I got a call from Heidi A. on Sunday, August 28th asking if I could possibly help find her toe ring that she lost while swimming with her sister-in-law Jennifer in the Intracoastal Waterway at Holden Beach NC. Heidi went on to say that the ring was specially made from another ring that had been given to her. She also said that she had noticed her toe ring was gone as she was leaving the water and that her foot had sunk up to her ankle in the mud. I got the area it was lost in, checked the tide table and saw I had a small window of opportunity for low tide and started the 45 minute drive.
When I arrived at the spot it was around 10pm and pitch black, on top of that there were broken clam and oyster shells all over the beach and with every step I was getting stuck in the mud. I searched for about an hour and a half from the high tide line to mid tide and called it a night. The next day I arrived a little before low tide and searched for an hour and a half knee deep in mud and my feet were cut up from the shells and still didn’t have any luck.
I decided to pick up a pair of hip waders and give it another try two days later. The hip waders worked great but I still wasn’t finding the ring. I talked to Heidi and she had mentioned that Jennifer was going to be back that weekend. I suggested that Jennifer meet me either Saturday or Sunday to give me a more exact area where the ring was lost.
Jennifer met me on Sunday during low tide, showed me the area she thought it was in but thought Heidi might have lost it in the mud and not the water. I had my White’s PI and decided to start my grid in the right corner and go straight out to knee deep water and work the grid from the shore to the water and back. First target was in the mud and was a fishing weight. I walked out to about upper calf depth and got a second target, as I’m separating the thick mud with my fingers in the scoop I hear the clank of something metal – BINGO!!! I washed the ring off and walked back up to Jennifer, who had stuck around and said “boy these conditions are horrible”. I’m pretty sure Jennifer thought I was all finished until I stuck my closed fist out to her and dropped Heidi’s ring in her hand. I love seeing the expressions on people’s faces when I give them back a lost treasure. Although it wasn’t Heidi, I think Jennifer did a really good job in showing her excitement for Heidi.
I took a picture of the ring and sent it and a text to Heidi saying “Surprise!”. I think it took Heidi less than 10 seconds to call me. She couldn’t believe it.
Unfortunately Heidi had to wait a few days before she got her ring back but she knew for sure it was on its way.
Thank you Jennifer for putting me in the right spot which was a tremendous help and a huge time saver.
Thank you Heidi for the very generous reward and the Starbucks gift card (I love Starbucks). Also thank you very much for trusting in me to find your lost treasure.
Jim
Thank you for reading my post!!!
