Got a call about a lost ring, so I headed back to the beach! He was brushing sand off his hand and the ring went flying off. Within a few minutes of getting to the location they sent me, I was able to dig it up! They had already left to go back home so the next day I put it in the mail! So glad I could help! God Bless!!!
Got a call and off I went! Lost the ring on the beach and was so upset! She said a prayer and after a 3 hour search, I was able to dig up her ring! So glad I could help! God Bless!!
On Monday, July 15th, I received a phone call from Dan. Dan told me he had lost his Tungsten Wedding Ring, 2 days prior, on Saturday. His in-laws had rented a house, on Little Ossipee Lake, in North Waterboro, Maine. They had also rented a pontoon boat for the week. On Saturday, they decided to take the pontoon boat, to a very small island, approximately 1 mile, straight across the lake. The water around the island had very clean and clear water. The sandy and rocky bottom, ideal for swimming, for the kids. As the pontoon boat, pulled up to the island, Dan’s 3 year old son was trying to get out of the boat and into the water. Since the water was still too deep for the children, Dan struggled to get his three year old, away from the side of the boat. Once he had that situation under control, Dan jumped into the lake, to pull the pontoon boat, closer to the island and the shallow water, so he could anchor the boat, to the sand and rock bottom. Dan said the struggling with his son, made his ring move about on his finger and as he was swimming, to the shallow water, he could feel the ring, sliding down his finger. He reached down with his left hand and was able to touch the bottom, but it was to late, the ring was gone. Dan had his father in-law throw him a pair of goggles and Dan scoured the bottom, for his ring, to no avail.
After having no luck, others tried find his wedding ring over the next few days. Snorkeling, moving rocks and sand, all proved to be fruitless. It was at this point, Dan found me online and called me. Since it was Monday, mid morning and I was on the road, we made plans to meet up, the next day, at 11:00am, at the lake house. We would take the pontoon boat, over to the island and search for his ring, with my waterproof Minelab Excalibur ll metal detector. His in-laws only had access to the lake house and pontoon boat, until Thursday morning. We had to find the ring today!!!
Cheryl and I arrived early at 10:30am and Dan a few minutes later. Dan’s father in-law, immediately started up the boat and we headed to the island. It only took about 10-12 minutes to arrive, at the island and Dan, like he did on Saturday, jumped out of the boat and secured the anchor. I then jumped in and Cheryl passed me my metal detector and scoop. As Dan walked me towards the area, he thought his ring would be in, I was swinging and searching, with the detector. No targets on the walk over. Once at the spot, I almost immediately received a signal, but it did not sound, like tungsten. I need to check it out anyways, just to be sure. It turned out to be a beer bottle cap. I resumed swinging and two steps later, a nice loud low tone, the sound I was hoping for. Looking down, into the very clear water, provided no visual indication as what it may be. I then bent over, as far as I could and my face, ended up in the lake. I brought the hand held scoop up and no ring, but lots of small rocks. I then took out my pinpointer and located the target. I held the pinpointer on the target and had Dan check the target out, with his goggles. He couldn’t see the ring but he then scooped up the area, where I held the pinpointer. Nothing but more rocks. I tried relocating the target, but it had moved, on Dan’s last attempt, to scoop it up. Once, relocated, we both attempted to scoop it up and nothing but rocks. I relocated it once again and this time, Dan disappeared below the surface, with the scoop and came up with a good size scoop of rocks. Would the ring be in there? I could no longer find the target, on the bottom of the lake. Whatever it is, it’s in the scoop. As Dan was removing the rocks, I saw a very big smile, come across his face. I looked into the scoop and Dan was pulling out his ring. We had found it, in about 2 minutes but it took us another 7-8 minutes to get it off the bottom of the lake.
After loading all the detecting equipment, back up on the boat, Dan told us he hadn’t bought a new ring yet and was extremely happy to be able to tell his wife, that he wouldn’t need a new ring after all. It was a great ride back to the lake house. The entire trip, from leaving the dock, searching and recovering the ring and docking, at the lake house took a total of, 36:44. Less than 40 minutes, really surprised me. A beautiful day for a boat ride, in Maine and it ended with another client, in my “Book of Smiles”.
