how to find a lost ring in the ocean Tag | Page 3 of 6 | The Ring Finders

Lost White Gold Cartier Wedding Band at Four Seasons Ko Olina…FOUND!!!

  • from O‘ahu (Hawaii, United States)


This ring find began when I got a text on my phone that read, “I need a ring finder”. I immediately called and Shelbie from Midland Texas, on her honeymoon and staying at the Four Seasons Ko Olina told me her husband Trey lost his White Gold Wedding Band in about three feet of water while returning back from swimming. I told her not to worry that I was in Waikiki and would retrieve my gear and head out to the resort. I assured her if the ring was in the three feet depth of water I would surely find it. I sensed quite a bit of stress in her voice and I wanted her to remain calm. Rush hour traffic hadn’t started yet so the 28 mile trip only took 35 minutes. When I arrived I called Shelbie and she said her and Trey were down on the beach so I grabbed my gear and headed down. Trey showed me the area and was sure the depth would have been about three feet deep. Since it was two hours earlier the tide was on an incline so I decided to detect out to high chest depth to account for the rise. Rey and Shelbie sat on the shoreline as I hunted. On about the 4th leg of the grid I got a screaming “16” on the Nox in chest deep water and on the third scoop there was the Cartier Love Ring shimmering in the scoop. I yelled to Trey “Got it!” We met in the water and I allowed Trey to remove his ring from the scoop. He immediately thanked me and put the ring back on his finger. Shelbie and Trey were so grateful and I hope they now can relax and enjoy the Aloha of our Islands.

Lady’s 14K White Gold Engagement Ring Lost in the Sand, Found and Returned Sunset Beach, NC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

This adventure started with a Sunset Beach NC Face Book post saying in part, “on vacation and a friend had lost an important piece of jewelry, and we’re looking for someone that has a metal detector.” Someone responded to her post with my information. So, about 8:30 Friday night, I received a call from Victoria.  She started with telling me about the Face Book posts and was calling to see if I could help. I was ready! She also said the ring was lost in the dry sand, on the right side of the pier. She added that it was very unlikely the high tide would not reach the ring. I suggested we meet in about 30 minutes. I think Victoria was a little apprehensive about meeting a strange man, at night, on a dark beach, which I totally understood. She wanted to meet at noon the next day, which I had concerns with. Knowing that Sunset Beach is a big tourist destination in the summer, parking would be an issue. There would also be shoulder to shoulder people on the beach, at noon, on a Saturday. I also know that Sunset Beach is heavily detected by both locals and tourist. She understood, but noon it was.

I arrived about 10:30 a.m., figuring I’d be lucky to find a parking spot. Surprise, I got the last ‘free’ parking space on the Island, I think.  Since I had an hour and half to burn, I started detecting the beach. About 11:30 a.m. I text Victoria telling her ‘I was there,” and She immediately responded saying, “we are parking now.” We met up on the beach and Victoria introduced me to Jennifer, the young lady that lost her engagement ring. Victoria led the way across the top of the beach until we reached the area. Victoria had the presents of mine to tie one of her hair bows to a tiny bush growing up through the sand at the bottom of a sand dune. Jennifer wasn’t sure how far her ring may have flown off her finger when she had turned around while they were packing up to leave. I confirmed with Jennifer that I was looking for a white gold ring as I turned on my Equinox. On my second line, I got a solid 6 on my VDI, meaning ‘white gold.’ I looked over at Jennifer as I scooped up the sand. I gently shook the scoop to empty the sand out and saw some shells and Jennifer’s beautiful engagement ring at the bottom of the scoop. I walked over to Jennifer, held out the scoop, and let her remove her ring. She got a big smile on her face when she saw her ring.

Victoria – Thank you for contacting me.

Jennifer – Thank you for trusting me to help find your lost treasure. Enjoy the rest of your vacation.

Jim

Man’s Sterling Silver Bracelet Lost, Found and Returned on Ocean Isle Beach NC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

About 11:20 a.m. on Wednesday, July 14th, I received a text from Sean saying in part, “Hi Jim, lost a sterling silver bracelet this morning at OIB (Ocean Isle Beach). Lost it just off public access at Monroe St.” I tried calling him and got an immediate text back saying “sorry, I am on a work call at the moment. I’m off around 1:30, but if you did want to come detect before then, my wife could meet you at the beach and show you where we were.” I responded back “Was it in the dry sand or water?” His response was, “Dry sand, I am pretty sure. I did sit on the edge of water with my daughter but I have a hard time believing it came out of pocket. I took it off near chairs to go for a run, then forgot to put it back on when I returned. Lost when packing up I expect.” I text him back that I could be there in 40 minutes and he sent me his wife, Olivia’s, number for coordination purposes. I called Olivia and told her I’d be there in 40 minutes, grabbed my detector and was on my way.

