I said this this what a gold ring sounds like as I swung the coil over my foot. I don’t think he realized what was happening as I moved my foot and passed the coil over the ring. He just stared at his ring .It seemed like a long time but I am sure it was just a few seconds before he finally he picked it up. He was just speechless. I’m smiling like crazy and he gives me a bear hug!!!!!All the way back he kept saying he just couldn’t believe it. I am a little surprised as well .I guess the ring must have been caught in the shirt somehow. Lady luck was with me for certain tonight.. Bill
When Steve reached out to me this afternoon, little did I know I was about to embark on a heartwarming journey of friendship and ring recovery. Steve had been enjoying a game of frisbee golf at Chapparal Park in Oak Park when his wedding ring slipped off his finger, marking the second time it had been lost that day. But there was more to Steve’s story than just a misplaced ring.
As we conversed, I learned of Steve’s selflessness and compassion. Despite residing in Northern Virginia, he frequently traveled back to Oak Park to support a friend battling cancer, putting others’ needs before his own. Steve’s generosity and kindness truly stood out in a world often devoid of such acts.
Upon arriving at the park, Steve guided me to the area where he believed the ring had been lost. Despite detecting numerous targets, the ring remained elusive. However, just as we were about to expand our search, Steve exclaimed, “There’s my ring!” Sometimes, a little faith and camaraderie are all it takes to reunite a lost item with its owner.
Moments like these remind me of the incredible people I have the privilege of meeting through my work. Steve’s gratitude and friendship left a lasting impression, reaffirming the importance of lending a helping hand whenever possible.
If you find yourself in a similar situation, whether it’s a lost ring, a cherished piece of jewelry, or even a hidden cache of coins, don’t hesitate to reach out. With professional metal detection services and expertise, I’m here to assist you in recovering your valuables. Contact me at 805-290-5009, and let’s work together to bring your lost treasures home. For more information, visit www.venturacountyringfinders.com.
If you lose your ring or other metal item of value, don’t wait, time will work against you, please call as soon as possible. 310-953-5268
I was contacted last night by Linda. She had been at the beach with her 2 children enjoying the day. When they were ready to leave she realized her keys were gone, and she had to drive back to Phoenix, AZ. After looking unsuccessfully for her keys, she was able to find and contact me. I could tell she was very distraught at the thought she would be stranded in a strange place with her children, and told her I would be on my way immediately.
When I got to the beach it was already about 8:00 PM, but that does not make a difference, as I can search in the dark as well as the day. Linda led me out to the area where she and her children were playing. I asked a series of questions in order to narrow down the search area, and then began my grid. I was finding a lot of metal, bottlecaps, tin foil, etc. After about 7 passes, a really strong signal reverberated in my headphones. I dug, and could see something different in the scoop. I reached in and there were Linda’s keys. I held them up with my headlight shining on them, and she came running over with an overwhelming show of emotion and gratefulness. She went from despair to joy in an instant. What a blast to see this transformation occur!
Don’t let the County beach cleaning machines take your lost valuable, call as soon as possible! I will work hard, using the most up to date metal detectors, to help you find what you thought might never be found again. I search, Beverly Hills, Hermosa Beach, Huntington Beach, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, Newport Beach, Northridge, Pasadena, Redondo Beach, Santa Monica, Seal Beach, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Torrance, Venice Beach, Zuma Beach, and all parks, yards, gardens, and ponds (to 5 foot depths) in all of Orange County, all of Los Angeles County, and Ventura County.
If you lose your ring or other metal item of value, don’t wait, time will work against you, please call as soon as possible. 310-953-5268
Kathleen contacted me about her lost phone. She had lost it the day before at the beach while sitting in the sand. She had gone to the beach with her dog, and was sitting watching the waves, and when she got up, her phone came out of her pocket. It was too late when she realized it was gone. With something that big in such a high trafficked area, I don’t always have a lot of hope of a recovery after a full day of loss. Kathleen told me that the “Find My iPhone” app was telling her the phone was still there, so my hopes of a recovery were buoyed, and we arranged to meet for the search.
