#how do I find a lost gold ring in Maine water Tag | The Ring Finders

Heirloom 14K Gold Pendant Lost In Sand And Grass Area, In Arundel, Maine, Found With A Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)
I received a message, from Chelsea, on Saturday evening, asking if I would be able to search for a lost necklace and pendant. I immediately called Chelsea back. Chelsea told me that her 13 year old daughter, Emma, had lost a Gold Necklace and Pendant, at a family birthday party. The birthday party was at Chelsea’s father’s property, in Arundel, Maine. Chelsea told me that there were many adults and children looking for the necklace and pendant but they just could’t find them, even though they knew the approximate area, the necklace and pendant were lost in. Chelsea even told me that the pendant had been found once and then Emma dropped it, only to disappear again, right at her feet, as she was standing there. With it now being just after 5:00pm and the sun setting before 7:00pm now, we made plans for me to arrive at Chelsea’s fathers house, at 8:00am, the next morning. Chelsea the sent me the address of her father’s house and his phone number. If I needed anything, I could contact her father, Leroy. With the gold pendant and necklace being on private property, the gold items would be safe overnight.
So early this Sunday morning, I arrived at Leroy’s property and Leroy was already outside, still searching for the necklace and pendant. When I introduced myself. Leroy told me that the necklace had been found and it was just the pendant, still missing. Leroy took me over to where Emma had been standing, when she dropped the pendant. I looked at the area and mentioned to Leroy that I would think the pendant would have been visible, after being dropped. Leroy agreed and told me the adults were astonished the pendant wasn’t visible in the very short grass and sand. We started talking about the pendant possibly being dropped in another area and Emma thought she was in this area. Leroy was absolutely sure that Emma had been standing, in this area, when she dropped the pendant. Leroy also conveyed that the previous evening, Emma had checked her clothing, thinking the pendant may have somehow landed in her pocket or shoes. No pendant was found. At this point, Emma’s father, Nate arrived and he also went through the entire turn of events and his and Leroy’s story was exactly the same. The pendant had to be in this area. I was then told that the previous evening, a rake was used, in searching for the pendant. Could the pendant have been moved, out of the area, by the rake? Could the pendant have covered up with the sand/loose gravel, by the rake? We shall find out. I told Nate and Leroy that I would grid search the area from near the vegetation, along the pond, to the driveway and repeat that process, until the area had been 100% searched. If I didn’t find it, in the area, I would start expanding the area of search.
The grid search line from the vegetation to the driveway, was maybe 20’. It wouldn’t take me long to cover the entire area. As I made my way towards the driveway, I received a few non ferrous targets that I knew wouldn’t be the pendant but I checked them with my pinpointer anyways, for due diligence sake and being thorough. All targets were in the ground and were not the pendant. As I turned and headed back towards the pond, same thing was happening. A few targets being checked out but the pendant was still missing. I then headed back towards the driveway and a few steps in, I heard the tone I had been hoping for. A loud, repeatable low tone, showing up a very solid 18, on the VDI Screen. This just had to be the pendant but when I looked down at the patchy grass and sand/loose gravel, there was nothing there. As the three of us were there looking at the ground, I grabbed my pinpointer and started searching the sand/loose gravel area and all of a sudden, I see a tiny piece of gold and then I saw the outline of a pendant. Emma’s pendant had been found. Leroy, Nate and myself marveled at how the gold pendant blended in with the sand/loose gravel and surrounding area. We also talked about how the pendant ended up, beneath the sand/loose gravel. Could the foot traffic in the area, while searching have covered it up? Could the raking have covered it up? It was very close to where Emma thought she had dropped the pendant but was just hiding, under the sand/loose soil.
Nate and Leroy then told me the story of the gold necklace and pendant. Chelsea had actually bought them, when she was around 16 years old, with her own hard earned money. As Emma always loved the necklace, Chelsea passed it down to Emma. Thankfully the necklace and pendant will now be back together, once the necklace is repaired. UnfortunatelY, I was not able to meet either Chelsea or Emma but Nate is going to make sure Emma gets her gold pendant back. As I was leaving, I saw the smiles on Leroy and Nate’s faces and although I could’t see my smile, as I walked to my vehicle, I also was wearing a large smile. Love my job!!! It’s the best job in the world.

