Kathy was out at the barns tending to her horse. She was at her truck and discovered her ring was gone. After searching with no luck, Mike her husband turned to the internet and found us. He called me Friday and arranged a search Saturday at 1:00 pm.
By 1:15 pm Kathy had her ring back where it belongs on her finger.
Love my job.
I was running errands all day, so, I didn’t get the e-mail cry for help right away. When I finally realized it, I e-mailed back to say that I was available. After an exchange of information, I met Charles at the beach location that evening. He had been out playing football two days prior with other family members when…….well, we know the results of that! His wedding ring of 40 years came off somewhere during their romp in the dry sand. Initially, the search area was fairly good size, but, not ridiculous. Maybe half the size of a standard football field or a little less. After hitting some “hot spots” where Charles remembered being tackled in the sand and having no luck, I started a complete grid of the area. After 15-20 minutes I had found virtually no targets except a few minor pieces of foil and other junk targets. Not even one coin. Hmmm…..maybe the area had been detected by someone else in the last two days and had already been found? I soldiered on and finally did find a couple of coins, and then, wow, a ring. Oops, not HIS ring. Oh well, not a bad looking ring, and not a bad sign either. At least that area hadn’t been detected extensively. I completed the whole designated search area and nothing more but a few coins. Darn, well, time to expend the search area. I made a few more passes at the north end with no luck. Charles told me he hadn’t gone that far north, was resigned to the fact that it wasn’t going to be found, thanked me, and left for the night. I told him I’d hunt a bit longer and crossgrid the same area to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. I then went to the southern end of the search area and extended that a ways too. Still nothing. I then started my crossgrid and found absolutely no additional targets…..until……on one of my passes at the southern end, I was looping around to come back north, when I hit THE signal. Finally! It was getting dark and the search area was now about the size of a whole football field! A call to Charles resulted in voice mail, so, I left a message, sent an e-mail, and cooled my heels a while until he contacted me. I detected back south toward my truck, the bathrooms, and showers when Charles returned my call. He and his son then walked down to meet me and pick up his ring. A pleasure meeting you both and thank you for the generous reward. It helps keep the service going. Have a safe trip home today.
James called me about 5:30pm tonight saying he lost his wedding band in the sand and wondered if I was available to help find it. While we were talking I found out the resort they were staying at was in Myrtle Beach which is TRF Matt Fry’s area. I called Matt and he told me to go ahead and take the call.
Got to the location in about 25 minutes and met James and his wife Angelia on the beach who are vacationing with their family from Canada. James pointed out the area and I started my grid search. About half way through my second pass I get the “tone”. Bingo, dug a scoop and saw his ring laying in the sand, picked it up, blew it off and handed it back to James. Their excitement of getting his ring back is what it’s all about.
James and Angelia, thank you very much for trusting in me to help find your ring and your generous gift. Have a very safe trip home tomorrow!!
Jim
Mrs. Volberg contacted me to discuss a ring she lost while walking her dog after a large snowstorm in Northampton, Massachusetts. The last memory of her lost ring was earlier that morning, just before she put on her gloves to go to Smith Farm Fields.
We began searching several places she stopped to let her dog off-leash. In one place, in particular, she remembers the dog getting startled due to a cross-country skier. She remembers removing her gloves during the commotion – glove removal is a common way to lose a ring in the snow. As we searched, a man stopped and asked what we were looking for with a metal detector. When we told him about the lost ring and the potential search areas, he revealed that he found a woman’s 14k gold ring in the middle of the path last weekend! The location and time frame lined up perfectly. Mr. Baldwin not only found her ring in the snow, but he went a step further and verified ownership by requiring Mrs. Volberg to identify the engraving on the inside of the ring. However, she had a moment of doubt when she recalled no engraving inside the lost gold band. What are the chances that Mr. Baldwin picked up this lost ring and happened to be at Smith Farm Fields during the same day and time I was searching for Mrs. Volberg’s lost ring! Thank you, Mr. Baldwin, for your honesty and caring personality!
