How to find a lost ring in the Ocean Oak Island NC Tag | The Ring Finders

100 Year Old Family Heirloom Lost in the Ocean, Found and Returned North Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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On Saturday morning, I woke up to the following text message, “Looking for help finding 2 lost rings in N Myrtle beach, wondering if this number is still valid? Thx!” It was followed by a second text saying, “Good morning! I lost 2 rings during high tide at N Myrtle beach, quiet beach, one is a family heirloom, and I desperately need help finding them! Thank you!” I responded asking her to call me with my phone number. Kasey called about 30 minutes later and I started asking questions. What day and time she lost them, how she lost them, how deep was she, etc. Turns out she lost them 2 days prior while playing with her twin toddlers in about shin deep water. She also said she lost them about 6 p.m., which meant that she lost them about an hour after low tide. It was just coming up on high tide, but I told her I could be there in 10-15 minutes. I knew I had no chance of finding them right then but I wanted to get an idea of what I was up against. When I got to the beach I met Kasey, her husband Brian and their twin 3 ½ year old’s. Talking to Kasey she said one of the rings was a gold wedding band that belonged to her great grandfather, Leonard “Leo” Zuccoli, and the second ring was a silver ring that Brian had given her. Both Kasey and Brian had picked spots on the resort as a reference point to where the rings were lost, which was a huge help. I grabbed my PI detector and started a grid search perpendicular to the beach. There was no way I could get out as deep as I needed to. The tide was still coming in and the waves were big enough that if I did hit a target, there was no way I could stay on top of it and try and dig it out. After a short time, I told them I’d be back at 4 p.m. and work the outgoing tide.

The four hour wait seemed like forever, so I left a little early and got there about 3:30 p.m. I started another perpendicular grid search. I still had about 3 hours before low tide, so I took my time and worked the outgoing tide keeping my reference points on the resort. In about an hour and a half I had hit one target, which turned out to be a bottle cap. I noticed that Kasey, Brian and the kids had shown back up on the beach and were talking to a few ladies from New Jersey. All of a sudden I got a great signal, right in line with Kasey’s reference point. It took me 4 scoops of sand to get the target out of the hole. With the target in the scoop, I gently sifted out the sand in the waves and BOOM! I had a man’s gold wedding band in the scoop. Kasey had told me that the 100 year old family heirloom was “Leo’s” wedding band that had been passed down to her. She also shared that Leo was an immigrant and when he married Kasey’s great grandmother he made the wedding band. Kasey said that Leo had used some of his mother’s gold jewelry, melted it down and fashioned his own wedding band. Ok, I had one ring in my pocket and still needed to find a silver ring that Brian had given Kasey that was still hiding in the sand someplace. Kasey had told me that she lost both rings at the same time in the same spot. I rechecked the hole and got nothing, I searched around the hole expanding out on all sides and still nothing. I didn’t want Kasey to have to wait any longer to get Leo’s ring back. I marked the hole and made my way back to the beach, searching as I went. Kasey had her back to me and I wanted to do the WOW factor but wasn’t 100% positive I had the right gold wedding band. So, I called her over and her face lit up anticipating that I had found them. I asked her what Leo’s ring looked like and as she’s explaining it, I held the ring out and said “is this it”. Well, from her excitement there was no doubt I had the right ring. Tears started flowing and she was shaking like a leaf. We had a short celebration with her and Brian then I headed back out to find the second ring. After about 30 minutes I started noticing a lot of bait fish swimming around me, not a good thing to see when its dinner time for bigger fish. As I’m walking in about knee deep water swinging my detector, I hit a big fish with my coil. I got a quick glimpse of it as it swam off which was enough for me to decide to call it a night and go back in the morning.

I showed back up the next morning to hit the 6:30 a.m. low tide. After a little more than an hour of a thorough grid search, I wasn’t able to find her silver ring.

While I was doing my original search on Saturday afternoon, an unknown gentleman walked up to Kasey and Brian as they were watching me. They told him their story and he gave them the painted shell that’s in the picture, telling them it was a sign her rings would be found. I wanted to make sure I got a picture of the shell with Leo’s ring sitting on it.

Kasey and Brian – Thank you for calling and trusting me to help find your lost treasures. I’m sorry I couldn’t find your silver ring. Have a safe trip back home to Cleveland.