When I arrived at the access, Olivia was waiting on me. She led me out to the exact spot where Sean suspected he lost his bracelet. I thought I’d have to work around the people already on the beach enjoying the day. Instead, there was a small clear area surrounded by groups of people on all 4 sides. I’m not sure if it was luck or prearranged by Olivia or Sean to keep the spot open, but it worked. I turned my machine on, took 3 or 4 steps and hit a nice target. Dug the target up, lightly shook out the sand and there was Sean’s bracelet in the bottom of the scoop. Olivia was kind enough to stand in for Sean and let me take a couple of pictures of her holding the bracelet. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to meet Sean, but it all ended with a happy return. On my way home I got a text from Sean saying, “Thanks! Delighted you found it. I had already contacted the seller and they didn’t have them anymore. Much appreciated!”

Sean/Olivia – Thank you for trusting me and The Ring Finders to help find your lost treasure. Enjoy the rest of your vacation and have a safe trip home to Maine.

Jim

White and Rose Gold Wedding Band Lost, Found, and Returned in Myrtle Beach, SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

Monday afternoon started with a message from Taylor saying in part “Hello Ring Finders I’m so so hoping you can help!!! I have lost my wedding ring!!!! We are staying at the sea mist oceanfront resort in Myrtle Beach.  I’m hoping you can help.” This ring call is in Matt Fry’s area, so I’m in the process of calling Matt when Taylor calls me. I ask Taylor a few questions that I could relay to Matt. She explained that her and her family had been there since around 8 a.m. She said she had taken her ring off to apply sun screen to the family and couldn’t remember if she put it back on or not. She also mentioned that she had gone in the ocean at some point but no deeper than knee deep. I explained to her that I’m trying to get a hold of Matt, who covers Myrtle Beach, for her ring search and that one of us would call her back shortly. When I got a hold of Matt, I started giving him the information. I then asked him if he wanted to take it,  I must have sounded pretty pathetic because he said “if you want to take it, go ahead. I’ve got work in the shop to do.”  I thanked him and called Taylor back saying I was on my way.

When I got to the beach, there was no place to park. I called Taylor and she met me in the resort’s parking lot and was able to get me a temporary parking pass. As we walked out to the beach, I learned they were on vacation from Virginia. She also mentioned that they had seen another detectionist earlier on the beach and had asked him if he could try and find her ring. He checked the area where they were sitting and then recommended they contact The Ring Finders, that’s how she found me. I know a lot of the guys detecting in Myrtle Beach and I know they’re good and thorough in their searches. But from the description that Taylor gave me, I couldn’t picture who it was. For my own piece of mind and to say I checked, I did a quick search around their umbrella and out in front a few feet. I then started a grid search from where they were sitting out to the low tide line. Probably 8 to 10 grid lines, I got a solid 13. On the equinox 800, a 13 VDI could be a pull tab, a man’s thin gold ring, a nickel, or a woman’s big white gold wedding band. After digging a scoop of sand and spreading it out on the beach, I didn’t see anything. I ran my coil over the area and got the 13 again. I didn’t see a thing so I’m thinking a pull tab.  I’m moving the sand with my foot and saw a very small silver looking “thing.” I reached down and plucked Taylor’s beautiful white and rose gold wedding ring out of the wet sand. I walked down to the water and washed the sand off the ring. I then made my way back up to where Taylor and Brandon were sitting, making it look like I was done. I stood in front of Taylor and ask her what her ring looks like. As she’s explaining her ring, I slowly hold it up next to my face so she can see it. She screamed “you found my ring” and exploded out of her chair. Big, Big Hug and some tears. This is why I love doing what I do!

Big shout out and thank you to Bill Judy, who was the detectionist that referred Taylor and Brandon to The Ring Finders and Matt Fry, who let me take this ring call.

Taylor and Brandon – Thank you for trusting me and The Ring Finders to help find your lost treasure. Have a great rest of your vacation and a safe trip back home!