Later, in the afternoon, I received the following text, from Dan,
“Dennis, I am truly the thankful one! Honestly I couldn’t have imagined a better experience or outcome for my lost ring resolution. Would easily and without a doubt recommend your expertise to others. Appreciative is an understatement and I cannot thank you enough”.
I absolutely love being able to help people out, like Dan, in their time of need. It’s the best feeling in the world ❤️🙏
Recovery and Return #46
As I raced, from the kitchen, to my living room, to answer my phone, it stopped ringing. I then saw a voicemail had just been left. The transcription read, as follows
“Yes, hi Dennis, my name is Judith H***. I live on Highland Lake in Bridgton, Maine and a friend of mine was visiting and she lost her ring. She was in the water at my property and its waist deep. It’s about a 12 x 12 area and we are calling you to see if you might be able to come and rescue her wedding ring. It’s a very sentimental ring. It was her mothers. My number is 9 0 4- ***-****, again Dennis this is Judith H*** and I’m hoping to hear back from you with a return call thank you bye…”
I immediately called back and Judith answered. She explained that her lifelong friends Anna and Maureen, have been visiting her, at her lakeside home. Anna had lost her very sentimental ring, when she jumped, into the lake, from the wharf. Anna could see the ring, in the very clear water and reached down to grab it, but it disappeared, into the sand and rocks. Judith and Maureen then joined Anna, searching for the ring, that was no longer visible. Then neighbors from surrounding homes, joined in. Still no one could find the ring. It is my experience that once many people start searching for a ring, in the water or sand, there is a good chance of moving, said ring, outside the search area or deeper into the sandy bottom. When I mentioned this, to Judith, she told the searchers, to stop searching, so they wouldn’t move the ring any further. Even though Anna had gone into panic mode, over her mother’s wedding ring, it was the right thing to do. No need to possibly make the ring, much more difficult to find, by moving it around or sending it deeper, into the sand.
Since it was now going on 8:00pm, I told Judith, I would leave my home, in Saco, around 7:00am and make the nearly 1 1/2 hour drive, to her home on Highland Lake, hoping to arrive at approximately 8:30am. This would allow me to get my Minelab Excalibur ll onto the charger and get a full charge, for this water search. I also would get the rest of my equipment, towel,change of clothing, etc., and load the vehicle up tonight and leave, 1st thing, in the morning, right after loading the Excalibur ll, into the vehicle.
Cheryl and I left the house as planned and arrived right at 8:30am. It was explained to us, by the three friends, that yesterday they were very hot and decided to jump into the lake. They had put lotion on and jumped. When in the water, Anna actually saw her ring, come off and down, down, down to the bottom it went. Once it landed, on the bottom, of the lake, she could still see it. When attempting to retrieve the ring, it moved deeper into the sand and rocks, out of sight. The resulting search was fruitless. They were certain, the ring was in a 12’ X 12’ foot area.
I entered the water, approximately where they thought the outside limit would be of about 12’. I decided to start there and grid my way, towards the wharf. After about 7-8 minutes, still no ring. I had found and scooped up a brass shell casing, a small lead fishing sinker and a penny.
As I got closer to the wharf, while facing the shore, I got the unmistakable low tone, that I thought could be gold and the ring. My waterproof Excalibur ll does not have a VDI screen, to give me any type of a reading. It is all by tone and sound. This tone got me excited and I told the three friends that if this is the ring, it is not silver, but gold. Silver is a much, much higher sounding tone.