5 Lost Property Markers Found In Cumberland Center, Maine, Found With A Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)

I received a call from Jim, concerning some property markers, that he couldn’t locate. Jim related to me that there should be 11 different property markers, on his property, in Cumberland Center, Maine. Jim knew where five of the property markers were. He only really needed to locate three of them, to an adjoining property and he had a good idea, as to where the three markers would be, by measuring from the known property pins. He asked if I would be able to help him locate just three of the missing pins.

I told Jim I would be happy to help him and that I would bring a 300’ tape measure, to measure the distances from one property pin, to the area that missing property pin should be in. I also told Jim that even though it is illegal to remove these property markers, in the State of Maine, many people have removed them. I told him that even at my home, I was only able to locate 2 of the six property markers. I was told by my neighbor, 30+ years ago the front 2 property pins had been removed, by a previous owner, because the previous owner didn’t like them, because of the lawn mowing. I have also searched on other properties and have heard similar stories of property markers being remove for lawn mowing purposes or ascetics , the property owners just don’t like looking at them. It’s always a hit or miss with property markers.
I arrived at Jim’s home and he was totally prepared, with the map of the property, with dimensions and Jim had already measured out the areas and placed a wooden stake, in the ground. The wood stake should be very close to where the property pins should be. Jim took me to the area of where the first property pin he needed to find and there was a wooden stake. Jim told me that it may be under a Rhododendron plant. I started metal detecting on the inside of the Rhododendron plant and I couldn’t locate the property pin, but did find the usual old rusty iron nails. I then went to the other side of the plant and almost immediately received a nice loud ferrous target. I wiped away the leaves and there it was, the property pin. It was barely showing but I could see the yellow cap and a bit of the metal pin. I dug out around it and Jim was delighted that we had found property pin #1. One down, two to go. The next property pin was going to be a straight line, from the pin I had just found. Jim and I measured the distance out to the next pin. I started searching with my metal detector again and there were all kinds of targets but no property pin, in the area. Lots and lots of yard trash and yes, even more nails. Jim was baffled and went to get the map. He said it should be there but it wasn’t. Jim wanted to move on to property pin #3 and this pin should line up, with the pin we couldn’t find. Once again, Jim had measured out property pin #3, from a know property pin and Jim took me up to the known pin and showed me, the location. We then went to the area of property pin #3 and Jim had a wooden stake there, signaling the area, the property pin should be in. Jim and I then walked to the area of property pin #2, that we didn’t find. My metal detector was still there and Jim then proceeded to his house, to get a long handled shovel. I grabbed my metal detector and went to try and find property pin #3. After a few minutes of some more rusty nails, I received a loud high pitched ferrous target. I took my spade and dug the target out and there it was, a metal property marker. This one was broken and was missing the yellow cap but there it was. When Jim returned with the shovel, I showed him what I had found and again, he was delighted, that property pin #3, had been found. Now we just needed to find property pin #2. This time, we would measure from pin #3 and see if the area would be the same, as from measuring from pin #1. Once thee measurement was taken, the area was off by 5 to 6 feet. How could that be? Why was the measurement 5-6 feet closer to pin #3, than the measurement, from pin #1? As Jim scanned the map, he noticed that he had measured, to a fence post, being shown on the map and not the actual property marker. Once this was corrected, the new location was actually in some small trees and bushes. I pushed some branches and bushes away and took a look inside. WOW!! I could see a large iron pipe sticking up through the vegetation. Now we just had to take measurements from both pin #1 and pin #3, to verify this iron pipe is the actual property marker. Both measurements were within an inch of where they were suppose to be. Now all three property markers had been found and Jim was just so happy. Jim was now planning on digging the pins out just a little more, especially pin #3, since it had broken off, in the ground. Jim was then going to spray paint them orange, for better visibility. As we were walking back ti to house and my vehicle, Jim asked if I would mind finding three more property markers. He told me the three I had already found were the important ones, that he needed to know the location of but he would like to just know where the others were. I told Jim absolutely, “I’m already here, lets do it”
So now we needed to find pins #4, #5 and #6. Pin #4 would be directly across from Jim’s house and on the other side of the driveway. The other two pins were at the front of the property, along the road. Starting with pin #4, I started searching near the wooden post, that Jim had already put in the area. Within a minute or so, I received a nice loud target and when I looked down, I could see just a little bit of a familiar looking yellow cap, in the grass. It was pin #4. That was easy. Jim and I then measured down to the location of where pin #5 should be and once again, Jim had already placed the wooden post, in the area. Being near the road, it is my experience that there is usually a lot of trash and my experience was proved correct. Just a lot of different targets that I had to go through. After 6-7 minutes of searching, I received the target I was looking for. I could not see this one and when I dug it, I saw pin #5. It was missing a yellow cap but did have red colored piece of ribbon, tied around it. Wow, to easy when there are no bushes or trees. Pin #6 would be directly down the street, just 80’ from pin #5. We measured out the 80 ‘ and started searching the grassy lawn area. Again, lots of trash and nails but no property marker. I continued to search in a 10” radius, from where the pin should be but it just isn’t there. As Jim and I were still searching, Jim’s neighbor, Casey, came home. Casey came over and we told him we couldn’t find the property marker. Casey told us he knew where his left front marker was and we measured the 164’, from Casey’s property to where the pin #6 should be and we were exactly where it should be. Measured from bot Jim’s hand Casey’s known markers came out the exact spot. Unfortunately , it just wasn’t there. Jim and Casey were ok with that and actually put a wooden in the mutually agreed spot, just to mark the spot. Neither of them have anything planned for the area, but they now know where pin #6 should be.
So a morning spent searching for, ultimately, six different property markers, turned out quite successful. Jim was very pleased that the three pins he wanted to find, were found and two of the other three pins found, were a bonus. Jim thanked me, posed a a photo at pin #4 and thanked me again for helping him. His smile said it all and that always puts a smile on my face. I have the best job in the world.😃❤️🙏

