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Lost key/Fob recovered Lincoln Nebraska

  • from Lincoln (Nebraska, United States)
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Contact me for all your metal detecting and recovery needs. Rob 402-580-6933. Land, water, cracks in concrete, rings, keys, hearing aids, phones, etc. Helping law enforcement. Serving Lincoln and the greater Nebraska area.

Alex is a driver/leader for a detasseling company. If you know anything about detasseling you know that you start early and work in every condition. Alex got back at the end of a long day and his car wouldn’t start. Not a mechanical issues, issue was he lost his key somewhere. Wow the possibilities of where it could be over the course of the day. The owner of the company looked me up and asked if there was anything I could do. I immediately hopped in the ring mobile and headed to wear he started his long day. Boom 💥 within 30 minutes I had recovered it. Most of the search was conducted with eyes with the aid of a detector. Using my experience of finding lost items gave me good ideas on where to look. We dropped his car and key back off at his house to save him time of getting it.

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Lost Wedding Ring In The Ocean Found And Returned – Emerald Isle, NC

  • from Emerald Isle (North Carolina, United States)
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Crystal Coast Ring Finders – Emerald Isle, NC

Victor called me on a recommendation.  He stated he lost his wedding band of 3 years while enjoying the ocean.  I made plans to hunt before the next low tide (12:15 a.m.) and that was very late so I said there may be a chance it’s on the beach so I began searching just after 10:30.

Victor and his friends and family had gathered above the location and they knew just where Victor’s custom made gold band was lost.

I started my grid search well above the current tide and progressed down to the waves rolling onto the beach.  Just as I my boots were getting wet and the grid lines in the sand were being washed away, I hit a very strong signal.  Being that the ring was large, my detector screen displayed the high end of what a gold ring would signal.  One scoop into the sand and the following wave cleared out the sand.  I peaked inside and saw that beautiful golden circle!  I walked up to the group who had phones and lights running and let the ring roll out of the sand scoop in front of them.  It was a great feeling watching them celebrate the recovery!

#crystalcoastringfinders, #boguebanks

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Custom Made Gold Diamond Ring Lost In The Eliot, Maine Grass, Found With A Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)
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On Saturday evening at just after 5:00pm, I received the following text message.

“Hello I lost a gold ring at my family party today. We’ve been looking in her yard for hours and can’t find it. We are in Eliot, Maine. Do you know if you can come this far south to help me find it.”

I immediately called back and was told that his name is Dustin. Dustin was at a family gathering of his parents, Aunts, Uncle’s, Cousins, etc.. Dustin had recently had Achilles Tendon Surgery and wasn’t able to do much, as far as walking far distances or running. There was a tent set up in the back yard and Dustin was sitting at the table, under the tent. Lobster was being served and Dustin removed gold ring, with a single diamond in it. He didn’t want to get the lobster, butter and juices, all over his new ring, of one month. Dustin took the ring off and put it in the pocket of his khaki shorts, along with his keys. Dustin had some gold necklaces melted down and had the gold ring with the diamond, custom made, for himself. He said he had it made with Jyotish Astrology, in mind, something that Dustin has an interest in.

Once the meal was over, Dustin and his cousins played some football. Since Dustin couldn’t run or move around much, he was the so called “Designated Quarterback”. He could just throw the ball to his cousins, while just standing there. Once the game was over, Dustin started walking to his car and reached into his pocket for his ring and car keys. He pulled his keys out, but his new ring was missing. The entire family started searching for the ring. The area was small, since Dustin had only been at the table, under the tent set, when he took the ring off, and the to the area where he stood to throw the football. An area of approximately 25’ X 60’ and the path he took as he walked towards the driveway, where he was parked. That’s the entire area and yet, the ring wasn’t found. That is when Dustin called me. I told Dustin that I was also at a dinner and that by the time I got my equipment and drove to Eliot, it wouldn’t give me much time to search, before it got dark. I asked if I could come and search, first thing in the morning, at 8.00am. Since the ring was on private property, no one else would be finding the ring. Dustin agreed and was happy to know that I would be able to help.