I pressed the scoop, into the sand and rocks, checked the scoop and saw nothing. I checked the target again, lined up my foot with the target, scooped more sand and rocks and started shaking the sand out of the scoop. It was then I saw Anna’s ring, in the scoop. Once Anna realized I had found her ring, she became extremely emotional, to the point, she was visibly shaking. She was so emotional because her ring, is actually 3 rings, put together, to make one ring. The rings consisted of her own engagement and wedding ring, along with her mother’s wedding ring, which was passed down to Anna, after her mother’s death. Anna was just so distraught, that she no longer had possession of her mother’s wedding ring that she was visibly shaking, during and after the search. WOW, I am just so fortunate to be able to help people, like Anna, not only get their rings back, but the memories that come with those rings. Every ring has a story and Anna now has her story back. ❤️🙏
On Wednesday July 3rd, Leah and Greg were enjoying a beautiful summer day, on Goose Rocks Beach, in Kennebunkport, Maine, with Family and Friends. Leah took her Platinum Engagement Ring off, to apply suntan lotion. When Leah took her ring off, she tucked it into her bathing suit, for safekeeping.
A short time later, Leah realized she didn’t have her ring on and when she checked her bathing suit, it was missing.
Since Leah, Greg and everyone else, in the beach party hadn’t moved around the beach, a lot, they knew the ring must be in an area of 10’ X 10’, or so. They all started searching the sand, by running and sifting the sand, through their fingers. After they realized that this was fruitless, and worried they may be moving the ring further from the area or pushing the ring deeper into the sand, they stopped searching.
It was at this point that I received a text, from Erin. Erin is a friend of Leah and Greg and her text said
“We’ve lost a ring at Rox Beach. Are you guys nearby”?
The phone number had a 617 prefix, telling me it was from Massachusetts. I did not know of any area beach, by the name of Rox. I immediately texted back and asked where the beach was located and Erin, immediately texted back “
“Goose rock. Sorry”.
I am very familiar with Goose Rocks Beach, as it only 12 mile from my home. I asked her if the ring was lost, in the water or on the beach. She replied
“On the beach, we know the general vicinity”.
We then made plans to meet, at GRB and I loaded my equipment up and arrived at the beach about 20-25 minutes later. Being retired is a definite advantage to getting to an Emergency situation. I can usually reach any southern Maine beach, in 30 minutes or less.
I was met by Erin, Leah and Greg, at the agreed upon location. They immediately took me down to the area, on the beach, they thought the ring would be in. The area had been cleared out of all the chairs and towels. I turned the detector on and started searching. Maybe 30 to 45 seconds later, I received my 1st signal. A 12-09 on my Minelab CTX-3030. The first number tells me it is most definitely, a non-ferrous item and the second number tells me it is a low conductivity metal. A perfect signal, for gold or platinum. Unfortunately, aluminum foil, brass and a few other metals, will also ring up in this range. The signal got my attention, But what would it be? I then pulled out my pinpointer and searched the very fine sand, until I located the signal. I put my hand, into the sand and pulled it up. No target, in that handful of sand. Placed my hand, back into the small hole and went a few inches deeper. As I was pulling the sand out, I felt and saw a big beautiful Diamond and silver colored ring. I had found Leah’s Ring and in less than 45 seconds . As everyone realized the ring had been found, I heard Leah, Greg and the rest of their group , giving me applause, genuinely thanking me and voices all around, telling me what a great job, I had just done. I almost started to blush, as everyone in the area started looking over at us. But it made me feel so happy that everyone took the opportunity to thank me like that. It’s what keeps driving me to help everyone. A truly amazing moment for me and it never, ever, gets old.
Leah and Greg were just ecstatic with joy and happiness, with smiles all around. As Leah and Greg, walked me back to my vehicle they never stopped thanking me. They were just so appreciative, that I would drop everything and come down to help them. Their constant appreciative talk, kept me on cloud 9 and will keep me there, for quite awhile. Now they can start enjoying their vacation again. I just love being able to help people out in their time of need.
I later texted Erin back, to thank her, for reaching out to me and placing her confidence, in me, to go out and search for Leah’s ring. I then asked her how she had found out, about The Ring Finders of Maine’s Emergency Metal Detecting Service. Erin told me that she had performed a Google search and my name popped up at the top. She then texted me and the rest is history, as they say.
If you ever need my Emergency Metal Detecting Services, please follow my Facebook Page, The Ring Finders of Maine. If you do this, you will not have to perform a Google search. You will be able to quickly find me with your Facebook account and you will also be able to contact me, directly from my Facebook Page. That’s right, you can call me, directly from my Facebook Page. How easy is that? — in Goose Rocks Beach, Maine.
