Ring lost in the lagoon, Little Egg Harbor NJ, recovered by Edward Trapper, NJ Ring Finder
I was at work when I received a call from George inquiring about possibly recovering his family heirloom ring from his lagoon. We went over the details of when and how the ring was lost, and knowing the area quite well, decided it would be best if I swung by prior to committing to do the recovery. A few days later I met George at his house and after going over exactly what he did when the ring flew off into the lagoon, we decided with the 5′ tide swing this had to be done at low tide. The following week worked perfect with our schedules. My first attempt didn’t work out so well, it was blazing hot, the greenhead flies were eating us alive, and the mud on the bottom was black and bottomless. After about 2 hours I threw in the towel but assured him I would be returning for another attempt. I believe at that point George had given up hope of ever seeing his ring again. Over the next week or so our schedules didn’t work with the tide, so he agreed for me to swing by when conditions were right, whether he was home or not. WELL, after some adjustments to my recovery approach, and taking my assistant wife LEE, and good luck charm, the ring was in my scoop within 15 min. I knew this would mean the world to him, so I decided to do a surprise return, and set the whole thing up with his wife and son. I arrived just as they were getting back from fishing, put the ring in my scoop, and headed down the driveway where we met. We all talked a bit, I asked how they did fishing, then told him I did really well, and put my scoop out. He was kinda puzzled, and I said look in the bottom, and when he did, he could not believe his eyes. Then we let him in on the whole plan. I have the video of the return, just need to edit it, stay tuned. That moment right there is what makes doing recoveries so rewarding.
I received a call from AnnMarie about some items that were accidentally dumped into her lagoon. She had seen one of my stories about a water recovery, and figured it was worth giving me a call. She explained what had happened. Over 2 months prior her daughter was at the beach, and had placed her jewelry in her beach bag for safe keeping while she went into the water. At the end of the day, she placed her beach items in the back yard by the deck, and went inside the house. AnnMarie figured she would help and accidentally dumped her necklaces into the lagoon while dumping the sand out of the beach bag. At that point she figured they were gone, until she saw my post detailing a very similar recovery. I knew they were right up against the bulkhead after she explained in detail exactly what she had done. We basically decided to do the recovery but didn’t decide when, as I am in her area quite often. Ann sent me the address an told me it would be fine to go, even though they would not be home. I had some time a few days later, and swung by to look. Conditions were perfect, and about 35 min into the search I had both necklaces. She had no idea that I had gone and I decided to snap a few pics and shoot them over to her. AnnMarie was shocked to say the least, we made arrangements to mail them back to her, and in just a few days they were back for safe keeping. Thank you again, so glad I was able to help.
I received a call late one evening from Lisa. She had just arrived back home after a nice weekend at the beach with her family. She was entering the water holding hands with her daughter, and when she bent down to grab a shell, their hands slipped apart, and off the ring slid. With the waves washing up, it immediately disappeared, to who knows where. After looking for quite a bit with no luck, they had to pack up and head home. She knew all the right things to do to mark the location, which she conveyed to me on the phone, and we agreed to give it a shot on the next low tide. Its obvious now she had the spot marked perfectly, because I had the ring within 45 min of starting my search. It was to far for Lisa to travel, so we decided the best thing would be for me to mail them back, so I packed them up, and by the next morning they were back where they belong. 
Amanda sent me a text later in the evening, asking about my services. Amanda and her husband Dave were at the beach, where she had removed her NJ State Trooper medallion necklace and placed it in the beach bag for safe keeping. She was extremely heartbroken, as she wore this every single day for over 20 plus years. After they returned home it was missing, so they backtracked every step with no luck. They also raked the entire area of the beach where they had set up their chairs and towels for the day. The only possible thing that could have happened was it came out during the day when Dave removed the car keys, and mistakenly fell into the sand. Amanda didn’t want me to come out late at night, but no way would I leave the necklace sit in the sand over night, and possibly disappear with the tide, or risk it being found by an suspecting beach comber. I met Dave at the beach within 30 min. and had Amanda’s necklace in the scoop just a short while later. Dave was in total disbelief I found it so fast, especially after they had done an extensive search prior to my arrival.