We were recently featured in a local paper, the Juneau County Star Times. They wrote up a nice article about our Castle Rock Lake recovery. Click on the link below for the complete article.
On Sunday afternoon we got a call from a gentleman who had lost his wedding ring. He had been working all day in his yard digging a trench to relieve some standing water. After completing the several hour project he realized his wedding ring was gone. He and his family search for 2 hours and had no luck. He found “The Ring Finders” website and gave us a call. We spent about 20 minutes covering the area which was crazy with signals due to a power line running under his backyard. I decided to re-check the trench with full descrimination, looking only for gold. I got a hit near the end of the 15ft trench about 6 inches down. As I bent down and used my pinpointer through the mud and water in the trench I saw a glint of GOLD in the hole. The wedding ring was stuck in the wall of the trench about 4-6 inches down. I turn and ask the homeowner, I said, “I have a questions for you” “would you like to have this back and I handed him his ring“.
He and his wife were so excited they could not believe we found it… they kept saying “you guys are good, you guys are so good“. The wife came out and gave us hug… it was another successful hunt for the “Dallas Ring Finders”.
Don & Ellen
We received a call from Christine about 3pm on Sunday afternoon. She got our name and number from a friend she had told that she had lost her wedding set of 3 rings.
Christine lives on about a acre of land, she had gone out to the back of the property to help her husband bag up some leaves that he had been raking together. They worked together for about a hour and finished up and carried the bags of leaves up to the garage about a half acre away. That was when she realized that her Wedding Set (3 rings) was missing. In a panic, she and her husband looked all over the yard, they dumped the leaf bags out but did not see anything. They spent several hours looking with no luck. Later in the day while talking with her friend, she told her about the lost rings. Her friend said, wait a minute I heard about this website of people who find rings. She Googled and found “The Ring Finders” website and called Christine back and gave her our number.
It was about 3pm when Christine called and she lived 41 miles from us. I told her we would be there in about and hour & a half. We needed to hurry as I was concerned it would get dark and it was already quite cold, and the darkness would only make it colder. We arrived and got our 2 Garrett AT Pros and Pinpointers out then Christine walked us to the back of the acre of property. She showed us all the places she walked and was helping her husband with the leaves. Ellen and I chatted about what area we would grid off visually and began to detect. Within 10 minutes I hear Ellen say “Here’s One”, I joined her as we looked through about 4-6 inches of leaves in a pile but nothing else rang up on the detectors. I told Ellen to keep looking and I ask Christine to show me the bags of leaves, my thinking was that if one ring was in the pile of leaves that they had been bagging then it was likely the other rings would be in the bags of leaves near the garage. I began to scan the full plastic bags of leaves with my detector and got 3 very light hits. I kept scanning but nothing else hit so I backed up to the bag with something metal inside. I tore a small hole in the bag and began to stick my Pinpointer into the bag. As I got a signal, I used my hand to begin pulling out whatever the metal was. 1st hit was piece of wire, the second was a metal screw and the 3rd hit I could not see it. Finally I saw a glint of Gold in the bag. I began to smile but had to fight the leaves to find it, and finally the smallest of the 3 rings rings was found. Christine was standing right beside me and could not believe I found it. Now the only ring missing was the most expensive, the diamond solitaire with several small diamonds around the band. After determining that nothing else was in the 4-5 bags of leaves, I walked back to the rear of the property and told Ellen that I had found one but that one was still missing. She had been working out visual grid and I went back and started back over the grid working the opposite direction. I made several passes checking every 2inch or less hit that I got regardless of the type of signal. Then I got a shaky 44-46 hit that was very weak, as I was checking everything I almost kept going but thank goodness I did not. I reached down and moved the leaves and grass and there it was, the diamond solitaire twinkled at me. I reached down and picked it up and ask Christine, “Would this make you Happy!” She and her husband were so excited and grateful. It is so much fun to see the reaction of our customers when we are successful.
So 3 rings, 1 in the leaf pile, 1 in a trash bag a 1/2 acre away and one in the grass 5-6 feet away from the 1st one.
Another successful hunt for “The Ring Finders”.
Don & Ellen Wilson – Dallas/Ft Worth
We got a email from a young man who on Saturday evening was having some innocent fun with friends and lost his Texas Aggie College Ring. I responded quickly to the email and called the man and we chatted about where the ring was lost, what kind of ring it was, and the address where the ring was lost. He told me that Saturday evening he had been playing football in the front yard of a friend’s home and his ring flew off and he could not find it in the thick grass.
We set a time for us come out, this was 3 days after he lost the ring. He was there to meet us. I ask him to show us where he was standing and how he threw the football. He looked at us and said well the truth is we were here “Toilet Papering” my friends home and then he pointed up! We looked up and the trees still had toilet paper waving around. I told him I thought it was great he could have that kind of fun, we had a nice laugh and began to search. It did not take long before Ellen hollered “Is This Your Ring!”, he jogged over to where she was and was so excited. Ellen is 2 for 2 on our last hunts! It is so great to be able to enjoy this hobby with my spouse of 39 years.