Recovery and Return’s #38 & 39
On Friday Night, June 14th, I received a text at approximately 7:40pm. It said
“My daughter was playing outside and lost her gold cross and a small gold basketball off her necklace I’m located in Westbrook, Maine what do you charge thanks Jon”
I replied,
“Hi Jon, sorry to hear this.
“I do not charge for my time or for my service. I do require a $25.00 Transportation Fee, to cover my gas, tolls, wear and tear, etc.
Where did she lose it? Your property? Private property? Public property?”
Jon then proceeded to tell me
“Yes my property we have a picture of her with it on 5 mins before she went inside changed her shirt and the pendants are gone. She said-early in the day chain got caught on her bike and didn’t think anything of it. The chain and cross were given to her when her great grandmother died.”
With it now being almost 8:00pm and raining slightly, I told Jon I could be there 1st thing in the morning, after charging my detectors, overnight. Jon and I agreed to meet in the morning and start searching.
I arrived at Jon’s home, in Westbrook, Maine at 7:15am and was promptly met by Jon and his daughter, Jaelyn. Jaelyn told me that she was next to the house, next door and ran home and went in the front door. A total distance of approximately 75+- feet. Jon and Jaelyn had performed a visual search but it was useless. The grass was fairly tall and something as small as the pendants would easily fall out of sight, into the tall grass. I asked Jaelyn where the picture of her, with the pendants, still on the necklace was taken. Jaelyn took me to the spot and told me that as soon as the picture was taken, she ran home. I decided to start the search there and asked Jaelyn to walk the same path, as she had run the previous night and I would follow her, very slowly, with my Minelab CTX-3030, with a very small 6 inch sniper coil.
About 10 minutes into the search, I received a very, very, very, low sounding chirping noise. I looked into the deep grass, but couldn’t see anything. I removed my handheld pinpointer and stuck it into the deep grass and received a nice loud signal. Pushing the grass aside, I saw the top of the 14K Gold Cross, Thank God! Jon and Jaelyn couldn’t believe it and Jon said that the cross, is the more important pendant. The cross had been given to her, after her Great Grandmother had passed away.
Now, to find the very small 14K Gold Basketball Pendant. I finished searching the path that Jaelyn had taken and no basketball pendant. We all talked about the possibility of the pendant, flying off her, as she ran and into the hedges, in the front of the house. I was also thinking the basketball pendant was smaller than the cross and decided to search the path again. This time, I would search with only the hand held pinpointer, by bending over for the length of the search. Still no basketball pendant. Did it bounce, into the hedges? Out towards the street? Don’t know, so I decided to grid search the entire lawn. I started at the lawn, near the front door she had gone in. No luck. I then moved to the lawn in front of the house and started searching there. As I came up to the light post, I received a nice strong signal, about 2-4 inches, from the light post. Could I be picking up some metal associated, with the post and wires below? I looked closely, into the grass but still didn’t see anything. As I put my pinpointer, into the grass, it received a signal and as I moved the grass with the pinpointer, I could barely make out something, gold in color. As I reached down and grabbed the item, I could see a very small Gold Basketball. I finally found it, after just under 2 hours of searching. The pendant was just a few feet, off of the path that Jaelyn had run , the previous night.
I then texted Jon and told him I had found the pendant. A few minutes later, Jon and Jaelyn came outside and I asked them if they could see the pendant, in the grass. They could not see it and I passed my coil over the pendant and showed them where it was. The pendant would never have been found, with a visual search.
Jaelyn and Jon told me they didn’t think I would find either pendant , but now they were both smiling ear to ear. Jon had told me that the previous night, Jaelyn was inconsolable and just crying and crying, because she had lost her Great Grandmother’s Gold Cross. Jaelyn is now feeling much better, knowing she has both pendants again. I am so grateful that I am able to reunite people with their extremely sentimental items.
