Diamond Wedding Ring Lost at Huntington Beach, CA…Found.
I received a call this morning from Stephanie who told me her husband Philip lost his wedding ring at the beach yesterday, and they were unable to find it. They got a referral for a metal detectorist who then met them at the beach at 1:00 AM this morning, but he came unprepared, not bringing the battery to his metal detector, yet he still attempted a search with a sifter. We arranged to meet at 10:30 AM at the location of the loss. When they showed me the area, I knew the 1:00 AM search had been a futile attempt without a metal detector. I searched the area for 3 1/2 hours bringing up all kinds of trash (bottle caps, foil, nails, cans, and even some coins), but no ring. I did feel encouraged though, because I knew if there was this much metal here, that no one had been there before me, and I stood a good chance of finding Philip’s ring if it was lost here. I believe though that Stephanie and Philip had lost hope, and decided to leave, thinking the ring was gone for good. They had stayed the full 3 1/2 hours, and with today’s heat and the previous early morning search, I think they were worn out. I told them I wasn’t done yet, and that there was a lot of area I needed to search before I was going to be satisfied I had covered all posibilities. It was about an hour later, when I had expanded my search zone that I came upon another foil sound, but a little different. I put my scoop in, and out comes this awesome looking ring with 5 sparkly diamonds in it. Philip had sent me a text with a picture of the ring, so I knew I had a keeper. I then sent him a text with the ring on my finger telling him how nice his ring looked. He immediately called in disbelief asking if I had found the ring, wherein I asked if he had seen the picture. What fun. They came back as soon as they could, and I was able to reunite Philip with his awesome looking wedding ring. What a great day, and what great smiles, and great comfort for them both.
Both Philip and Stephanie wished to include their stories and pictures in my blog which I have included below.
We actually have two testimonials for you. One from me and one from Stephanie. Stephanie will send you her testimonial through a separate email. Here’s my testimonial:
So this story starts yesterday at the beach where I lost my wedding ring! I LOST MY WEDDING RING!
After searching unsuccessfully for an hour with my wife, we left and the state beach gate staff suggested we look up ring finders service in google.
Found it on a website and the first guy we called said he would meet us at the beach at 1AM! Since we were desperate to find the ring, me, Stephanie, and two of our friends met with the guy at 1 am. The ring finder shows up but his equipment doesn’t work because the batteries were dead. Ugh! We searched for an hour in the dark anyway. Still No luck.
This morning we contacted a second ring finder – Steve Smith. We meet up with him at 10:30 am. He was so professional and showed us testimonials and pictures of the rings he found. Stated his service is no cost and is on a reward basis determined by us. He diligently went over the sand area where we were – inch by inch, marking the areas and sifting through sand.
After four hours, Stephanie and I decided to leave and basically gave up hope. Steve, so optimistic, stayed and kept looking for the ring despite the fact that we left. He never gave up and remained positive throughout the entire process. Another hour and a half later, he FOUND IT!!!! After searching for a total of 5.5 hours, HE FOUND MY WEDDING RING!!!!!! This was a miracle.
I felt overjoyed. All of the sadness, embarrassment, anxiety, stress and depressed feelings went away. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, Thank You Steve Smith! You are fantastic! We are forever grateful.
Thanks,
Philip
Stephanie’s Story:
At the end of my birthday celebration at Huntington Beach my husband realized that he lost his wedding band. He lost it while playing football out in the sandy beach. The search was worse than a needle in the haystack. For hours we retraced his footsteps and hopelessly searched in the surrounding premises. The desperation, hurt, disappointment in my husband’s eyes were unbearable. I located a ring finder who agreed to go back to the beach at 1:30am but was unprepared because his batteries were dead and his equipment was not working.
Unwilling to give up, we continued the search in the dark until 3am with couple of our friends. We went in a line up and searched step by step with flashlights hiding from beach patrols with no luck.
It was a very restless night for us. We just had just celebrated our one year anniversary last month and can’t believe that this really happened. AND of all days on my birthday after such a wonderful day. We cannot accept the fact that it’s gone. The sentimental value of the ring cannot ever be replaced. Luckily I found Steve from www.ringfinder.com. I called Steve at seven am and he picked up the phone right away. He agreed to drive an hour down to meet us at 10:30am. He searched the premises under the beating sun. He was very determined and professional. Inch by inch he meticulously searched with a metal detector and a sifter marking searched areas as he go. After 3 & a half hours exhausted from the search previous day and lack of sleep we lost all hope and left home.
Steve was so encouraging and optimistic. Even after we gave up he continued searching. He told us not to give up and he will go over the area once more and expand his search. He promised that he will locate our ring and refuse any reward until he locates our ring.
We have already accepted the fact that the ring was lost forever. We even located the same exact wedding band to be shipped to the closest jeweler. 2 hours later we got a text from Steve with a picture of the wedding band with the message. “You’re right, it is a beautiful ring.” OMG he found it! I cannot believe he found it!! We jumped in joy and held onto each other with tears of joy flowing down our cheeks. Whether Steve wanted it or not, both of us gave him a huge hug when we saw him. We could not contain our happiness.
We always try to do the right thing, be a better person in life. I feel like karma was in play today and we finally got served what we deserved. Karma had led us to Steve! It is so wonderful that a complete stranger would show you the kindness that Steve has wanting nothing more than to help others. He is truly amazing! We gave Steve a reward while he excitedly told us multiple stories of his finds. Words cannot express our gratitude.
This emotional event was nothing short of a miracle. I feel like our vows got renewed today. We are forever thankful to Steve Smith who gave our story a happy ending. Thank you Steve from the bottom of our hearts!
-Stephanie
If you lose your ring or other metal item of value, call as soon as possible. I will work hard 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, 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.
Last week Monday I was called to Green Lake, Wisconsin’s deepest lake (239 feet) to find a lost ring. Luckily, it was lost near a swim raft in 7 feet of water. I arrived with SCUBA gear the following Sunday, and we found it after 2 hours of searching a very weedy bottom. Luckily, we recovered a beautiful 14k wedding band for the smiling groom. Smiles all around!