Jim

    

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Man’s Wedding Band Lost, Found, and Returned on Oak Island, NC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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Ring and Jewelry Metal Detecting Recovery Service. Call Jim ASAP!  843-655-5889

On Friday, March 12th, I was out doing some metal detecting on the beach after a long spell of being stuck in the house due to COVID-19. After finishing up, and with little to show for my efforts, I checked my cell phone for any calls or text messages. I had a text from Travis that said in part, “Jim – have a silver ring Lola red somewhere in an azalea bush on Oak Island at my in-laws house. Let’s touch base and see what your availability is when you have a moment. Thanks!”  This was my first lost ring call for 2021 and I was ready. I called Travis and asked what the situation was. He stated that he had lost his ring almost a year ago in some azalea bushes. I told him I had nothing going on and could be there in a couple of hours. He said he’d text his mother-in-law and let her know I was coming. In the meantime, I did a quick Google search to get an idea on what type ring I was looking for and get an idea of what numbers on the detector to look for.

When I got to his in-laws house, I knocked on the door and met Travis’ father-in-law, Bill. We introduced ourselves and he showed me the bushes where the ring was supposed to be. I asked how the ring ended up in the bushes. Bill said that Travis had been cleaning out a bucket and when Travis threw the water from the bucket into the bushes, the ring went with the water. Bill also stated that he had used a metal detector himself but wasn’t able to find the ring. I grabbed my Equinox 800 and pin pointer out of the car and went to work. The back of the bushes were accessible so I was able to work the detector in and around the low hanging branches and over some roots. Within just a couple of minutes, I hit a target showing a solid 14 on the 800 VDI (visual display indicator). I wasn’t positive I had Travis’ ring because with the description I got from him and my Google search, I expected a higher VDI number. I learned a long time ago that with all the different metals and percentages of metals being used to make rings and other jewelry, things don’t ring up on a metal detector like you’re expecting. Also, if I’m looking for someone’s lost treasure; every signal I get needs to be checked. Because of all the low branches, I wasn’t able to get to the target from where I was. I marked the spot with a stick and made my way to the front of the bushes. I was able to crawl far enough under the bush that I could use the pin pointer to find the target. I moved some dead leaves and Bingo! I took a quick picture and sent it to Travis asking “is this it?” Within seconds he texted me back saying “That is it!”

I called him and asked if he wanted me to mail his ring home or leave it with his father-in-law, he told me to leave the ring with his father-in-law and he’d pick it up the following week.

Travis – Thanks for trusting The Ring Finders and me to help find your lost treasure.

Jim

   

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Man’s Platinum Wedding Band Lost in the Surf – Found and Returned Caswell Beach N.C.

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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On Tuesday night, about 7:30 p.m., I received an email from Richard. It stated, “Hi Jim, I found your name on theringfinders.com. My family and I are in Caswell Beach/Oak Island for the week and I lost my wedding ring in the ocean today so wondering if you have any availability to help us look for it. I lost it around 2:30-2:45pm today (7/14), I was jumping waves with my 5 year old so we were in knee deep water. The ring is a platinum wedding band. Let me know what other info you need from me, Thanks for your help, Richard.”  I knew he lost it right at high tide, and with the hour drive to Caswell Beach, I could get there about an hour before low tide. I responded to his email with my phone number and said “call me.” I grabbed my Equinox 800, and headed north. Along the way, I emailed Richard again saying I was on my way, with an ETA of 8:30 pm. Within a few minutes, Richard called me and gave me the address.

When I arrived, Richard was waiting outside; we introduced ourselves, and headed for the beach. Richard showed me the area where he had lost his ring, pointing out his wife, Kathryn, who was in the wet sand. I asked Kathryn what she remembered, she pointed to a sand castle where they had been sitting. She said her and their other 2 children were out a little farther in the water, while Richard and their 5 year old were to the right of the sand castle and in more shallow water. I told them I expected the ring to be closer to the higher tide line and then started a perpendicular grid search in the middle of the search area. As I’m working my way out from the center line, I look down and see my coil dangling from the shaft. This was not good, from all aspects! The rabbit ears holding the coil to the shaft had broken and there was no way to fix it. I always take 2 metal detectors on ring searches, but I was so confident that this would be an easy, 10 minute search at the most, that I just grabbed one detector. To keep from having to come back in the morning, I wrapped the cord around the shaft as tight as it would go, and literally drug the coil on top of the sand to detect. It wasn’t the best solution, but it worked. About 45 minutes into the search and almost at the end of the search area, I got a great signal. I dug a scoop of sand, tried my best to check the hole with the coil, and was sure I had it. I took my foot and spread the wet sand out, turned my headlamp on in the pitch black night and nothing. This was definitely not my best showing, especially in front of the person that lost their treasure that I’m trying to find. Ok, I used both hands to pick up bits of the sand and shells, crushing it between my fingers in hopes of feeling the ring. Bingo, felt it in my hand.  I held the ring over my backlight to confirm it was what I was looking for, it was. I walked up to Richard, giving him the sad story about not being able to find it. He understood and as he was saying it was time to call it a night, I held the ring up. With the help of the detector backlight he could see his ring. He texted Kathryn real quick, and she comes back out on the beach. Richard had his treasure back on his finger where it belonged.