Jim

   

White Gold Wedding Set Goes Flying in the Ocean While Playing Volleyball, Found and Returned North Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

Just before 9 p.m. on the 4th of July,  I got a message from Carol stating “Good evening! I lost my ring today and just found out that you might be able to help me. Please let me know if this is possible.” I immediately replied saying “Call me” with my phone number. I didn’t hear anything from her and got to thinking maybe she was leery of calling some guy she didn’t know. So, I followed up with another message saying “I can help, need details and it’s easier if we talk than text.” I immediately got a call from her husband Steven. Low tide was at 11 p.m. so I figured if I had a good shot at finding it, now would be the time to go. Steven told me Carol lost her white gold wedding set this morning between 11-12 a.m. while playing volleyball around low tide. He also said that they were in the water between ankle and shin deep. Oh-oh, I was hoping she lost it closer to mid afternoon during high tide. Ok, a minor setback but no big deal. I asked Steven if he could meet me to show me the right spot. Then I remembered this was July 4th and the beaches would be packed with tourist watching fireworks and parking would be non-existent.  A minor setback #2. With the instructions he gave me, I knew exactly where to go except I didn’t know how far north of the beach access to go. On my way there he sent me a Google earth map with the area circled which was perfect. When I got to the beach, as I expected, there was no where to park. I finally found a spot to park about a block away, grabbed my gear and headed to the beach. As I’m walking out on the beach, in the pitch black, people were 3 to 4 rows deep sitting in the sand or on beach chairs. I made my way to the water’s edge and started a perpendicular grid search. Then the fireworks started!!!  I thought I was in a war zone and right in the line of fire, as everything was being shot off towards the ocean.

Ok, I focused on the mission at hand, which was to find Carol’s wedding set. What was ankle to shin deep water this morning for them was now a huge pool of water that was waist deep. The water was deep enough that I kept my headlamp off so I wouldn’t attract the baitfish, which in turn would attract bigger fish. Thankfully, the fireworks gave me enough light to see where I was going. I was probably a little more than an hour and a half into the search and about half way through the area Steven had circled when I got a great signal on the Nox 800. The VDI number was 13 and a little higher than what I thought it might be for a white gold set. I was waist deep and carefully dug the target out of the hole. I checked the hole and made sure it was clear. I then walked back up to the wet sand before I emptied the sand out of the scoop so I wouldn’t accidently shake the target out in the ocean. When I dumped the sand out on the beach, I turned on my headlamp and could see a little glimmer of something shiny. I reached down and picked up a beautiful lady’s wedding set. I didn’t have a complete description of Carol’s rings so I called Steven. He started explaining it and then said “here’s Carol, she can explain it better.” As she’s identifying the ring I’m holding to perfection, I took a picture and text it to her. I told her to check her text messages and I hear, with a lot of enthusiasm “Oh my gosh, you found my ring!” What a feeling finding someone’s treasure that they never thought they’d see again. With no way of knowing what the ocean, tides, and tons of sand will do between tide cycles, I’m not real sure her rings wouldn’t have been buried below a metal detectors capabilities by low tide the next morning.

Carol and Steven – Thank you so much for trusting me to help find your lost treasure. Enjoy the rest of your vacation and have a safe drive back home to Ohio!

Jim

     

18k Clemson Ring Lost Throwing a Football at the High Tide Line, Found and Returned North Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

I got a call from Brent, who was referred by Joe Denton, asking if I could help find a lost Clemson Ring. He said his friend, Ed, whose daughter Natalie’s friend Britta had lost her ring within the last 10 minutes Knowing it was high tide, I asked him how deep in the water Britta was, and he replied she was just getting her feet wet. I got the location and told him I’d be there in 10-15 minutes. This being a Saturday and 4th of July weekend the traffic was very busy.

I called Brent when I got close and he was waiting at the beach access for me. As we walked out on the beach he directed me to where Natalie and Britta were standing. I introduced myself to both of them and then got more of the story. Britta showed me about where she was standing when she threw the football, and Natalie showed me about where she was standing to catch it. Thankfully, neither one was in the ocean, but Natalie had been standing close to a buried storm drain pipe. The search area was no more than 20 yards long. Someone had mentioned the Clemson ring was 18k gold, so I knew what number I was looking for on the Equinox 800. I started my grid search parallel to the beach. My fourth line I hit it, a booming 9 VDI. I just looked up at Britta and smiled, I don’t think she realized what the look was for. I took a scoop of sand and dumped it on the beach, moved the sand with my foot and saw the ring. Somebody else in her group saw it about the same time and reached down and snatched it up and handed it to me. Big smiles, a few hugs, maybe a couple of tears, and Britta had her college treasure back on her finger.

Thanks to all for trusting me to help find Britta’s ring.

Britta – I wish you all the best on your future endeavors.