When I got to the beach, I met Kathleen, and she took me out to the spot where the loss occurred. She showed me where she remembered sitting, and I began my search. I covered the area without finding the phone, so she then thought she might have been sitting lower down the slope to the water. I figured the phone would have been covered by the previous high tide if lost there, and was wondering if it would have been sending a signal. I did the search down the slope, and got a good strong signal, dug, and about 4 to 6 inches down there was her phone, STILL WORKING! There had been at least 2 high tides to cover the phone, and it was still alive; amazing. Needless to say Kathleen was very happy to have her phone back, and I was happy to make her day.
Don’t let the County beach cleaning machines take your lost valuable, call as soon as possible! I will work hard, using the most up to date metal detectors, to help you find what you thought might never be found again. I search, Beverly Hills, Hermosa Beach, Huntington Beach, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, Newport Beach, Northridge, Pasadena, Redondo Beach, Santa Monica, Seal Beach, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Torrance, Venice Beach, Zuma Beach, and all parks, yards, gardens, and ponds (to 5 foot depths) in all of Orange County, all of Los Angeles County, and Ventura County.
My searches don’t just deal with rings, and rings, and more rings! But every so often, I get the special phone call to conduct a search for a lost key or set of keys.
Jennifer is a professional dog sitter in the Washington D.C. area. She checked out a directory online called The Ring Findersand then contacted me early on a Sunday in late March to see if I could search for a key that she lost while taking one of her client’s dogs out for a daily walk in Rock Creek Park in the District of Columbia.
This key was not just any key! It belonged to her client’s house who owned the dog that she was taking out that night in which it got lost! Not good! Especially because all of the locks pertaining to this key would have to be replaced if it was not recovered! Expensive indeed! There was also another serious factor. Jennifer mentioned to me the urgency of finding the lost key because there had been a number of auto thefts in recent days and weeks in the neighborhood. If the key fell into the wrong hands, this could put her client’s family at risk for a break-in! Again, not good at all!
So, I immediately made my way into the District in the early evenin hours. Meeting Jennifer and her fiance’ was a real pleasure! They were just as committed to the search as I was about to embark upon. The two of them searched all throughout the evening, the night before, and neither one of them had any luck in retrieving the key. That’s why I was called in to help out.
I explained to the engaged couple that our job was to find the key together and that it didn’t matter who ends up finding it! We just needed to get it back! I find that just my presence and abilities to find lost things, re-motivates the one who lost the item to partner up and make a new determination to get their prized possession back!
As a team, we set off to the park and retraced Jennifer’s steps as best as possible to conduct the search. I probably spent a good 30 minutes metal detecting various parts of the park where Jennifer had walked the dog, before heading down a hill, along a path that took us towards a road at the bottom of that park section. I was pretty confident that the key was definitely not in the areas that we searched.
Jennifer’s fiance’, Edward, carefully looked to the left of the path that started to wind around a bend, while I detected along the right side of the walkway. No more than a couple of minutes had passed, (just as I had been encouraging the couple that the key could turn up in the very spot that they had looked over multiple times) when Edward excitedly announced that HE FOUND THE KEY! We were all elated! I was so happy for the lovely couple!
This story is an example of an item that was found as a result of us all working as a team and not just “handing over the keys” to the metal detectorist to solve the mystery! In this case, they actually said that they wouldn’t have returned down to the lower section of the park (because they had already searched and searched the spot where the key was actually found and to no avail over and over again), had it not been for me having to search in the lower regions of the park path. So, we all played a part! They unnecessarily apologized to me for sending me to the search when it turned out that one of them ended up retrieving the key. I explained to them that I truly meant what I said earlier when I shared that this was to be a team effort! I stood behind my words because it’s not about who finds the lost item, but rather it’s about getting that item back! And in this case, time really was of the essence!
Jennifer contacted her clients with the fabulous news, which brought such relief to their minds, and then we headed back towards our cars at the entrance to the park.
This recovery of the key was a story of team work! It didn’t get any better with the outcome! I even had enough time that evening (it was 8pm by that point), to pick up a pizza, and drive to 2.5 hours to Philadelphia through the night to bring a birthday cake to my son, Danny, who turned twenty-one years old on this 31st of March! I had just celebrated with him on Friday through this Sunday, 1am this morning, because he finally became legal! I didn’t want him to go to bed at the tail end of his birthday without some more cake! (He is in his third year of college at the time that this story is written). It was a fantastic day and night all around!
I told Edward that he was the hero that night in spotting the key! I also told him that this was great practice for him in regards to their future marriage! I said with a smile, “There will be a whole lot more opportunities, Edward! A whole lot more!” We all laughed while Jennifer hugged her best friend and hero of the night!