Cheryl and I left our home, in Saco, Maine at 7:00am and arrived at the search area at 8:00am. Dustin was there to greet us and show us the area, where he thinks the ring was hiding in the grass. I must admit, the grass was nice and thick, almost like a carpet. This grass could absolutely hide a ring. Dustin really thought the ring would be in the area, he took the ring off, and where he was sitting, under the tent. If not there, it would be in the area where he was throwing the football, just 25’ to 30’ away. I told Dustin that I would grid search the entire area, he had been in, yesterday. I would start in the area of the tent and the table. I would then work my way towards the area he had stood, throwing the football. I should be able to search the entire 25’ to 60’, in less than an hour. As I worked my way across the lawn, I wasn’t getting many non ferrous targets but when I did, I checked the thick grass with my pinpointer. Unfortunately the ring wasn’t found after approximately 45 minutes of searching. I then asked Dustin what path he took towards his vehicle and where was he when he took the keys out of his pocket. Dustin couldn’t remember the exact area but it was either along the wall of where the ten was or just another 5’ or 10’ to the right of that. I searched that area and came up empty again. Since I only had another 10 feet or so, to a large bush, I decided to grid search, over to the bush. As I kept going, I wasn’t getting many almost to the bush when Dusting said he never went that far over, towards the bush. I told Dustin that I just wanted to finish the area, so I would remember what has and hasn’t been searched. Just another minute or so and only one more grid line, from the bush, I received a very loud signal, showing 67 to 69 on my VDI screen. The VDI was also showing the target was on or very near the top of the soil. As I looked down, in the thick grass, I didn’t see the target. I reached into the thick grass and started pushing the grass away. I then saw a gold ring. I had finally found it. I then asked Cheryl to come over and bring the paper towel, so I could wipe away the sweat, from my face. It was just a ploy, to tell her I had found the ring. I asked her to start filming a video, when I asked Dustin to come over to me and answer some questions. When Dustin arrived to where I was , I asked him a question and as he answered, I reached down into the grass, picked the ring up and said, “I got it”, holding the ring up so Dustin could see it. I saw his smile break out and he said “Oh dude, thank you so much , man oh man” as he pumped his fists, high 5’d me and gave me a hug. Dustin was very happy to have his ring back. He couldn’t believe I found it so close to the bush. He said he was never that close to the bush. I told him that we always find rings where people don’t think we would find them. Possibly Dustin did go that far over and just doesn’t remember. We will never know. I do know that this ring was really hidden in the thick grass. It never would have been found, visually. Thankfully, my metal detector is my eyes 👀 and it may have taken an hour, but it was finally located. If I don’t find the lost item, in an area, I will just keep expanding the area. Everyone knew it was there, it was just a matter of getting my coil over it.
Once again, a successful recovery and a smiling client. I love helping others out, like Dustin, in their time of need. It’s just the best feeling in the world to see those smiles, when I hand over their very precious, sentimental item back to them. It the best job in the world ❤️🙏

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Lost ring in creek in southern France

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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.

 

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Saint Christopher’s Medal Lost in the Ocean, Found and Returned Holden Beach NC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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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

 

 

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4 Yellow Gold Rings Lost at High Tide – Found and Returned Murrell’s Inlet SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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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

 

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Trying not to lose it, but lost it anyway. But then it was found.

  • from Mount Pleasant (Michigan, United States)
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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.

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Heirloom wedding ring lost in Lake Michigan

  • from Manistee (Michigan, United States)
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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.

 

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Sentimental Promise Ring Lost at Big Spring Park in Huntsville, Alabama… FOUND!

Contact:

Christina McCree – Ring Finder/Metal Detectorist for the northern Alabama and southern/middle Tennessee area.  Call or text ASAP, anytime 24/7 at 610-504-6135.