I was upstairs, putting my PJ’s on, after getting out of the shower. As I was getting dressed, I could hear my phone, ringing downstairs. When I retrieved my phone from the charger, I saw a voicemail had been left, a few minutes earlier, at 7:04pm. The voicemail message said,
“Hi there, I was told to call you. I lost my ring and I’m hoping you can help me. Eric said to call you. I’m right on Old Orchard Beach. If you get this message through just call me or my fiancé at 9 7 8- ***-**** please thank you…”
Now, Eric is the owner of The Waverly Store, a beachfront store, at The Waverly Condo Rentals and right next to The Brunswick Bar – The Largest Patio On The Beach, beachfront bar and nightclub and very close to Palace Playland Amusement Park and The Pier at Old Orchard Beach Maine. Eric is a big booster and a Facebook follower, of The Ring Finders of Maine and he personally has referred me 3-4 times, in the last year, with three recoveries made, because of his support and referral. A great guy and if you are in OOB, stop in his store and get some nice cold drinks, sunblock, umbrella or any of your day at the beach needs.
I immediately called Eric back and he told me there was a gentleman that had just lost his ring on the beach and had come in, looking to see if The Waverly Store, had a metal detector. Eric told him he didn’t but to call me instead. As Eric and I were talking, the gentleman that lost the ring, came back in the store and Eric hand him the phone. The gentleman’s name is Kaymel and he told me he knew the area the ring was in and had placed his large cooler, next to where he thought the ring had come off. A very, very, smart move by Kaymel. I told Kaymel, I could be there in 20 minutes at the most. I told my wife that I had just received a callout and would get changed, get my equipment, in the vehicle and be off. Since a steady rain was coming down, I decided to take my Minelab Excalibur II, a totally waterproof, diving detector, good for 200 feet under the water. Not knowing how long that I would be in the rain, this was my best bet and is a great beach detector.
My wife and I arrived at The Waverly Store at about 7:25pm and I saw someone, on the beach, watching the street, next to Eric’s, Waverly Store. I yell up, “Are you the one that lost a ring”. He replied yes and came down to meet me. Kaymel walked with me, to where he had placed his cooler. I asked him where he thought he lost the ring and he told me in “this area”, as he waved his finger in a circular motion. I turned on the Excalibur and started walking on the right edge of the area and about 5-6 feet, from the cooler. Not even 30 seconds into the search, I received a great, loud, low tone signal. I grabbed my pinpointer, placed it in the sand, found the target, put my hand, into the sand and pulled out Kaymel’s beautiful Tungsten Ring. Doesn’t get much easier than that and all because Kaymel had the foresight, to place his cooler, where he thought the ring had come off. I cannot tell you how important little things like this, help in recovering lost items. The smiles, on our faces, were ear to ear.
Kaymel told me that he and his girlfriend were packing up, when it started raining. As he was taking the tent down his ring flew off his finger , due to the rain, making his hands all wet and cold. As I was giving Kaymel, a ride to his vehicle, with his cooler and tent, he thanked me over and over. It’s so great, to be able to help people, like Kaymel, when, they feel helpless, not knowing if they will ever get their lost ring back. Kaymel not only has his ring back but will also be in my “Book of Smiles”.
Recovery and return #35, in the past year. Should you ever lose a ring, keys, phone, jewelry or anything metallic, contact The Ring Finders of Maine, for a chance to get your item back, that you thought was lost forever.
On Wednesday, May 29th, 2024, I found a Men’s Wedding Ring and posted it to Facebook, in the hopes, the owner would recognize it and I would be able to return it. One of the comments, on my post was from Samantha. She commented, “My son lost a Gold Wedding Ring, at Crescent Beach, last weekend, if you ever find anything there”.
I replied that I was sorry to hear this and could she send me a Facebook private message, which she did. I replied with an aerial view of Crescent Beach State Park, Cape Elizabeth, ME, in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. I marked off 5 sections of the large beach area and asked Samantha if her son had lost the ring in one of the 5 sections. She sent back my photo, with an area, circled in yellow and told me it was lost in that area. She then sent another PM and stated
“ He lost it in the water, a little bit, but the tides were in between. He’s only 9 and it was my Dad’s ring, that he gave to him. He was super sad, when it fell off”.