Check out the video of my search for the key with Jennifer and Edward!
CALL BRIAN RUDOLPH WITH THE RING FINDERS AT (301) 466-8644 AND HE WILL RETURN TO YOU WHAT HAS BEEN LOST!
SUBSCRIBE TODAY TO BRIAN’S SEARCH VIDEO YOUTUBE CHANNEL TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATIONS WHEN THIS LATEST SEARCH VIDEOIS UPLOADED! BRIAN’S SEARCH VIDEOS ARE FOUND ON HIS YOUTUBE CHANNEL – THE RING RETURNER.
Blue Sapphire Encircled with Diamonds Engagement Ring
Not all searches are outside! This story is about an IN HOUSE search! They are not as common, but I do get calls to come out and search for missing items inside homes where people have looked and looked and nothing would come out of their “hours into days” searches. What a fantastic story this is!
I got a text and call from Megan who sounded frantic about the disappearance of her irreplaceable engagement ring! This ring was handed down from her grandparents and Megan and her fiancé’ designed a new ring setting for the beautiful blue sapphire stone and diamonds surrounding the large stone. She checked out The Ring Finders directory and then contacted me immediately. I asked a billion questions about where she and her fiance’ Danny looked in their apartment. I asked if toilets were flushed, if the garbage and litter box were searched and then thrown away. I asked about the garbage disposal, checking clothes, looking in the washing machine and searching the dryer. So many more questions were asked. Megan and Danny reviewed their own in-house checklist and the ring strangely never surfaced. This went on for a very long time and then they started getting worried that the ring would never turn up.
Megan shared the disappearance story like this: Most nights, she comes home and begins cooking dinner. She takes off her engagement ring and places it in her pants pocket. She hovers over the kitchen sink and does all of the food preparations. The night of the disappearance, Megan remembered putting the ring in her pocket in order to slice and dice vegetables. She finished making dinner and the engaged couple enjoyed their meal together. It was sometime later that evening, after all of the dishes were washed and all of the pots and pans were put away, that Megan remembered that she had not placed her ring back on her finger. She reached into her pants pocket to retrieve the ring and it had vanished! She checked again and again and again! Danny would get in on the search and he too checked her pockets several times before searching the rest of the apartment.
On the phone with Megan, I continued to give suggestions as to additional places to search following a very extensive interview with her to gain the entire story of what she was doing prior to the disappearance of her beloved engagement ring. I then went back to asking questions, and finally we had exhausted every angle to this mystery. I gave Megan a list of places to re-check and check again and again! Many a times people are so close to finding the object but their eye or hands are just not in tight enough focus or not connected enough with their touch to realize the item is really right in front of them! I asked Megan to spend another few hours dedicated to searching the apartment one more time with Danny and then to call me if nothing turns up.
Several hours later that same day, Megan and Danny called me once again and shared that they had come to the place of exhaustion. They needed another pair of eyes! This is exactly what I bring to the “scene of the crime” – another vantage point, another angle, another way of looking at the same things that others have already observed and searched. So, I headed to Washington D.C. after coming from Annapolis, MD, and met the young, frustrated couple outside their lovely apartment complex just north of Georgetown.
Danny and Megan were sitting out front on a ledge waiting patiently for my arrival. I felt so bad for them because they had given it everything they had to find the ring, but still nothing turned up. We greeted one another and then the three of us headed to their apartment to conduct the search.
The first order of business was to check the garbage disposal. Nothing! Next, I had them bring all of the garbage in house to me (trash from the kitchen, bathrooms, office and bedrooms). I checked with my metal detectors and only trash metals were discovered – no jewelry. Before searching each room, I took off my gloves and called for Danny’s attention who was getting additional trash from one of the rooms. I essentially said, ‘Hey Danny, do you mind if I metal detect your fiance’s pants?’ (refer to the video account for the exact quote). It sounded quite odd at the time, but I wasn’t intending there to be anything weird sounding about it, but we all laughed! Danny answered back something like, ‘If Megan is o.k. with it, I am good.’ (again, refer to the video for accuracy on this). I proceeded to declare, “Bring me the pants!”