Gold Wedding Ring Lost In The Water, Saco River, Brownfield, Maine, Found With A Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)

I received a Voicemail on Saturday Evening, August 23,

“ Hi, My name is Brendan. I am currently staying on the Saco River, in Brownfield, ME. We lost a wedding ring, in the river today, on or off the beach somewhere. We have done a lot of looking for it, but we weren’t able to find it. I was just inquiring about your availability, rates, all that jazz. We do have to be out of the Airbnb tomorrow, by 11. So it is somewhat of a time thing and I don’t know if you would come and metal detect, at a different time and mail it. Regardless, Please give me a call back. You can reach me at 617-***-****. Again, this is Brendan. Thank you, Take care.”
As soon as I saw his voicemail, I called him back, ,approximately a half hour, after his voicemail was left.. Brendan told me that he and a group of 8 or nine friends had rented a house, on the Saco River, in Brownfield Me. One of the guys, in the group was getting married soon and this was the bachelor weekend. Earlier in the day, a member of the group had lost his wedding ring, while they were all swimming, in the river. They had a very good idea of where it was.and though it would only be in knee to waist deep. But, the sandy area they were swimming, quickly drops off, to much deeper water. I told Brendan that I could certainly search,, up to 5 feet deep but anything deeper than that, I would’t be able to get to. I also told him that I could search, the next day but I was already booked, in Greenwood, Maine and couldn’t guarantee I could get to Brownfield, by 11:00am. If I did arrive, in Brownfield and the group had already checked out, I would need permission, from the owner, of the Maine Airbnb property. I do not go on other peoples property, without permission. We left it at that someone in the group would try contacting the owner, securing permission, for me to access their property and search for the lost wedding ring.
The next morning, Gary and I left at 6:00am, for the nearly 2 hour drive, to Greenwood Maine.and search for a lost gold signet ring. As we were arriving at the camp, in Greenwood, I received a text message, from Brendan

“We are still waiting to hear back from the air bnb host. So unlikely that today will work. If anything changes or they allow access later in the week I’ll be sure to check with your availability.” I replied “Ok, Thanks”

As luck would have it, Gary was able to locate the gold signet ring, in just about 10 minutes. We left Greenwood around 9:00am. As we were driving back home, I received another text, from Brendan, at approximately 9:45am.