Richard and Kathryn – thank you for allowing me to help find your lost treasure. Have a great rest of your vacation and a safe trip home.

Jim

     

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Man’s White Gold Wedding Band Lost and Found on Oak Island N.C.

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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Matt called me at 5 p.m. on Friday, July 3rd saying he had lost his wedding band around 4 p.m. A quick check of the tide tables and it showed he lost it right at the mid tide line. I asked him how deep he was and he told me that at low tide the ring should be in the wet sand. We worked out the details and I told him I’d be there the next morning at 10:30. Knowing that he seemed confident he knew where the ring slipped off his finger; my only concern was trying to find a place to park at the beach on the 4th of July.

When I got there, parking was non-existent, and I found a spot on the side of the road, hoping I wouldn’t get a ticket. I met Matt and his wife, Kim on the beach in the same area he had lost his ring the day before. Matt showed me the area and I started a parallel grid search along the slope to rule out the top of the beach. After 4 or 5 row, I changed to a perpendicular grid working from ankle deep to about thigh deep straight out from where Matt and Kim were sitting. My 4th trip out to deeper water, I got a solid 15/16 on the Equinox 800, telling me I had a ring. I wasn’t sure I had Matt’s ring because he had originally told me his ring was platinum. So I was looking for a lower number somewhere from 3-7 on the 800. After some consideration of the description Matt gave me. Plus, the likelihood of two men’s wedding bands lost on this portion of the beach, I was confident I had Matt’s ring. Sure enough, as I’m asking him what his ring looked like, he described it to a tee. I asked him if was platinum, and after looking and seeing the 14K stamp, he conceded it wasn’t platinum. Made me feel better and confirmed the numbers on the machine.

Matt and Kim, thank you for trusting me to help find your lost treasure. Have a great weekend and a safe trip home.

Jim

    

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Lady’s Family Heirloom Platinum Wedding Band Lost in the Ocean on Oak Island, NC. – Found and Returned

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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I received a call at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Father’s Day, from Julie saying she had lost her platinum wedding band in the ocean sometime between 1 – 4 pm. She also said that during that time she had ridden a boogie board, and played some football. I asked how deep she thought she was and she stated from ankle to about 4 ½ feet. A quick check of the tide tables and it didn’t look good. Low tide was right around 2 p.m. and the hour drive would get me there almost at high tide, I didn’t have a chance. I told Julie I’d be there the next afternoon before low tide at 2:55 p.m.

I had a lost ring search in a back yard set for the next morning, but was able to reschedule. I texted Julie and told her I’d be there close to noon. I figured I could start at the high tide line and work my way out to the low tide line and beyond. When I arrived the next day, Julie met me in the driveway of their rental and led me around to the beach access and out to meet her husband, Lonny. This is about when Julie shared that the center stone in the ring belonged to Lonny’s grandmother, and that they were here on vacation to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. I felt the pressure!! Standing on the beach, I asked Julie to tell me how she lost the ring again, what she was doing and where she was at. She showed me the area of a sand bar that she had been boogie boarding around and thought that it may have been where she lost it. I then asked Lonny what he remembered. He thought she probably lost it in the area where they were playing football, because that’s where they had been rough housing, too. I found it helps when I get everybody’s story and piece it together, what one forgets the other remembers – sometimes!

I had brought a couple of detectors, and PVC pipes to mark the areas. The pipe was to help me keep a better grid line. I had Julie and Lonny show me where they thought were the outside bounders for the area. I started at the high tide line and worked my way out pass the low tide line, grid searching both parallel and perpendicular to the shoreline. I made it out to the sand bar and did a good grid with nothing. I knew if the ring was lost on the ocean side of the sand bar, I had little chance of finding it in the washing machine action it’d go through. After what I felt was a very thorough search with no luck, I took a short break and came up with plan B. I asked Julie when she noticed that she didn’t have the ring on and she said it was after getting cleaned up and in the house. So now I’m thinking the soft sand may have to be searched just to rule it out. I asked Julie and Lonny if they wanted to help search, which they agreed to, and showed them how to use my White’s PI. Shortly after, I saw Julie pass the detector off to Lonny, it’s a pretty heavy machine, and he made his way back out towards the sand bar. He was struggling, and without a scoop, if he did get a target he had nothing to dig it with. At some point I decided I’d expand the search area, both on the east and west sides. I knew the platinum ring would show a VDI on the equinox 800 somewhere between 6 and 9, depending on the weight. Lonny’s thinner platinum wedding band rang up as a 3. After about a 3 hour search, and running out of real estate.  Just outside the original search area, I got a solid target showing a 9 on the VDI. Bingo!!! Two scoops and I had the target out of the hole. I gently washed the sand out in the surf and heard the special “twang” you get when there’s metal in the scoop. I looked in the scoop and there it was. Lonny was close, so I called him over. I told him don’t get excited but is this Julie’s ring. He wasn’t positive, because he’d never seen it off her finger, but thought so. I told Lonny, let’s surprise Julie, but I had to get my camera. When we got back up to where I had my gear, I made it sound like I was getting a drink. Lonny put on a great performance telling Julie I had another question. The video tells it all!!! Her response is why I love being a Ring Finder.