I received a text message just before midnight on Wednesday (July 16th, 2025) from Allie stating she had lost a few rings on Monday evening and asked if I could help her find them.  Allie was attending one of the Concerts in the Park events at Big Spring Park in Huntsville, Alabama.  She vaguely remembered taking off her engagement ring and wedding band (soldered together) and her promise ring, then she placed them in the cup holder of her folding chair so that she could apply lotion.  Allie forgot to put her rings back on and at the end of the event, she folded up her chair and put it back in the bag with the rings still in the cup holder.  She thought they had fallen out into the grass.

The promise ring was a thin gold band that used to be Allie’s mother-in-law’s (Brandi) engagement ring given by her father-in-law.  Unfortunately, he has since passed.  The diamond and prongs had been removed, and the diamond was incorporated into a different ring Brandi now wears.  The modified thin 14k gold band was given to Allie as a promise ring by her now husband.

When I received Allie’s message I had already gone to bed, because I had to get up early for work the next morning, but I replied to Allie and told her I’d be more than happy to help.  I said I needed to pick up my detector and gear from my house, so I wouldn’t be able to get out to the park until after work on Thursday evening.  Allie said she had a prior commitment on Thursday evening, so we scheduled a search for Friday late afternoon when I got off from work.

Allie went back out to the park with a friend earlier in the day on Thursday to search for her rings.  Her friend took a metal detector, but she had a of signals and interference, so she ended up doing a visual grid search.  She was able to find Allie’s soldered engagement and wedding rings!!  She was so excited that she ran over to Allie and forgot to mark the exact spot, but that was no problem, because they had a picture of where Allie was sitting with the hotels/apartments in the background.  We were now 1 for 2 (or 2 for 3 depending how you look at it, lol).

I met Allie and Brandi on Friday afternoon at Big Spring Park.  There was a lot of pop of rain showers and thunderstorms, but thankfully nothing was happening at the park.  As we walked over to where Allie was sitting on Monday, Brandi explained the sentimental meaning behind the ring.  I could tell how much it meant to her.

Allie showed me the area she was sitting at and Brandi showed me the photo of Allie to line myself up with.  I had my Minelab Equinox 900 with the 15-inch coil.  I began my grid search and started receiving various signals.  I carefully checked each one with my Garret Pro Pointer.  All the targets were below the surface, so I didn’t bother going any further.  I came upon a nice sounding 15-16 signal.  I bent down to check and there was Allie’s gold ring!!  It was laying vertically, completely hidden in the grass.  I looked up at Allie, smiled, and said, “we got it!”  I looked over at Brandi and gave her a smile and thumbs up.  They were both very happy and relieved that it was found.  All praise and glory to God!

We chatted for a few minutes and started walking back to our vehicles.  They thanked me again and we said out good-byes.

 

This recovery was extra special to me because this was my 50th overall successful search!  I’ve now found and returned a total of 58 items (some searches had multiple rings/items).  What a blessing it is getting to help others!

Earlier in the year, I had the pleasure of sharing my metal detecting story with one of the writers of the Redstone Rocket, Ms. Marian Accardi.  The Redstone Rocket is the Redstone Arsenal’s newspaper.  I’ve been waiting for a special occasion to share it, and to celebrate my 50th successful search, here it is (link and story posted below).  Happy reading!  And until the next recovery… please take care and God Bless!

 

Metal detecting expert finds lost keepsakes for others | News | theredstonerocket.com

As Christina McCree turns the pages of a book that documents her successful metal detecting searches over the years, she can’t help but smile.

Her “Book of Smiles” holds a closeup photograph of each of the found items – from rings to keys and cell phones – along with photographs of the owners of the items and the date and location of the discoveries.

“The second best (reward) is finding the item, and the best thing is actually going and returning it to them, seeing that reaction. That’s priceless because a lot of these things are family heirlooms or wedding bands, college, high school rings.”