Megan brought the pants and I instructed her to lay the pants over a wooden chair for me to use my detectors to analyze the garment. There were two zippers on this very petite pair of pants, but no other metals were sewn on the garment. The couple swore by their multiple attempts in searching to find the ring in the pants but they said they both kept coming up empty handed. I explained to them at some point in their apartment and on the phone earlier that day that by them checking all of those times really didn’t mean a thing anymore! Why? Because they came up empty handed and because I find items all the time where people have checked over and over again but came up with nothing! That’s why I was called to come over and conduct a search myself as if one had never been conducted previously!
You’ve got to watch the video for the conclusion to this story! See below!
Spoiler Alert!
I worked my way into Megan’s pants pockets and placed my finger in the very petite spaces right down into the crevices of where the seams met. I finished checking the first one and proceeded to check the second one. I recall hearing the couple share that both of them had checked over and over and both of them concluded that the ring was definitely not in Megan’s pockets because that was the whole reason that they invited me in on the search! Well, as we were all talking, I made my way deep into her second pocket (remember the pants were draped over a wooden chair). I recall spending a good amount of time making sure my finger didn’t miss a thing in there. And it was a good thing that I took my time, because as we were all talking, my finger felt something hard deep into the tiny pocket! I mean tiny! It was wedged all the way into the deepest space where the seam closes up. I dug the object out and my finger naturally slipped into the center of the object and that’s when I knew that I had found what this beloved couple was looking for! I found the gorgeous sapphire and diamonds engagement ring! I brought it out of the pocket, kept it between my fingers and shared the awesome reveal! I didn’t have the positioning to do a fake-out because the couple was looking on and I thought it best for Megan and Danny to just get the pure pleasure out of seeing the ring reappear out of the very place that Megan had remembered tucking it in her pants pocket all along! They were so happy! I could not have been more excited and relieved for them after the panic that they experienced for th elast couple of days!
I am beyond thrilled for this lovely engaged couple, that I could be a part of finding something so precious as this family heirloom engagement ring that had gone missing (I believe the ring gets modified with additional diamonds each time the next generation in the family receives the ring)!
I found out later that the ring may never have been recovered or that it could have been permanently damaged with the precious stones lost forever, because the pants may have ended up at the dry cleaners or in the washing machine / dryer soon thereafter! So glad we found the ring before anything unfortunate could have happened to such an “endless story of love”!
YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS VIDEO OF BRIAN RUDOLPH’S IN-HOUSE SEARCH!
CALL BRIAN RUDOLPH WITH THE RING FINDERS AT (301) 466-8644 AND HE WILL RETURN TO YOU WHAT HAS BEEN LOST!
SUBSCRIBE TODAY TO BRIAN’S SEARCH VIDEO YOUTUBE CHANNEL TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATIONS WHEN THIS LATEST SEARCH VIDEOIS UPLOADED! BRIAN’S SEARCH VIDEOS ARE FOUND ON HIS YOUTUBE CHANNEL – THE RING RETURNER.
14 Karat White Gold Engagement Ring Encircled with Diamonds
14 Karat White Gold Wedding Band Encircled with Diamonds
(Both were soldered together to form one ring)
This next story that I’m about to share will definitely go down in “metal detecting search history” as one of the most entertaining and unusual search and recovery accounts ever told. I may not get another one like this, or at least for a very very long time. So this story brings so much pleasure to me to share this one with you!
The ironic thing about this amazing story is that 5 days earlier I was doing a search in Boyce, Virginia for a woman who lost two missing rings. Unfortunately, neither one were recovered. We believe they were picked up by someone shortly after the rings fell to the ground. Without giving Dominic’s story away, I’ll just say this: While I was doing this search for the woman in Boyce, I actually asked God at the Virginia search site if He would help me find her rings in a particular area that I have always wanted to find a ring that had gone missing! I have made that same request to God several other times in the last few months while I have been on searches. Well, it didn’t happen in Boyce, but it sure did happen at Dominic’s and Abbey’s estate in Owings, Maryland! Never would I have believed that God would have given me the desires of my heart so quickly after I prayed these prayers! What a great God He is! And of course, most importantly, I was able to help Dominic recover his wife’s precious 14 karat white gold, diamond covered engagement ring and diamond covered wedding band (they were soldered together)!
I got a phone call from Dominic who contacted me from the The Ring Finders directory. I immediately asked him if a particular scenario had taken place before he shared what happened to the ring, and he did in fact confirm my suspicions. For the sake of privacy, I will just tell you what happened without going into too much detail about why the ring went missing. Regardless, the video tells all and Dominic felt comfortable enough sharing on social media this amazing search and recovery story!
