How to find a lost ring in oregon Tag | The Ring Finders

Engagement ring lost in the sand on a Oregon beach

  • from Oregon City (Oregon, United States)
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A little before midnight on Sunday, a text message came through asking if I could help find an engagement ring lost in the sand at Cannon Beach. I didn’t see the message until early the next morning. I messaged Brooke at 0825 for the details. She said that the ring had slipped off her while on the beach and disappeared into the sand. (She had just received the ring less than 12 hours prior). They spent hours sifting through the sand by hand, and even driven up the coast, purchased a metal detector, and returned to try again. She admitted they didn’t know how to use it, or what settings were required. They reluctantly gave up and drove home to Portland. As a last hope, she went online and found me and Ringfinders.

This is where all stars lined-up. It just so happened that I was spending several days on the coast, and was in a camp ground less than 10 miles south of Cannon Beach. My plans for an early morning salmon fishing trip had been canceled. And, I had all my gear with me to detect the beach if I had some time.

Brooke sent me a picture of her on the beach just before she lost the ring, and a map showing a pinned location. She said the location was directly below a house with an American flag and I might be able to see the area due to the patterns they had marked in the sand, and the holes they had dug.

I packed up and made the short drive north to Cannon Beach. This is a very popular tourist destination and can get quite crowded. Fortunately I arrived early enough to find parking close to the location, and the beach wasn’t too crowded yet. From the beach I discovered there were actually three houses with American flags in the area. With the picture Brooke had provided, I was able to lineup Haystack Rock and some logs on the beach, deciding it was likely the northern most house with a flag she mentioned. Looking closer, I saw very faint lines in the sand (windy location) and figured I was in the right place.

I started on the south side of the suspected area, and worked east to west over the sand. I found the obligatory aluminum items, and hit a few iron targets. On my fifth pass, I got a faint, but repeatable signal. Going in with my scoop, I missed it. Going in a second time, I knew I had the target, so I dumped the contents of the scoop onto the beach. (I hate to rattle a ring in a metal scoop) A little kicking and I saw the ring!

At 10:38 I sent Brooke a picture, asking “Something like this?” She quickly responded with “You’re amazing!!!!!!”

She told me that she and her fiancé, Mickey, could be there around 7 or 8pm to get the ring. Here’s where the next serendipity comes into play. I was returning to the PDX area the next morning, so it would save them a trip all the way to the coast to recover their ring. I assured her I would keep her ring safe, and meet Mickey the next afternoon.

I met Mickey the next afternoon. He told me the ring was a family heirloom, passed down from his great aunt. He gave me a nice card with handwritten notes from both him and Brooke, and we had a great conversation.

One for the books. Everything lined up perfectly to get this ring back where it belongs.

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Wedding ring lost in Oregon lake…or not

  • from Oregon City (Oregon, United States)
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I received a message from Pat Friday evening, telling me his family had lost a white gold wedding ring in Crescent Lake, Oregon. He believed it was in the shallow waters near where they had spent the day enjoying the beach. I told him I was about 3.5 hours away from the location, and referred him to a detectorist who was a little closer.

He followed up with messages regarding some metal detectors he had found for sale in the area, inquiring if they would do the job finding the ring. The detectors were 1970s to early 1980 vintage, and while quite capable would be difficult for a novice user to be successful. He thanked me for taking the time to advise him and told me they were going to spend the next day back at the lake looking for the ring, and might buy one of the detectors to try.

It was obviously very important to them to find that ring. I had a phone conversation with Pat to get some more details, and discuss metal detectors. He told me his sister in law, Betsy, had been in and out of the water during the day. When they got back to their vacation rental, she noticed the ring was gone. They had rushed back to the lake hoping to find it, but didn’t. I let him know I’d be happy to come down and help out, and would get an early start, hopefully arriving before the area became too crowded.
I arrived at 0830, meeting Pat, his wife, Betsy and her husband Mike. They had already set up the beach exactly as it was the day before; vehicles parked in the same place, two pop-up awnings, cooler and chairs. We talked about the area of the lake Betsy had been in, which was about 25 yards wide, and 5 or 6 feet out into the water. I geared up and started into the water. I began a little outside of the suspected area, waded in several about 15 feet, took a half step right, then went back. Not surprisingly, there were many aluminum pull-tabs, fishing weights, and an odd number of shell casings. Each time I went in with the scoop, Betsy would watch hopefully, only to be disappointed when I held up some aluminum or the odd coin.

I spent about two hours, slowly covering an area larger than originally pointed out. I went back to Betsy for more information. I asked her if she had been doing anything that would have caused the ring to fall off and that’s when I learned she had taken the ring off and placed it in the top of her swimsuit for safekeeping and found it was no longer there when they got back to the house. During the day she had been in and around the parked vehicles, under the awnings wrangling toddlers, and only out in the water no deeper than to around her knees. With these details, I decided to switch up my gear and focus on the shallow shoreline. I also pulled out my spare detector, gave Mike a quick tutorial and set him loose on the beach.
Still coming up empty, we took everything out from under the awnings to search. Still no ring. We were at around hour four, when Pat suggested the ladies pack up the kids and go back to the house. Later he told me he thought it was better for Betsy to go because it was looking less likely we were going to find it.
With one vehicle gone, I searched the area it was parked and only found a dime. I suggested Mike move his truck so we could cover that area, then we could load all the stuff from their beach set-up and search there without the interference from the stakes and metal legs of the awnings.
Once he moved the truck, Mike started swinging his detector, moving down toward the water, Pat began packing up, and I focused on where the truck had been. I soon hit a scratchy sound, but perfect numbers on the display and shallow. I kicked back some sand and saw nothing. I kicked back a little more and saw the back edge of a ring poking out of the sand. I picked it up and to my great relief I had it in my hand! It had either been under the truck, or so close that its signal had been hidden.
I walked down to Mike and told him it was pointless to keep searching. He nodded in agreement, and I said “It’s pointless because here it is” and held up the ring. It took a second, but his face lit up when he realized we had found it. Pat rushed over and we had an awkward 3 man ‘Bro-hug’ moment on the beach. Many of the people on the beach who had been watching came over to see the ring and congratulated us.