I replied with,
“So not to deep. I am not familiar with this beach but I can certainly give it a try. I do have waterproof detectors. You say the tides were in between, so he wasn’t way out there”.
Samatha replied, “He wasn’t way out! Dry sand was a very short distance behind me. The beach that day was pretty clear as well, so we could see the bottom. Just couldn’t find the ring”.
I then told her that I had a previous commitment, the next morning, Thursday, was going to be out of state, on Friday and if Crescent Beach State Park, would grant me permission, I would search on Saturday, when the tide was advantageous. I told her if I could make it Thursday, I would, but it would be tight, with the tide coming in. With the ring, already lost for 5 days, in the water m I really didn’t want to wait until Saturday.
Samantha replied, “Aww ok! No pressure at all! Thank you”!
I knew there was pressure because when something is lost in the water or, the tides and waves could potentially make it lost forever. I had to get there asap.
The next morning, I finished up with my commitment and it was 10:30am. Low tide was at 11:09am. If I left right then and drive the approximate 25 30 minutes, to the State Park, I could get 2-3 hours of searching completed, before the incoming tide would overtake the search area.
I arrived at Crescent Beach State Park and started searching at 11:10am, low tide. The tide was now coming in. I started searching about a 1/3 of the way down, to the water and performed a grid search, horizontally to the beach and the ocean. Back and forth, searching approximately 100 to 125 feet and then turning around heading back to the starting point. I had made 4 such passes, digging the occasional non-ferrous target. At approximately 35 – 40 minutes, into the search, I received a mixed signal, on my VDI screen, that would not repeat. I would sometimes get a ferrous signal and sometimes a nonferrous signal. It could be two different metals, next to each other, throwing the detector off. I had enough of a good nonferrous signal, that I couldn’t, not dig it. The detector was telling me it was 3 inches under the sand and I slid the scoop, into the hard packed sand. Ran my coil, over the pile of sand and the target, was in the pile of sand that I had just dug out of the beach. I pulled my pin pointer out and stuck it in the pile, I had just dug. The pin pointer located the target and as I removed the sand, around the target, I saw the unmistakable color of GOLD. I removed a little more sand and saw the complete ring. I had found the ring.
I then sent a photo of the ring, on my scoops handle, to Samantha and she replied, “OMG, That’s right in the area we were in. You are so amazing. I’m sending the photo, to my Dad, real quick, to confirm. I believe it is”. A couple of minutes later, “Yes it is!!!”
I then told Samantha to give me a call at 1:00pm, when I arrived home, so we could make plans to return the ring.
Samantha the sent another PM, “My son is going to be so happy. He cried and cried and said he would give anything, to have the ring back. You are quite possibly, the best person on earth.” Well, her son will be getting the ring back soon.
When she called, Samantha told me she lived in Gorham, Maine and was getting out of work at 3:30pm. We would meet at the Hannaford Supermarkets, on Rt 1, in Saco Maine, at 4:00pm.
We met at 4:00pm and Samantha brought her son Jacob, with her. It is Jacob’s ring and it fell off, of his finger, in the cold North Atlantic waters, 5 days earlier. Jacob was extremely happy to have his ring back. His ring, is actually his grandfather’s ring, that was gifted to Jacob and his mother told me that Jacob had to tell his grandfather that he had lost the ring, which was very hard for Jacob to do. Now Jacob gets to tell his grandfather, that he now has it back. Jacob also will NEVER EVER wear his ring to the beach again. I just love seeing people happy and smiling, like Jacob is now.
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On Saturday May, 11th, I started receiving multiple notifications, from Facebook, for my The Ring Finders of Maine page, an Emergency Metal Detecting Service. People had seen a Facebook post about a lost ring, on the beach, in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. Four or five people had commented on the post, to contact me, to search for the ring.
I then saw a message, from Nicole, stating,
“Hello! My daughter just informed me that she lost her Championship Ring, in OOB, today. She didn’t want to tell me sooner, because she was embarrassed, by it. I was told to reach out to you.”
The message came in at 5:49pm. I immediately replied with
“Hi, glad to help. It’s a very large beach, does she know which area?”