Three days before I got his phone call, Dominic and his wife Abbey were in the backyard of their three and a half acre estate. One thing led to another and Dominic happened to launch his wife’s 14 karat white gold, diamond covered engagement ring and diamond covered wedding band (they were soldered together). We aren’t talking about a few trees! It’s a ridiculous forest back there! Dominic immediately went looking for the ring after it took off into the woods, but he couldn’t find it anywhere in the very dense forest which dips downward into a swampy, muddy creek area at the bottom of the hill. He ordered a metal detector on Amazon after the first day of looking, and even that proved to be another failed attempt.
His account on the phone was identical to his account when I reached his property later that night at around 9:45 p.m. (3 days after the ring was lost in the woods). He was absolutely convinced of what he remembered happening. He was between two sheds that were at the place where the tree line began. He even had sticks on the ground marking exactly where he was when he threw the ring. When it went flying, he specifically remembered it going right between two trees and then straight through the forest and presumably down the hill. The strength in which he exerted gave Dominic confidence that the ring could have absolutely hit the bottom of the hill into the swampy creek. As I shared above, he bought a metal detector on Amazon and searched for an additional 10 hours but to no avail! He was done. He had given up looking, detecting and using words that I cannot describe on social media! It was time that he called a professional; someone who could lend a hand to this strange “ring gone missing” mystery.
When Dominic called me, I told him that after the search was over, he needed to send his metal detector back to Amazon for a refund! The ring would have to be somewhere on his property even though he spent three days searching with no luck, because nobody would be trespassing on that private property area that Dominic and his wife Ashley owns. The ring was somewhere out there. It was just a matter of where and how much time it would take for me to find it!
As I shared, I got out to the property at around 9:45 p.m. and immediately started pulling my gear out of the car. I love night searches. In fact, it can be a great advantage to search for missing items in total darkness with the help, of course, of my headlight. I was hoping I would see a shiny brilliant diamond ring glistening through the leaves that were scattered everywhere in the forest! Dominic took me to the “scene of the crime” and he reviewed with me the story from beginning to end as to where the ring was before it was tossed and where he believed it ended up.
I did not mention to him at the time that I was thinking how strange it was that he searched for so many hours with the metal detector and he still couldn’t come up with the precious keepsake. Even with a bad detector, this was dense woods we were talking about here. Not some overly populated residential or commercial area. Any detector will pick up the metal signals and there should not have been so many that it would cause him frustration by looking at all the metal on the surface of the leaves or just below some of the leaves. And in fact that is what he said. There wasn’t too much metal as you go down the hill. There was quite a bit of scrap metal and small pieces of aluminum towards the top of the hill where the woods begin, because the previous owner threw scrap metal into the forest at the edge of the lawn.
The other side of the coin is, that metal detectorists like me are sent out because even with a little bit of metal out there, people are convinced to metal detect only in certain areas and not to look “outside of the box” in areas that you would never think to look at.
I started out into the woods with Dominic after he took me from the top of the hill all the way down to where the muddy creek was located. That’s where I started metal detecting in every area down at the bottom. I was wearing my very tall waterproof boots (they looked like fireman boots), and the mud was so thick that when I tried to pick my boot up out of the mire, my foot would come right up out of the boot! It was almost as bad as quicksand!
Dominic showed me where he even cut down trees at the bottom of the hill across from the creek area. This guy was totally determined to find that ring! But even with all his cutting down small trees and tall bushes, his efforts were still not enough to find what he was looking for!
My next focus was to metal detect all over the leaf covered hillside. There was metal here and there but nothing that came up as a precious piece of jewelry like his wife’s engagement ring / wedding band! I searched farther over to the left and farther over to the right and made my way up to the top where the tree line began and then headed back down to the left and right areas once more. My new found friend got out his metal detector that he bought from Amazon a few days before and started searching, as well. If we were in a different location, I would have encouraged the owner of the lost property to refrain from using their detector if it was a cheap device as most homeowners purchase to find lost property. But, in this case, it was an advantage for us to have more searchers because there was only so many pieces of metal out there in the woods. We were looking for a surface find which may have only gone below the surface of the leaf beds. And there were tons of leaves! So, it was quite possible that Dominic could find the missing ring if he looked in areas where he had not searched prior to this evening.