Mike was trying to decide how to tell Betsy the ring was safe and give it back to her. I asked if it would be alright if I went along to see her get it. They thought that was a great idea and I should be the one to give it to her. I followed them back, and Pat’s wife was going through the back of the SUV. Betsy came out and there was a discussion about searching the driveway for the ring. I told her she could look in the driveway, or she could just look here, and showed her the ring. Tears of joy and several hugs followed. I passed on a generous dinner offer, needing to get on the road.
Long drive, a long search, and a long story, but got to make some new friends and help return an irreplaceable ring.

 

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Gold and diamond wedding ring lost off a high balcony, five months ago

  • from Oregon City (Oregon, United States)
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In August 2024, I got a message from Shawn asking if I could come locate his white gold wedding ring.

He told me he was doing some carpentry work at Dagney’s house in Portland. He went out on the deck to brush off some sawdust and saw his wedding ring fly off his finger and drop into the brush far below.

I knew the area, and how steep the hillside was, but agreed to come take a look.

I arrived at the beautiful home on the butte, and Shawn explained what happened. The balcony was about four stories above a steep slope covered in blackberry brambles. I had him toss a stand-in ring (made from copper tubing) with a section of pink ribbon, where he thought the ring landed. It immediately disappeared into the blackberries.

Dagney and I went down the long stairway to under the house and saw that you couldn’t see the ground through the brush, so you couldn’t tell how steep the area was, or even where the ground was.

I reluctantly told Shawn and Dagney that I did not think I could safely get the the area the ring should be, and both were clearly disappointed, but understood. Before leaving, I told them I would be willing to come back and try again. Since the ring was not going anywhere, I asked them to contact me once some of the greenery had died back.

Fast forward five months. I received a message from Dagney, with a photo of the hillside. It looked better, so we set-up a time for me to return. Having had some time to develope a plan, I loaded a gas trimmer with a brush-cutter blade, long handle and hand clippers, a machete, gloves, good boots, and my Minelab Manticore.

When I arrived about 9:30, I met with Shawn and Dagney again. I had Shawn go over the details of how the ring was lost, and point out where he thought it landed. I explained my plan was to cut a path into the general area and locate the copper ring with ribbon he had dropped 5 months ago, then expand the search from there.

I hauled all the gear down the stairs and started. I cut my way close to the suspected area, then opened up a space to work. Not wanting to risk hitting the ring with cutter blade, I would chop back the upper section of the blackberries, use the clippers to get closer to the ground, then go over the area with the metal detector. I got a few promissing hits, which turned out to be trash, much to the dismay of Shawn and Dagney who were watching from above. A little further up the hill, I found the copper ring/ribbon thing. I held it up for Shawn to see. I started clearing brush to my left for about 10 feet, detecting every few feet with no luck. I went back and started moving right. Within 2 feet, I got a clean tone from the Manticore and knew it had to be what I was looking for. I went in with the pinpointer and….nothing!? Thinking I was crazy, I used the clippers to trim some more brambles, and there in the dirt was the ring! I looked up the the balcony to share the news, but nobody was there. I snapped a couple photos, and began packing up my gear. As I was doing that, Dagney looked over the balcony and told me Shawn had an appointment and had left. I told her it was pointless for me to keep searching for the ring, and I would be up to explain in a few minutes.

I hauled everything back up the stairs and piled it by my truck. Dagney opened the door, I went inside and told her the reason it was pointless to continue looking was because I found it, holding it up for her. She nearly fell to her knees telling me how happy she was Shawn would get his ring back. Sweaty me got a big hug..

Took a touch more then 5 months waiting, and 4 1/2 hours of work, but ring reunited……

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Wedding ring lost in a car, found!

  • from Oregon City (Oregon, United States)
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I received a message from Bharti saying she had found me on theringfinders.com, asking if I could help find her husband’s wedding ring.
I messaged back asking for some details. She told me had fallen below the driver’s seat of their car. I told her that a metal detector would be of limited use, due to the confined space, and mixed metals in the vehicle construction. I let her know I had an endoscope camera I could use to look around under the seat, and gave some suggestions to aid their search.

Bharti Told me they had received a’snake camera’ but had no luck with it. She thought maybe my expertise and experience might find the ring.

We agreed on a time to meet, and when I arrived, I met Bharti and her husband.

After removing all the floor mats, I looked under the seat with a bright LED flashlight. Finding nothing, I activated my endoscope and IPad and started probing around.
The rails, under the carpet, and vents found nothing, so I pushed the camera into some plastic trim pieces.

Under the right side of the driver’s seat, I saw a slight glimmer of gold, and when I twisted the camera, the plastic flexed, and out popped the ring.

Expertise, experience, or luck? Don’t know, but a wedding ring reunited.

 

 

It was up there

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