“Heads up Dennis. I gave your number to the guy whose ring was lost. Turns out our checkout is 2:00pm he wants to give you a call to check availability”

Before I could reply, I received a call from Jonathon. Jonathon was the one, that had lost his wedding ring, in the river. Jonathon told me if I could make it to Brownfield, by 2:00pm, he would stay behind, and guide me to the location, where the ring was lost. It wasn’t an easy place to find, as it involved driving to a spot, up the road, then walk down a path, in the woods, for approximately a 1/3 to a 1/2 mile, to the sandy beach area, along the river. It was now approaching 10:00am and I needed to see exactly how to get to Brownfield, from where Gary and I were, in the Gray, Maine area. I told Jonathon I would get right back to him and pulled over, on the side road, to look at the map. Once I got the information I was looking for, I called Jonathon back. I told him I could be there in 45 minutes to an hour. Gary and I then took a hard right and we were heading to Brownfield.

Once we arrived, we were met by Jonathon and his friend, Cory. They again mentioned the walk, on the path, through the woods and he and his friend offered to carry anything we needed. I told him we would be fine and then we drove back up the road and stopped at the trailhead. The walk through the woods was much easier than I thought. The path was actually quite large, from all the ATV traffic. After a 10-15 minute walk, down the wooded path, we arrived at the sandy beach area, on the Saco River. Jonathan then showed Gary and I the area that he thought the ring was lost in. The area was very sandy and should not be a problem. I told Gary that I would start out in the water, as far out as I could safely go. I would the grid search, parallel to the shore and work my way, towards shore. Gary would start, at the shore and work his way, towards me and the deeper water. I went out to where the sand ended and the drop off to deeper water started. Hopefully the ring didn’t get thrown out in the deep water. With Gary near the shore, I worked my way west, on my first grid pass. Absolutely no targets at all, just really soft sand. Gary also had no targets, as this area was extremely clean of trash. As I turned and headed east, still no targets. Then, approximately halfway into this grid pass, I received a very loud low tone. I immediately knew this was Jonathan’s wedding ring. Having used an Minelab Excalibur II, since 2006, you just know when you hear gold. I looked up onto the shore, where Jonathon and Cory were talking and Gary was still searching. I hesitated for a moment and wanted to have someone take a video of the recovery but decided not to. I just told everyone that I was pretty sure I had located the ring and that got their attention. I took one scoop of sand and shook it in the water, until the sand was gone. As I was shaking the scoop, we could all hear something clanging around, in the scoop. I was hoping it wasn’t a rock. I brought the scoop up and looked inside. There it was a gold wedding ring. I made a face of disappointment, as I reached into the scoop, so when I pulled the ring out, everyone would be surprised. I grabbed the ring and quickly pulled it out, held it high, for all to see and said, “Congratulations, I got it”. Jonathan and his friend just couldn’t believe it, giving each other high fives and saying something to the effect of this was epic and unbelievable. As I came to shore, I asked Jonathan how long he has been married and he replied, 2 years. I then told him, “Now you can stay married” and handed him his ring back. We were all laughing, smiling, making jokes and it just felt great to see the weight of a lost wedding ring, be lifted, from the shoulders of Jonathan. He kept thanking Gary and I for making the long trip out to Brownfield and recover his wedding ring. Gary and I thanked him for placing his trust, in us, to recover his ring. It’s not something we take lightly and we love helping others, get their sentimental rings back.
As Gary and I were driving back home, we were rehashing the day’s events. By the time we got home, we would have driven 216 miles, been gone for 7 hours, recovered 2 sentimental rings (in just 15-20 minutes of actual search time) and loved every moment of it. The smiles on Joe and Angela’s faces, in Greenwood and the smiles on Jonathan and Cory’s faces, in Brownfield were all we needed, for fuel. We were both riding high, on cloud nine. We love our
jobs.😃❤️🙏

Large Gold Signet Ring, With Family Crest, Lost In The Gravel Of Greenwood, Maine, Found With A Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)