Without reviewing the video (which I have not done yet at the time that I am typing this account), I can only estimate that we spent around 1 hour and 45 minutes of search time and we still came up with nothing. I believe on the video I began to talk with Dominic (and even to myself) about the next strategy that I believed we needed to implement since we were coming up with nothing. I was confident that I had done an excellent search grid all over the property starting from where the tree line began, heading down to the bottom of the hill and working towards the left and right sides that were even out of the range of where Dominic recalled launching the ring.
It was at this point in the search that I told Dominic that we needed to start searching the trees! We came up with absolutely nothing on the ground and I was pretty convinced that unless he chucked the ring way off beyond a 45 degree angle to the left or to the right of the area that he claimed to have seen the ring fly, Ashley’s precious property had to have landed upwards and not on the ground. I started thinking to myself how cool it would be if my theory was correct. I began to dream about finding it on a branch or in a nest of leaves somewhere in a tree above, just as I had daydreamed about it the other day in Boyce, Virginia and in those previous searches many months prior, where I thought it would be so cool to actually find a ring in a tree!
The odds of finding a ring in a tree are almost impossible. But not so in this case. Dominic told me that he had placed his wife’s engagement ring on a cord where he tied it around his neck for safekeeping while Abbey went away for a short while. The ring was to hold thoughts of her dear to his heart while she was on her trip. In reviewing the video account, at the time of the search, I was given an initial impression that the engagement / wedding band got separated from the cord before it was launched. But that apparently was not the case. The ring remained on the cord the whole time. So, at this point, when I got more clarification, I started reacessing the “crime scene” and I was more skeptical that the ring could have landed so far from the launch site. I had always questioned whether or not the ring could have really landed so far from the top of the hill, but now I really wondered, knowing that the ring was still tied to the cord. Dominic was convinced of what he saw and justified his account based on what he remembered and he verified that he used extreme force in the actual moment of release. In addition to that, he also used a test ring on a cord to see how far the ring could possibly travel. Excellent strategy on Dominic’s part! So I kept with the search in the areas where he swore the ring had traveled until the time that I realized we needed to start searching upwards.
I could tell that he wasn’t too fond of my theory even though he himself did some cutting town of some small trees and long branches the other day. But I was so grateful that he agreed to get on board with my vision and he started to assist in any way possible. I first wanted to use our metal detectors and just reach as high as we could to see if the ring landed on branches that were close enough to us without us having to climb or cut limbs down. We exhausted all of those possibilities and then within minutes of completing our metal detecting search in the reachable tree branches, he had come back from his garage with this amazing Silky brand tree cutter and pruner and he began to cut down small trees where I instructed him to do so. Some of these trees were towering maybe 20 feet or so in the air, though nothing was too tall or thick to attack at that point. Once the trees fell, I took my metal detector and swung the coil over all of the fresh branches and leaves to see if metal would be revealed. But unfortunately, nothing turned up.
At some point, we exhausted even that idea of cutting the small trees and branches to possibly expose the lost ring. But, I was still convinced that the ring was not on the ground, but that somehow the ring got lost in the trees. This would mean that Dominic’s recollection of seeing the ring fly straight through a set of trees and down the hill into the darkness was inaccurate. This is not uncommon. People swear by their stories but then they come to find out that they were completely wrong based on the actual reveal of the lost items. Because of their emotional state or sometimes what one may had been drinking or smoking, the mind can absolutely play tricks on you! In this case, drinking and smoking were not involved at the time of the disappearance.
Dominic decided to continue metal detecting down the hill and to go back to his theory that the ring had landed down in the leaves or in the swampy creek. I stayed up at the top of the hill right where the tree line began and I still felt it was important to look up and start scanning the branches and leaves hanging from the trees farther up in the air. Most of these trees were at a 45 degree angle or farther away from the place that Dominic launched the “missile”. Obviously, my search was completely off the course that Dominic swore by.
