Key Fob and Keys Lost During Snowstorm, In Portland, Maine, Found With A Metal Detector
On February 9th, I received the following text message, from Kim
“Hello, I was wondering if you could share more info on your services such as cost/availability? We had a mishap with snow removal today and a set of house/car keys are most likely in a snow bank. I’m wondering if this might be an option vs waiting until spring! Thanks”!
I then replied
“Hi Kim, So sorry to hear this. So I do not charge for my time or my Emergency Metal Detecting Service. I do however require a Transportation Fee, to cover my gas, tolls, wear and tear, etc.”
Kim replied
“Thanks for the quick reply! Have you had much luck with finding keys in the past? I wasnt sure if stainless steel would be tougher to find”.
I then sent her a few photos, of previous key fobs and keys, that I have recovered, in the past year. I also told her my detectors would pick up the metal that the keys and fob were made of. We also set a date for me searching for the lost keys and key fob. I would search on Wednesday February 12th, 3 days from now.
I asked Kim if the fob & keys were lost in the snowbanks of their driveway or the street snowbanks. She replied
“That is part of the challenge, not sure when it got lost so it could be in our side/back yard or near the end of the driveway along the street. it’s possible we’re too late if it was at the end of the driveway with the snowplows. fingers crossed it’s in the yard”!
When I arrived on February 12th, Kim and Pat were there to meet me and showed me the area, Pat thinks the key fob had been lost, at the end of the driveway, near the street. Pat told me that he actually had two sets of keys and fobs go missing. One set was for his vehicle and house keys and the other set was Kim’s. He had both sets because as he was snow blowing the driveway, he was moving the vehicles around. Once he realized both sets were missing, he started searching the driveway, end of driveway and street, along with his backyard. Pat was able to locate Kim’s key fob & keys, in the backyard. Unfortunately, Pat was not able to locate his set. Pat really thought his set was lost at the end of the driveway, where it meets the street. If this were the case, the key fob and keys could have easily been plowed by the City of Portland, Maine, all the way down the street. Pat was extremely concerned that if someone found the key fob, along the street, they could easily start pressing the lock/unlock button and listen to where his car was. They would then also have keys, to gain access to their home. We needed to find this set of keys and fast.
The snowbanks, along the street were extremely high and wide. Conceivably, the keys could be buried in the middle of these absolutely huge snow banks . Their property also had extremely deep snow. I told Kim and Pat that the snowbanks may be too big and if I wasn’t able to find the keys today, I would be coming back, as the snow melted. After all, metal detectors do not detect small items in feet, but in inches.
I was confident the detector would pick up the keys at a depth of somewhere between 8-12 inches but the snow banks were approaching 4 feet high and 3-4 feet in width. If the keys and fob were in the middle of those snow banks, we wouldn’t find them today and would need to return, as the snow melted.
I decided to search the snow banks , along the street first, hoping to find it, before someone else, with bad intentions did. Pat accompanied me and would dig the items I had found, along the street and we encountered many metal items. No keys were found. I then detected the snow banks, along the sidewalks, on the way back to Pat & Kim’s home, on the outside chance the keys were pushed on that side of the snow bank. Still no keys found.
I then started detecting the driveway, towards the back yard and back door, including the area, where Kim’s keys were found. Still no keys found, in the extremely deep snow. I then searched the other side of the house, where there is a walkway, to the backyard. Still nothing. At this point, I had searched for approximately 1 1/2 hours, in the deep snow. I told Pat that I would need to come back, as the snow receded, from the melting. Unfortunately, in the week or two that followed, we received more snow and then rain. Even if I found his fob, would it even work? Replacement fobs can become very expensive.
I did check out the street and yard, a few times, after getting out of Physical Therapy, to see if the snow was melting. Very little melting, the first 2 1/2 weeks. Then the melting really picked up and I messaged Kim, I would swing by on Tuesday March 11, and bring my detector with me. Kim replied that there was definitely less snow. Just what I wanted to hear.
So, after Physical Therapy, I traveled the 1 1/2 miles to their home, from my Physical Therapy facility and started visually searching and Metal Detecting, the little snow left, along the street and sidewalk. No keys found. I then searched, the same way, as I went down the driveway, towards the back yard. Still no keys. I decided to search the backyard itself, in the event the keys were thrown by the snowblower or shoveled up onto the lawn, during the cleanup. As I was swinging the detector back and forth searching, I actually spotted the keys and fob, still intact, near some birch logs, along the fence. They were approximately 20 feet from where Kim’s keys were found. I highly doubt they went through the snowblower and must have been thrown that far, when Pat did some shoveling , during the cleanup.
I then sent a photo of the keys to Kim and told her that I had found Pat’s keys. She replied, “That is fantastic news!! Thank you. Did you leave them there or elsewhere”? Since neither Kim of Pat were home, I hid them in the backyard and told Kim, where they could find them. We also agreed to meet in two days, when Pat would be home, so I could add his photo, to my “Book of Smiles”
When I met with Pat this morning, he was extremely happy to have his fob and keys back. Amazingly, after a full month of being in the snow, ice and being rained on, the key fob still worked perfectly. As Pat hit the lock/ unlock button, on the fob , the car would beep and you could hear the vehicle locking and unlocking. This brought a nice big smile to Pat’s face. What a great feeling it is to help people, like Kim and Pat and see the smile on his face. No better feeling than to see their smiles.😀❤️🙏