Mrs. Volberg & Mr. Baldwin
Lost a piece of jewelry in the snow while in a public place? Jewelry is commonly lost during snowstorms. Don’t waste your time renting a metal detector, have a member of The Ring Finders find your lost ring or jewelry. I serve Hartford, Connecticut, surrounding areas, and even Massachusetts! If you lost a piece of jewelry, contact me now through www.metaldetectionkeithwille.com or call/text 860-917-8947.
Keith Wille’s Media Mentions:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/science/archaeology-metal-detectorists-pequot
http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-lost-jewelry-hunters
http://www.theday.com/local/20160823/with-stroke-of-luck-waterford-resident-gets-his-ring-back
I was actually just finishing up an unsuccessful search for a ring lost in Malibu when Dave called me. He had just lost a tungsten carbide ring in a dry sand berm ( mound ) 10 feet high.
After he described that he had been messing around on a sand dune, I asked him to be careful not to move too much sand as this could get the ring out of range of a metal detector.
I was only 7 miles away from Dave’s location and able to meet him within 30 minutes. Another 10 minutes with my XP Deus metal detector on the steep hill of sand I got a good signal almost on top of the mound. A quick dig with my scoop and there was Dave’s ring.
We were lucky that I was in the area. 4pm on a week day is peak traffic time on Los Angeles freeways. It would have taken a couple hours, maybe three hours to drive the 70 miles from the other side of town.
I recently received a text from a nice woman, we will call her Betty in nearby Medford. She explained that her husband lost his wedding ring in their yard. She also stated that she was heartbroken. She found me by doing a search for metal detectors, she was going to rent one, but found the Ring Finders instead.
She described it as a plain white gold thin wedding band.
We made arrangements to search 2 days later. I arrived and looked over the area, lots of trees, shrubs and leaves. This could be a long hunt due to the size of the property.
I started a grid search and immediately found the underground sprinkler system. Other than that, there were no signals in the area. About 20 minutes into the search I got a good signal. I looked down and could see the ring through the grass.
I started to take a picture of the location and the ring when Betty came over to see what I was doing. I picked up the ring and held it out for her. Tears streamed from her eyes. I also received several hugs.
Another successful search. If you ever lose anything metal, don’t waste your time trying to rent a metal detector. It takes years to learn how to use one properly, especially if you are looking for jewelry. I can search in shallow water, sand, dirt and grass. Need a property marker found? Give me a call.
Jim called me, inquiring if my metal detector could locate a small hearing aid. My answer was, it depends on the location and the type of hearing aid. It would be necessary to meet at the location and I would need the other hearing aid or a spare battery.
Jim was sure he lost the hearing aid when he pulled a doggy pop bag from his pocket, where he had put his one and only hearing aid. It was a grassy area at a park which was a couple blocks from his home.
We met at the park and I was able to tune my XP Deus metal detector to get a reading from the small battery. The area was 20′ x 120′ with 2″ thick grass. The hearing aid was about the size of a cashew nut which made me think this would possibly be an eyeball find. Even though Jim had searched the evening before calling me, I know the lighting angle of the sun may make it easier to see at a different time of day.
I asked Jim to start at the opposite end of our search zone and I worked toward him. Twenty minutes into the search, Jim yelled at me, ” I Found It!” He was a happy man because it had just been repaired and he was upset at himself for carelessly putting it in his pocket with the plastic bag.
This ring find began when I got a call this morning from Danny visiting on a vacation to Hawaii from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Danny explained that he was in the protected beach area at around 5:30 PM the previous day when he jumped from a rock and started swimming ashore when his gold wedding band came off. He immediately went ashore got his wife Brittany and a mask and snorkel and went back into the water to look for his ring. Unfortunately he didn’t find his ring but fortunately for them they didn’t tell anyone and found the ring finders on the internet shortly their after. I met Danny & Brittany at the zoo parking lot and we proceeded down to the beach where the ring was lost. I explained that this area was the most detected beach in Hawaii and our odds would be slim but I would do my best to search the area. I marked my shore grid markers and went on the hunt. The area was sterile of any targets. Danny joined me in the chest deep water and was my visual marker for each leg of the grid. Initially Danny thought he was 20 feet from the breakwater wall but as I was passing that distance the search started to feel hopeless and that another detectorist already found the ring earlier that morning. I continued on and about 30 feet from the wall and a few feet from my Danny marker I got a screaming low tone target. I looked over at Danny and said I think we might have your ring. Two scoops later their was a fat gold ring in my scoop. I pulled the ring out of my scoop and showed it to Danny. Excitedly he exclaimed, “That’s it!” Several tourists nearby started clapping and Danny shouted to Brittany on the shore, “He found it!” Smiles all around and another vacation ends on a happy note. Aloha to Danny & Brittany!