Nicole then sent me a photo of the Cheerleading Championship Ring and a photo of the area, her daughter had been in, earlier, in the day, with some of her friends. Nicole also told me that her daughter, Alyssa, said she was on the right side of the pier, when facing the water. I could tell, from the photo that she had been in front of Palace Playland, an amusement park. She then sent me a video of two boys, running down and jumping into the water, for greater clarity and direction , on where her daughter and friends, had been, on the beach.
Alyssa lives in Sanford, Maine, about 25 miles from Old Orchard Beach. She and her friends had stopped in OOB, on their way to a cheerleading competition, in South Portland, where her team was competing, in another Championship competition, this very night. Alyssa is a member of Port City Athletics and competes in their All Star Cheerleading group. Alyssa would not be able to perform, this night, due to an injury to her knee, which will require surgery. Alyssa was very upset about losing the ring, thinking it would bring bad luck to her teammates, that night.
I then asked Nicole if her daughter, had also gone in the water. Yes she had. I then sent a photo to Nicole, showing the beach and asked, which section of the beach she was in? I had broken the beach up into 4 different colored quadrants and Nichole’s daughter said section #3, was where they were laying on the beach. From the photo and video sent to me, I’m thinking it was quadrant #4, not section #3. I then asked if someone could meet me there and pinpoint the area, her daughter had frequented the most. Nicole and her daughter agreed to meet me there and I told her that I would load my equipment up and be there in approximately 30 minutes, at 6:30pm.
I arrived at 6:30pm and Nicole hadn’t arrived yet. I decided to start a horizontal grid search, of the dry sand, in quadrant #4. I had been searching, with my metal detector, for maybe 15 minutes, when everyone arrived. I asked Alyssa, if I was in the general area. Yes and she showed me some of the holes that she had dug, just about 15 feet from where I was.
I continued the search and was finding nothing, but a vape pen, bottle cap and a few rusty nails. While I was searching, Nicole, Alyssa, her father and her friend, were performing a visual search, mostly down in the wet sand, near the water. Nothing was found by them. After I had been searching for approximately 1 1/2 hours. Nicole and the rest of them had to leave. I told Nicole, I would search for another 1/2 hour or so, as it was getting dark and I was getting closer to the water. I continued grid searching, the wet slope of the beach, down to the water area. If I didn’t find it, I would be back, in the morning, for low tide and search the wet sand, that was now underwater. As I was making my way down the slope, I was finding nothing at all. I was approximately 1/2 to 3/4 of the way, down the slope, when I received my 1st and only Non-Ferrous target. It was ringing up a 12-04, on my CTX-3030 and the screen was telling me about 4 inches deep. I dug a couple times and the target was still in the hole. I dug a 3rd time, and as the saying goes, 3rd times a charm. I pushed some sand aside and I saw Alyssa’s Cheerleading Championship Ring. A big smile, broke out, on my face. Now getting dark and approximately 2 hours of searching, has resulted in more smiles, for my “Book of Smiles”. A good day.
I then messaged Nicole and told her I had just found Alyssa’s ring, along with a photo. Nicole replied,
“OMG, Thank you so much. That’s insane. I will message you tomorrow and we can grab it! Thank you sooo much.”
Sunday, Mother’s Day became to hectic and I received the following message from Nicole
“Thank you Dennis! Mother’s Day was a bit crazy and I ended up with a sick bunny and cheerleading watching!
Finding the ring ended up being good luck as her team WON another ring yesterday!!! ( she’s superstitious and though losing it would hurt them) She has an injury that wouldn’t let her compete but she’s excited for them!
We can pick it up on Wednesday evening if possible???
Thank you again!!!”
We all met up on Wednesday , May 15 and I returned the ring to Alyssa. Just a few days earlier. Alyssa was upset and crying, about losing her Championship Ring. She also thought she would bring her team bad luck, because she had lost last year’s Championship Ring and her team was competing for another Championship,on Saturday night, the same day she lost her ring. Well, no bad omens here! Her team WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP AGAIN, incredible. Congratulations to all the cheerleaders, once again. Well done!!!