I was determined to find this ring no matter what it took, and at this point Dominic was fine with me staying out into the early hours of the morning if I had to keep searching. Finally, after many scans with my eyes focusing in the trees, slowly panning from the left to the right and then back to the left again, my eyes focused in on a brilliant little ball of light coming from around 15 feet in the air! As I began to look carefully at this reflective object, I noticed that it was swinging from a camouflage colored cord! I found it! I found the beautiful 14 karat white gold diamond engagement ring / wedding band which was covered with diamonds around the setting! I could not believe it! I was so beyond excited that it took everything in me to keep whispering into the GoPro and to not shout down to Dominic and share the amazing news! All I could do was stare up into the trees and smile back at what was wrapped around a branch or two with leaves everywhere around it! It looked like a snake that had wrapped itself around the branches and leaves! As I continued to be mesmerized by the shear beauty of the ring, it was almost as if it was smiling back at me, knowing that she was about to return to her proper love keeper!
Apparently, according to the location of the find, Dominic had not recalled correctly what had happened to the ring. This is very common as I shared above. When he fired it, his right hand, he released it with a motion that sent it on a 45-degree trajectory to his left and far up into a tree that caught the ring cord just as the tree line began! It did not even travel more than 15 feet into the woods! But it did go farther up and not farther down the hill!
I bet the video will not do justice to convey the stunning appearance and pure brilliance of the diamonds sparkling in every which way as my head light shined directly on the ring!
I wasted no time. I got my point-and-shoot camera out to take still photos and take some video with it, as well. I was not going to lose this opportunity to document such an incredible search and recovery which I may never get a chance to experience quite like this ever again! I was only disappointed that I couldn’t get the best pictures because of how high up the ring was and it kept getting blurry when I tried to focus in on it due to using all artificial lighting from my headlight and camera flash.
Once I finished, it was time to share the great news with Dominic who was getting extremely tired and was about to hang it up for the night.
As soon as Dominic got to the top of the hill, I brought him back to the very place where we began talking about the ring launch where he placed the sticks to mark where he threw the ring. I asked him to recount how he threw the ring and where he saw it go between the trees.
Then, I surprised him with my next statement by telling him, “That’s not what happened at all”. He responded with this extremely perplexed look on his face trying to process why I would make such a statement. And then I revealed the news that I had found the ring! Dominic was so shocked and so happy all at the same time! I have to tell you that I was so full of elation at that very moment of giving him the rundown as to where the ring ended up! I was given such a gift to come out and actually retrieve a ring in a tree! I don’t care what the reader thinks regarding the existence of God, because I knew He existed prior to this scenario and I was absolutely convinced that I was given the desire of my heart to be involved with such a search where I would discover a ring in a tree, just as I had asked God to give me such a search just several days before this one, and again, over the past many months prior! What are the odds of that?! At one in the morning, I called Chris Turner, the founder and CEO of The Ring finders in British Columbia, Canada, and he said that he had never experienced something like this in a search in the many decades that he has been doing this. Although, he said he did find a ring stuck in a tall hedge tree (the ones that grow really tall that provide privacy between homes).
Dominic could not believe it! He was dumbfounded and yet so relieved all at the same time! He was kind enough to give me some more time in taking some additional pictures and video. While he kept his Maglite shining up there in the trees, I shined my headlamp on the ring, as well, to get the best images I could with the limitations of artificial light shining on such a brilliance and sparkling piece of beauty!
Dominic eventually did the honors of cutting the branch down, which the ring cord had tied itself around for the past couple of days! He did the procedure with his extremely tall tree cutter that he used earlier in the evening. The ring was now safely back into the hands of the one who had picked out that gorgeous prize many years ago and who presented it to his beloved bride-to-be over years ago!
I won’t forget how excited the two of us were out there at the foot of the woods just high-fiving each other and hugging knowing that we found the mysterious lost ring! This had explained why all of his metal detecting and all of my time searching ended up with no results! Dominic even said that he would have never looked where I ended up spotting it. My thoughts are that he probably would have seen it one day, but no one will ever know just how much time would have gone by if he wasn’t totally focused and looking up at that very spot in the tree and not tuned in towards the common areas to search on the ground.
The two of us gathered up our gear around midnight and headed back to his garage with the biggest smiles on our faces and on our hearts! This could not have been a more successful and more exciting conclusion to my search that night! After I took some additional photos under Dominic’s carport, the two of us shook hands, gave a gentleman’s hug and wished each other well as I got into my vehicle and headed back home (about an hour and fifteen minutes away) traveling into the night.