Last Friday night I just happened to be looking at Craigslist when I noticed a post that was talking about a wedding ring lost not too far from where I live. The post said that the gentleman was leaving on a plane to go home, and could not go back and search for the ring, I also noticed that it had been recently posted, so I decided to get in touch with him to let him know I would try to help. I will let Nate’s testimonial about the loss and recovery tell the rest of the story.
Nate’s story:
I was skeptical that anyone could find my ring, but Steve is amazing and really came through for me!
So, on the last day of our recent vacation, while on a shuttle to LAX to fly back home, I realized my wedding ring was no longer on my finger. I was devastated and figured the ring I’d worn 18 years was gone forever. I wasn’t even sure where it had fallen off. I contacted the theme park and car rental agency without any luck. The next night, in a desperate “what do I have to lose” attempt, I searched the internet for help. I hesitantly placed a Craiglist ad in the “lost and found” section with a Google maps screen shot and address of the beach area we went to before flying back home. I offered a reward as incentive so if someone found it they might consider returning it to me instead pawning it. I was texted right away by a guy named “Steve” who was a member of “TheRingFinders.com” I figured he was probably a scammer. He called and left me a voicemail too – so I verified the website, and his phone number area code, which actually was from California. I called him back (Friday at 9:00pm) and I provided him some more details about where I thought I may have lost my ring near the beach. He was nice and sounded legit on the phone, and didn’t ask for any money from me. Steve went out right away, and within an hour (Friday at 9:52pm), he had recovered my ring and texted me a picture that looked like my ring. I was shocked and beyond happy! Ang and I couldn’t believe it – and so I asked him to provide a clearer picture of the front of the ring (the first was taken with a flash in the dark area where he found it). He sent a clear picture when he got home and it was definitely my ring! We arranged shipment, and a few days later, it is back on my finger as I type this message! I’m so grateful for Steve’s help. He is the real deal! So, if you ever lose a ring (or keys, or phone, etc) and need help – even from out of state – theringfinders.com might be a good place to turn for help (rather than hoping some honest person might see your ad on Craigslist like I did – I got lucky!)….. and if you lose something at the beach near LAX, call up my new found friend Steve – he is amazing!
If you lose your ring or other metal item of value, 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, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Santa Monica, Seal Beach, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Torrance, Venice 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.
This search was a cliff hanger to say the least! It started with a text message from Dave who said he saw me on Youtube and his friends could use my help in finding a lost ring. He told me the ring fell between the cracks of the deck they were standing on…Sounds good to me, how hard could it be, right?
This was one of the hardest searches I’ve ever done and thankfully Bob knew how to set up the ropes and secure me, so that I could safely search for the lost ring.
Here’s the story of the ring…Bob’s wife Miki is a goldsmith and she just finished making a custom set of 18k white gold wedding bands that she was sending to Japan to a young couple that were getting married soon.
Miki was taking pictures of the ring when one ring decided to make a run for the hills! It fell between the cracks of the deck and hit a rock below and bounced towards the water! Bob & Miki searched for 10 hours that day for the ring and sadly they had no luck finding it.
This is when I come into the search, the next day I arrive and they show me the area they had searched. I knew from pictures that they had sent me the night before it was a rough terrain so my wife told me to take my rope and harness.
Bob already had the rope set up so I put the harness on and went to work! 4 1/2 hours later and after a great lunch Bob’s mom made us, I was able to surprise everyone with the ring!!!
I told Bob could you bring me up on the rope I have to go to the bathroom and then I asked Miki if I could see her other ring as I wanted to test it with my detector again…Then I said thanks and put both rings in her hand…Surprise!!!
I love my job! You can watch the video of the search below…