Most of the people who seek McCree’s help have already tried searching with a metal detector they bought or rented.

“I’m usually their last-ditch effort and a lot of them think it can’t be found, it’s gone forever. So, when I do find it, they’re just so shocked and happy. I’ve seen so many happy tears and hugs. That’s the most fulfilling thing.”

Her tally: “48 successful searches and between them all, 56 items,” said McCree, who’s an auditor with the Army Audit Agency. Most of those searches documented in her book have been through her listing on The Ring Finders’ website since August 2018. Founded by Chris Turner from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, The Ring Finders provides a directory of independent metal detecting specialists.

McCree’s favorite items to search for are rings and other types of jewelry and coins.

When McCree was a teenager, the movie “The Goonies” piqued her interest in treasure hunting and she got a metal detector. She enlisted in the Army in her home state of Pennsylvania and served active duty from 2005 to 2010, stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. She deployed twice to Iraq from there. McCree met her husband, Lindell McCree Jr., at Fort Leonard Wood and when they left the Army 15 years ago, they moved to Huntsville, where her father-in-law had retired.

She was hired at the Army Audit Agency in 2014 after earning an accounting degree from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

McCree’s husband gave her a metal detector for Christmas in 2012, and she got back into metal detecting with hobby hunts on the weekends. Then she found out about The Ring Finders on YouTube.

“It’s a way to help people with my hobby, that’s the driving factor,” she said.

One memorable find came when she was searching for a University of Alabama class ring in a pond in Somerville.

“It was lost for 20 years,” McCree said. The Somerville man was throwing a decoy duck into the pond, and he and his wife saw the ring fly off his finger. He had tried to find it himself with a metal detector but ended up flooding it. He contacted McCree in the fall of 2019 and in the first attempt, the water was too cold and in a second attempt, rain had left the water too deep for a search. Then on Aug. 16, 2020, she tried again, using hookah dive system gear. The ring was in the water 3 ½ to 4 feet deep.

“I remember I picked it up, I shook all the muck off,” she said. “I saw that red crimson stone shining up at me.”

A certified scuba diver, McCree found another class ring in April 2022.

A man was fishing off his boat in the Tennessee River near Decatur when his ring fell off. He marked the grid with a sonar fish finder. “We went back two days later, and I dove down, and it was within a couple of feet from where he marked.”

McCree’s longest journey to search for an item was to Starkville, Mississippi, on Thanksgiving Day in 2020. She got a call the day before from a woman who had lost the keys to her car, house and work, and McCree left home early Thanksgiving morning.

“It was a six-hour trip only to spend less than 10 minutes” searching for the keys and finding them among some leaves.

“I drove back, took a shower and was over at my family’s for the Thanksgiving meal,” she said.

McCree was contacted to help a couple who evacuated from Louisiana because of Hurricane Ida and were staying at a friend’s lake house on Lake Tuscaloosa. The man took off his wedding band and put it in his swim trunks’ pocket to apply sunscreen. He forgot to put the ring back on, and it was lost when he got in the lake.

On Sept. 11, 2021, “I just did a grid search, using my hookah system,” and found the ring, she said.

Even when she’s on vacation, she can be called on to help.

While visiting her parents in Tampa, McCree was metal detecting with her father on the beach on Dec. 30 last year when a man asked if she could search for his wife’s cell phone she had lost in the sand.

“Right there on the spot I was able to find it for her,” she said.

McCree has also found numerous rings that were thrown in anger or during an argument. “Actually, it’s quite common,” she said.

“I try my best on every search. I always give 110%,” McCree said. “I search every spot, I expand the grid. I like to walk away knowing I’ve searched every area, exhausted every option.

“God has blessed me with the gift of finding items and the resources to go on these searches. I always give him all the glory in all my searches.”

 

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Lost TINY Diamond and Gold pendant found in Annapolis, Maryland!

  • from Baltimore (Maryland, United States)
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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!

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