I received a phone call from Joe. Joe explained that 4-5 days earlier, he and his wife, Andrea, had returned from a 10 day trip, to Scotland. Upon arriving at Logan Airport, in Boston, Joe and Andrea then drove to their home, in Saco, Maine. Once in Saco, they got in Joe’s truck and drove to Greenwood, Maine. Joe and Andrea own a camp, in Greenwood Maine and while they were in Scotland, their dogs were being watched at the camp. Once they arrived, at their camp, the dogs were extremely excited to see Joe and Andrea. The dogs were jumping up and down on them and running all around them, in the driveway area, of their camp. Once the dogs were in the truck, Joe and Andrea started the long drive back to Saco, Maine. As they were driving home, Joe noticed that his Gold Signet Ring, with the family crest on it, was missing. This wasn’t just any Signet ring, this was a 25th Anniversary Gift, to Joe, from Andrea. Joe and Andrea have now been married for 45 years and Joe has been wearing the ring, for the last 20 years. Joe immediately turned around and drove back to their Greenwood camp. The entire front of the camp, where Joe was greeted by the dogs and was playing with them was searched. The area consisted of a mixture of gravel driveway, some grass, pine needles, etc.. Joe and Andrea could not find the ring. Over the next few days, the search continued but the ring still wasn’t found, in the vehicles, luggage, house, etc.. Joe was 90% sure he had it on, when he arrived at the Greenwood Camp, but not 100%. He contacted Delta Air Lines to report it lost and to see if anyone had turned it in. Delta had not found the ring either. At this point, Andrea suggested to Joe, that he should call TRFOM. Joe had never heard of us and told Andrea the he was doubtful that we would be able to find the ring. Then someone else recommended us told Joe and told Joe to just call us. This is when Joe reached out to me, as a last resort. Joe and I planned to meet Sunday morning, August 24th, at 8:00am, to search his camp property, with our metal detectors. Since I really didn’t have any idea, of how large an area would need to be searched, I asked Gary Hill to accompany me, if available. Gary agreed to ride up to Greenwood, with me and search, for Joe’s extremely sentimental ring.

Gary and I arrived approximately 15 minutes early and Joe and Andrea, a few moments later. As we were making small talk, Andrea asked if I had graduated from Thornton Academy, in 1974. Why yes I did! Andrea then told me she graduated, from Thornton Academy, in 1976, the same year as my sister. Well, what a small world.
Joe showed us the area that he had been in, a week ago now, when he thinks he lost the ring. It was basically the entire front of the property and as I looked it over, I thought Gary and I could cover the entire area,in approximately an hour. Gary would start grid searching the right side of the property, as you faced the building and I would start on the left side, working our way, towards each other. Joe was walking the area, with his eyes peeled, to the ground. I could see, on Joe’s face, just how badly, he wanted his Family Crest Signet Ring back. My first grid pass, from the road area, to the corner of the house, resulted in just a few pieces of trash. Gary was finding a few pieces of trash also. As I turned around and started searching, back up to the road, I realized I had forgotten my pinpointer, in the car. When I reached the end of my grid line and went up to my car, to get my pinpointer. As I was at the car, I hear Gary say, “Dennis, I got it. I found it”. I looked over and Gary was bent over, look at something. Joe was in the house, at this point but Angela immediately let him know and when Joe came out of the camp, he was stunned but was smiling like he just won Powerball. As I made my way to Gary, Gary was still looking at the ring and when I arrived, I could see just a small area of the ring. Gary told all of us that he heard the detector go off and when he looked down, he could see just a small piece of the band. Joe arrived and he couldn’t believe that much of the ring was buried, in the hard gravel driveway. Gary and I believe that the ring most likely was knocked off, by the dogs, after jumping, on Joe. The dogs, or Joe then moved some of the loose gravel, up and over the ring, partially obscuring it, just enough so that no one could see it. For the last week, the ring just sat there, blending in with the gravel, sand and dirt. Joe was just overjoyed to get his very sentimental ring back, a ring that his wife Andrea had custom made for him, 25 years ago. After a round of handshakes, hugs, fist pumping and of course, smiles, Gary and I congratulated Joe and Andrea one last time. As we drove off I tooted the horn and we could see Joe looking at his ring, back on his finger, just smiling ear to ear. It’s such a great feeling to be able to help others, when they need our services and I don’t think we will ever get old of that feeling. We love our jobs😃❤️🙏