Another successful hunt for The Ring Finders!
Don & Ellen Wilson – The Dallas Ring Finders!
We got a email from an very nice young man who was in a little bit of a panic. He was playing volleyball with his team at the local “Bump & Drink Volleyball Club” and realized his wedding ring had come off sometime during the evening. This was about 8pm, he had spent the next 2 hours on his hands & knees with his friends going through the really deep sand on the court he had played on.
His wife is 8 months pregnant and he really dreaded going home without his wedding ring and then having to tell his wife about it.
He found “The Ring Finder” website and sent us a email. I responded immediately because I knew exactly what Volleyball Club he had been at, we had been called in before to find rings for other customers. I immediately call the club and spoke to the manager, most of the Volleyball clubs are very strict about not allowing detectorists on to their courts, but this manager remembered us and said we could come in the next day 30 minutes before they opened.
Ellen & I arrived at 3pm on a Friday and began our hunt. Understand this sand is awesome, but it is 12-20inches deep all over the 8 courts. We had to use our beach scoops as we detected. We knew what court he had played on and where he had wash off the sand at the end of the night, so we began our hunt.
We cover the court 3 times with no luck, I began covering the area I believed the customer would have walked to the wash off station”aka water hose! Understand that Ellen & I both use Garrett ATPro’s and Garrett Pinpointers, I was digging in the sand and Ellen walks over and says “what did he say his ring looked like”, as I looked up she had this sheepish grin on her face and on her finger was a Platinum Wedding Ring. I started to get up, and she said don’t stop looking this might not be his ring! We have had that happen more than once, we found a different ring than the one we were hired to find.
Well the customer was on his way, he was stuck in Friday afternoon Dallas 5pm traffic..YUK! When he arrived, we shook hands and I said “my wife has a question for you” she walked up and said “is this your ring”. He was awestruck, his mouth dropped open, he was so excited. He must have told us 3 times how much his wife was going to be happy…
This hobby is so much fun.
Another successful hunt for The Ring Finders!
Don & Ellen – Dallas/Ft Worth
We got call from the gentleman above who said he had lost his ring in the backyard while playing with the dog at friends home. The challenge on this hunt was the it was 102 degrees in Dallas that day, it was miserable. My wife and I arrived and began the search with our Garrett ATPro’s and we began in the area where the customer said he thought it was.
We searched for about 2 hours, gridding out the yard, going through the flower beds we were having no luck. I ask the ring owners wife if he could come home from work and show us exactly where he was and exactly what he did with the dog. He arrived about 20 minutes later. He stood in the yard and said I did this and my son & I looked at each other and knew what had happened, the ring was slung back to the other side of the yard when the man threw the toy for the dog. My son found the ring in about 10 minutes.
The customer and his wife were thrilled, we were soaked, and sunburned, but happy!
Another successful hunt for “The Dallas Ring Finders”
Don & Ellen with help from our son Tripp
We got a call about 5:30pm from a customer that we had help several months ago, her daughter had lost daddy’s very special knife in the high grass. We were able to find it and created a happy customer.
This same lady’s neighbor’s daughter grabbed her mom’s car keys and ran through the yards of about 5 homes chasing a dog and then ran back to her house. Now you need to understand these are hugh yards, 100-200 ft across per yard. All the neighbors and family had been looking for 1 key and key fob that had fallen off.
Our previous client came home and heard about the keys and immediately said “I know who to call, lets call “The Ring Finders”, she gave us a call and explained what happened and we said let a us grab a quick dinner and we would head that way.
We arrived and chatted with the owner of the keys, the little girls dad, the little girl was in bed being punished for losing mom’s keys. He explained where she had run and told us we had permission to scan all 5 of his neighbors yards. Ellen & I got our Garrett ATPro’s and began to search, some areas were very thick grass. About 5 minutes after we started my son and his girlfriend arrived to assist. Sometimes just more eyes in a situation helps, it was starting to get dark.
We all spread out and it 5 minutes I hear my son say “Found It” we all ran to him, including the owner and all his neighbors, my son was not even using a detector, just walking and looking. As I told him, son we do not care how it gets found only that it gets found.
Everyone was happy the father said it would have cost him $300-$400 per replace the key fob for his wife’s car.
So from a referral comes another successful hunt for “The Dallas Ring Finders”
Don & Ellen with assistance from Tripp & Shannon
We got a call from the gentleman above late on a Friday afternoon. Said he had fallen out of a boat on a small private lake in Weatherford,Tx and wondered if we would come try to find it. I said we would be happy to but it would have to wait a week as were on our way to the airport to leave for vacation in Cancun for a few days. I loved his response, he said “well it ain’t going nowhere”. We agreed I would call him in a week when we returned.