What a fantastic recovery! I know I will never forget this night ever! I think I thanked Dominic just as much as he thanked me because I got such a thrill out of this search-and-recovery! Like I said before, I don’t care what any of you think, I really believe that God truly gave me the desire of my heart with being a part of this kind of search because I only started doing searches for people starting last year and I just started daydreaming about being a part of such a story just in the last few months leading right up to several days ago! This is something that could have never happened or if it would happen, who knows how many years or decades might have gone by before witnessing this kind of search! But no, When the Bible says,
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you, as well.” – Matthew 6:33
I really believe God did give me a gift to be a part of finding Abbey’s gorgeous ring and to forever hold a story that will be cherished for many years to come, all because I have been seeking Him first in my life! I consider this a little “extra love gift” from above! It has no Heavenly value, but just a little expression from Him that says, ‘You wanted it, ok, here, have fun with it, and know I am in your life even in the smaller, less important things of life.”
Thanks Dominic for contacting me to help you on your search for the missing ring! Also, I personally want to thank Chris Turner for creating such an amazing directory – The Ring Finders, in order for people to connect with metal detectorists around the world to experience such stories as I have just shared with you all!
CHECK OUT THE ENTIRE VIDEO STORY ON MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL: THE RING RETURNER
CALL BRIAN RUDOLPH WITH THE RING FINDERS AT (301) 466-8644 AND HE WILL RETURN TO YOU WHAT HAS BEEN LOST!
SUBSCRIBE TODAY TO BRIAN’S SEARCH VIDEO YOUTUBE CHANNEL TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATIONS WHEN THIS LATEST SEARCH VIDEOIS UPLOADED! BRIAN’S SEARCH VIDEOS ARE FOUND ON HIS YOUTUBE CHANNEL – THE RING RETURNER.
One week ago a lady reached out to me for help finding her husband’s ring. Prior to calling me, she had posted on Facebook requesting help and had a map of where she thought it might have been lost. She sent me the Facebook link that included three streets highlighted. I replied that I would be glad to help, however, more information would be helpful. What was happening on that day? Riding a bike? jogging? driving? While waiting for her reply, I walked the sidewalks of the highlighted streets. The next day the husband called. He stated he had been moving from one house to another 1.7 miles away. He had removed his ring and placed it on the right fender of his truck. I went to the house and there was a small loam area that had been raked and searched as well as a circular stone drive way. I detected all of that and then went onto the street. I covered the area on the right shoulder of the ‘highlighted streets”. I estimated it to be half a mile. The next day I searched the yard for a second time. I called the husband and went over the time line again. I learned the truck was at the second house. This is where he first noticed he was missing the ring was . I also walked the shoulder of the street about a mile . On the third day I went to the second house and searched the truck with no luck. Finally, I said I am going to walk back so I have at least covered the whole route. Just a little distance from the second house there was the ring sitting real close to a storm drain. It had traveled 1.6 mile on the fender of the truck!!!! A few days later I was able to drop it off at their office. I never got to meet them but I am sure they were happy to get the ring back. It did suffer some damage while in the wild. I think it must have been run over at least twice. Bill
.This afternoon a gentleman called about a ring he lost four days ago. He lost it in a really huge field on his daily walk after work. He had placed his ring in his pocket and later on the walk placed his shirt in the same pocket. He was pretty sure the ring came out when he removed his shirt. The story sounded logical . We walked about a mile out into this field to an area where he usually puts his shirt back on. He was uncertain exactly where but somewhere within 50 square yards!! I detected and keep talking to him about that day . He seemed more uncertain as time went by. I told him that was normal . He wasn’t expecting someone to grill him over all the details of his relaxing walk. We moved on back out to another area he frequently replaced his shirt, again no ring. He thought it was useless being such a huge area and I said lets just work our way out kinda slow . At one spot he starts to go through a real wet area. I said wouldn’t you have gone up around the corner. He said maybe and headed for the corner. I keep right behind him swinging like crazy. thirty yards further and I see the circle of gold. I placed my foot over it and said “Hey come back here for a sec.” He came back and I said this this what a gold ring sounds like as I swung the coil over my foot. I don’t think he realized what was happening as I moved my foot and passed the coil over the ring. He just stared at his ring .It seemed like a long time but I am sure it was just a few seconds before he finally he picked it up. He was just speechless. I’m smiling like crazy and he gives me a bear hug!!!!!All the way back he kept saying he just couldn’t believe it. I am a little surprised as well .I guess the ring must have been caught in the shirt somehow. Lady luck was with me for certain tonight.. Bill