Alyssa is having the surgery on her knee, tomorrow, Thursday, May 16th. Prayers and well wishes go out to Alyssa. 🙏🙏🙏
Every ring, truly has a story behind it and what a great story this ring has. I absolutely love helping people like Nicole and Alyssa.
I received a text on Wednesday May 1st, that stated
“Hello. I have a lost wedding ring in Westbrook Maine. It was lost last fall doing some work in my field. I do think I know the areas it may have been lost. Is this something you could help with”?
I immediately called, the phone number, that the text came in on. Chuck told me he had lost his Wedding Ring, last September, while doing work, on his 20 acres of fields. WAIT, WHAT, 20 ACRES? WOW! This would be interesting.
Chuck told me he thought he had lost it when is tractor became stuck, in some mud. He had gotten off the tractor to get it unstuck and thinks, his wedding ring came off in that area, of the fields. If the ring wasn’t there, it may be where he roto tilled, after getting the tractor unstuck.
Chuck then told me he was also cutting some brushes, bushes, etc., with his Bush Hog. While cutting the bushes back, Chuck had to change the blades and he was also hit, in the face, by a branch. This caused a good sized cut on his forehead, with blood streaming down his face. Chuck’s wife was out of town, so Chuck went up to the house and was cleaning up the cut and blood. Chuck decided to take a photo, of the cut, in the bathroom mirror and send it to his wife, to show her what happened. Once Chuck was cleaned and bandaged up, he went back and finished his field work.
The next day, Chuck realized his ring was missing. He looked around the house and wasn’t able to find it. He looked at the photo, he had sent to his wife and he did not have the ring on his finger, the day before. He then realized that he must have lost it, out in one of the areas, he had been working.
We agreed to meet in 2 days, on Friday, May 3rd. Knowing this was going to take a miracle to find, over such a very large area, I asked Chuck, if he would be willing to search along side me, with my backup detector. I would set the detector up, for the search, and show him how to use it. I would also be close by, if he had any questions. I also told Chuck, if we didn’t find the ring, on Friday, I could leave the backup detector, with him so he could search, the next day, when I would be in Massachusetts. Chuck readily agreed and we ended the call. I then received the following text, from Chuck
“On a side note the 26th of this month will be my 40th wedding anniversary. If I had it back for that would be extra special”.
Ok, Now we had to find the ring and asap.
I arrived at Chuck’s house and he immediately took me down to the corner of the field, where the tractor had become stuck, in the muddy conditions and where he really thought he had lost the ring. I gridded the entire area, both up and down, the muddy incline. Nothing but trash.
We walked to the section of the field that Chuck had roto tilled, searching the path, he had driven the tractor on, as we were going to the roto tilled area. Still nothing.
As we were grid searching, the roto tilled area, Chuck went to start searching around the bushes, that he had been cutting back, the day he lost his ring. We had now been searching for about 1 1/2 hours, with nothing but trash. Approximately an hour later, as I was just finishing up the roto tilled area and 2 1/2 + hours, in the search, I heard Chuck yelling down to me from atop a small hill, in the field. I then heard what he was yelling, “I FOUND IT”, holding the ring up. “WOW, THATS AWESOME”, I screamed back. As I made my way to Chuck, and he to me, I could see the big smile on his face. When we met up, I asked Chuck, how it felt to have his wedding ring back, after 8 months. “Good, really good”. As I was congratulating Chuck on getting his wedding ring back, I kept thinking that he, in fact, would be wearing his wedding ring again, for his upcoming 40th Wedding Anniversary. I couldn’t have been happier and I also was grinning ear to ear.
Chuck then took me to where he found the ring. It was near his trailer, not far from the house and it was exactly where he was, when he was changing the blades, on his Bush Hog. Just an incredible feeling, knowing Chuck had found his own wedding band, with my backup detector.
With a search area, this large, it was going to take teamwork, to find, Chuck’s ring. Without his help, I would have been there for another day or two. Thankfully Chuck was more than willing to help search and it couldn’t have had a better ending. What a great hobby to have, where I get to help people, get their very sentimental items back.