Julie and Lonny – thank you so much for trusting me to find your lost treasure. It was great to meet you both.

Jim

   

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Lost Gold Wedding Band in the Ocean on Caswell Beach, Oak Island NC, 100th Return!

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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This ring call came as I was walking out the door en route to help find a lost Rolex watch, which wasn’t found and turned into a much longer search than I anticipated. When Matt first called, I explained the situation to him, but told him that I expected to be finished in time to meet him at his location during low tide. By the time I finished the first search, and arrived at the beach, where Matt had lost his gold wedding band, it was an hour and a half before high tide. I met Matt and his wife, Mary and we walked out to the beach. Matt pointed out the area he lost his ring, and told me he and a friend had been playing catch with a football. Matt said he noticed his ring felt a little loose. A couple of catches later, he felt his ring slip off his finger and disappear in the ocean. Matt was savvy enough to immediately get some land marks, which helped. From his description on when and how he lost his ring, I knew I didn’t have much hope of finding it on this trip. I went ahead and started a grid line, trying to get out as far as I could without dying. I checked with Matt on whether I was going out far enough and he said both Mary and her friend thought he was farther out when he lost it. After being hit and thrown by three consecutive waves, the last one, making me lose my grip on both the scoop and detector, and having my swim suit down around my thighs, I decided to call it a night. I felt so bad that I wasn’t able to give Matt a descent effort in finding his ring that I promised him I’d be back at the next low tide, which just happened to be at 3:24 a.m. We had one more chat before I left so I was sure I had all the details.

I got back to the search area at 2 a.m. a little tired but ready to go. We’re in the moon phase just after a new moon, so there was absolutely no moon light to search by and it was darker than dark out there. I started a grid line search trying to keep the lines straight and in line with each other with the aid of my head lamp. I went from an invisible line I had paced off earlier, from the top of the beach next to a “Keep off the Dunes” sign. I knew then the beach was going to be a lot different almost 6 hours later. I started a little west of the landmark Matt gave me and went back and forth from the top of the beach to the low tide line and nothing. I kept expanding the search area both east and west and still came up empty. By now, it’s 4 a.m., I’m tired, sweaty, and sore, I’ve done close to 4 miles of walking in two separate searches. I’m 100% positive Matt’s ring was lying in the sand someplace on this beach. So, I was having a little chit-chat with the Big Man upstairs and I was a little cranky, to say the least. So out of nowhere, the idea of searching the area again, doing a cross grid popped into my head. I cut the search area down; concentrating on the area Matt gave me in the first place. On my third line, BOOM, I got a solid signal. I dug a scoop of sand, dumped it on the beach, and spread it out with my foot. I ran the coil over the area, found the signal and scooped it up. There it was, all covered in sand, but I had it. I looked at the hole and saw my grid line that ran right beside it, so I had walked right over the top of it and missed it, so I must have zigged instead of zagged. Matt told me the inscription on the inside of the ring, so I had to go back to the car and use the light so see it. It was a perfect match. I had asked Matt earlier if he wanted me to text him if I found it in the middle of the night, or hold on to it and contact him a little later in the morning. I knew his answer before I asked but I let him make the decision. At about 4:20 a.m., I sent him two pictures of his ring, one of them the inscription, with a text saying: “Good Morning Sunshine, I’m sitting in the parking lot, let me know you’re awake.” I got an immediate response “I’m up, be down in 5.” As soon as I handed Matt his cherished ring, all my self-pity disappeared and I remembered exactly why I do this. There’s no better feeling!

Matt and Mary, thank you so much for trusting me to find your lost treasure. Have a great rest of your vacation and a safe trip back home. This is another chapter you two can add to the long story this ring will carry.

   

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