As promised we called the following week and spoke with John about his ring, he explained that he and a friend were coming in from fishing on a small boat, he had stood up just at the moment his friend decided to pull the boat up a little higher on the bank. When that happen, John lost his footing and fell into the lake. He said he could feel his wedding band slipping off but could do nothing about it. The waters edge was slippery and covered in algae and dropped off about 5-6ft in depth.
John found “The Ring Finders” website and located us.
Ellen & I drove 75 miles to the spot on the highway to meet John and have him and buddy lead us back on the dirt roads to where the lake was. I set up my gear and went into the lake, it was amazing how deep it got so close to the shore. John told me while I was in the water that he had used swimming pool cleaning poles to try and drag the ring up on shore and he also had a friend bring out his metal detector but no luck finding the ring. I spent maybe 20 minutes in the water getting a feel for the area where John thought the ring would be. I was getting lots of hits on my detector and using my water scoop was very difficult in the muddy bottoms. As I went to change hands with my equipment my detector passed over a flat rock covered in algae and my Garrett AT Pro went off loudly so I knew something was there. I reached over with my hand and felt along the top of the rock and there was John’s wedding ring. My wife and John had been talking along the bank and I said “hey John would you like to have your ring back?” and held up his gold wedding band . He was flabbergasted, he said over and over “I thought I would never see it again”. These reactions are what make this so much fun.
My wife was filming with her IPhone and began to ask John some questions. He said this was the first time this ring had been off his finger in 57 YEARS. He buddy then said, ‘tell them what you did’. John replied with a sheepish grin, “I did not tell my wife” he said I have a friend who owns a Pawn Shop who got him a temporary wedding ban to wear until we could hopefully find his ring. We laugh and laughed. Then John said…. “I wonder if the Pawn Shop with take the other ring back”.
It was a wonderful day.
Another great find for “The Ring Finders”
Don & Ellen Wilson
We received a call from a lady who said “thank God I reached you”I have a lost ring for you to find. I said OK and ask for the details. She described it as a Men’s gold wedding ban. I ask her where is was lost and she said in her backyard. I ask as I always do, “are you sure that’s where you lost it” and she said she was positive.
I said OK then we can find it, then I asked the most important question. How was the ring lost, what was he doing when he lost it……. there was a long silence and she said “I know it’s there because I threw it there”. I said that was no problem and we would drive the 28 miles to Trophy Club,Tx around 7pm to let the heat go down, it was 101 degrees warm.
We arrived at a beautiful home, got our equipment out, the lady kindly showed us where she was when she threw the ring and then my wife her re-inact the event (this is a must we have learned). We spent maybe 20 minutes detecting the yard and there was a lot of underground trash. We knew the ring would “Hit Hard” on our detectors because it had only been 3 days since it was lost and men’s wedding bands are typically large in size.
We were correct in our assumptions and the Ring was returned for another happy customer for “The Ring Finders”.
Don & Ellen – The Dallas Ring Finders”
PS…. the husband was in counseling while we were looking for the ring.
I received a phone call at 7:30 am on May 27th 2013 regarding a Platinum Wedding set that had been lost the day before on May 26th 2013 in the sand at Rehoboth Beach, Del. The story was that the couple were celebrating their wedding anniversary on May 26th and that they were at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The owner had taken her rings off and placed them in her lap in order to put suntan lotion on the couples child. Forgetting that she had placed the rings in her lap she stood up and the rings fell into the sand. There were attempts made to recover the rings by sifting the sand, but the rings were not to be found. Upon getting the phone call I arrived at the beach about an hour later only to find that the beach had been raked by the city workers using a tractor and a sand rake. My fear was that the rings had either been gobbled up by the sand rake or that they had been carried in an unknown direction down the beach by the sand rake. I began my search in an area that was pointed out by the ring owners husband with negative results. I then adjusted the area of my search due to the husband believing that they had been closer to the water than he originally thought. The husband left the beach in order to help his wife pack as they were to leave to go back home on this day, I told him that I would call him with the results of the search. The husband had’nt made it back to his parked car before I recovered the 1kt diamond Platinum ring right in the area where I began my second search. I called him and told him that he might want to come back down to the beach which he did and at that time I returned the recovered ring to him. I then conducted a spiral search from the area that the diamond ring was found and I failed to locate the wedding band. I then searched north of that same location without recovering the band. Then a search of the area to the south of the recovered diamond ring resulted in the recovery of the wedding band sixty feet south of where the diamond was recovered. It appeared that the sand rake had moved the wedding band from the area of where it had been dropped. I actually saw several of the small diamonds on the wedding band glistening in the sunshine before my metal detector passed over top of it. A small portion of the top of the wedding band was exposed just above its hiding place in the sand. The wedding band was recovered and returned to its rightful owner. Another anniversary saved by the Ringfinders!