Jim

      

Beach Proposal at 11:30 am, Ring Swimming With the Fishes by 1:30 pm at Sunset Beach NC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

Saturday, June 5th, about 2:30pm, I received a frantic call from Mackenzie asking if I could help find her “silver” ring that she lost in the ocean. Knowing that low tide was around 11 am, I was hesitant to ask the normal questions, but I did. “What time did you lose it, and how deep in the ocean were you?” Mackenzie responded that she lost it about an hour ago and she was in a foot of water. I knew with the 30 minute drive that the ring would be out of reach with the incoming tide by the time I’d get there. I wanted a chance to see what I’d be up against when I went later that evening. I also wanted to meet Mackenzie and get the full story so I went ahead and made the trip. When I got to the beach, I met Mackenzie, her fiancé, Alex, and 3 or 4 of her friends. I had Mackenzie show me the area she was at and tell me exactly what happened. She told me Alex had proposed to her at about 11:30 am; she said yes, they took pictures and a little while later she got in the ocean with her new engagement ring. She also said that the ring was a little big, and while in the ocean she watched it slip off her finger and disappear. I talked to Alex to get his perspective and he told me pretty much the same details Mackenzie had except he said the ring was Platinum. I started a perpendicular grid search from the shore to out in the ocean. After a short time, Mackenzie came out in the ocean where I was and said her friends thought she was further south down the beach. By that time, it was close to high tide, so I told her I’d be back around 9.

I got back up there around 9 pm and started a grid search from the far end of the southern boundary working north towards the pier. After an hour plus, and working about three quarters of the area, I got a great signal on my PI detector. I dug one scoop of sand, checked the hole and had the target in my scoop. I walked back up the beach to get out of the water before I dumped the scoop of sand. I turned on my headlamp as I spread the sand out with my foot and didn’t see anything. I ran the coil over the sand again and still got the signal. I reached down with my hand and spread the sand out some more and got a little glimmer of something shiny. Boom, I had Mackenzie’s engagement ring. I sent her a picture and waited for a response. After 5 minutes, I called her and told her to check her text messages. Her excitement was what I expected! I had a second ring search that I still had time to make before low tide on a different beach and ask Mackenzie if they could meet me there. It was actually closer to where they were staying so they agreed. I was finished with the second search shortly before they arrived and I was waiting in the parking lot. When I returned the ring to Alex to put back on Mackenzie’s finger it was within a minute or two from being 12 hours since he had proposed and slipped the ring on the first time.

Anna – Thank you for sharing my information with Mackenzie and Alex.

Mackenzie and Alex – Thank you for trusting The Ring Finders to help find your lost treasure

Jim

         

White Gold Engagement Ring Lost in the Ocean Day after Proposal, Sullivan’s Island SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

This morning, Wednesday, about 11am, I got a text “Good afternoon. Is this Jim Wren with Ring Finders?” I responded with “Yes.” She came back saying “My name is Mallory, my fiancé Nick proposed on Monday. Yesterday at around 8PM (the day after I got engaged) I got into the ocean at Sullivan’s Island. The tide took my engagement ring right off my finger. I am absolutely devastated…is there anything that could be done?”I called her and got more details. They were here on a little vacation from Chicago after they both graduated from Law School. With the loss of her ring and another issue going on, she wasn’t having a good vacation. I checked the tide tables and low tide on Sullivan’s Island was roughly at 2:30pm and with a 2 ½ hour drive, I could be there about 30 minutes before low tide. I know there are a couple of guys who are Ring Finders around Charleston, but when I’ve called in the past they weren’t available. So, instead of giving Mallory the run around trying to find somebody, and with time being a major factor, I just grabbed my gear and headed south.

When I got there, Mallory and Nick had a parking spot reserved for me. As we walked out on the beach, Nick showed me the area, which was larger than I thought. It was an area about the size of a football field. Luckily, Nick had found a plank on the beach and had used it to mark the spot where they came out of the water after the ring came off. On Tuesday, Mallory was in waist deep water about an hour after high tide. I started a north/south grid line parallel to the high tide line working towards the water line. After about 6 grid lines, I changed directions, and ran the grid line east/west perpendicular to the beach. On my second grid line pass the mid-tide line on the slope, I got a solid 8/9 on the Equinox 800 VDI screen, which is what I was looking for. It was further down the slope than I thought it would be, as well as deeper in the sand than I thought after less than 24 hours. After I got it out of the sand, I had to verify I had the right ring against the picture Mallory had sent. Boom, Perfect match!! I knew Nick and Mallory were watching, so I just held my arm up. Nick saw it first and came running, Mallory wasn’t too far behind him. Big smiles and hugs. Total search time was about 35-40 minutes.

Nick/Mallory – thank you for trusting me and The Ring Finders to find your beautiful engagement ring. Best of luck to both of you in all your future endeavors.

Jim

                                

Lady’s White Gold Engagement Ring Lost in the Ocean – Found and Returned Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

I was in the middle of getting the yard work finished when I received a call from Symone saying she had lost her ring in the ocean at Myrtle Beach. I wanted to confirm she was in Myrtle Beach and not North Myrtle Beach. She confirmed Myrtle Beach but then wasn’t sure exactly where in Myrtle Beach they were. Her and her fiancé, Eze had come from Atlanta, GA to Myrtle Beach to pick up a new puppy. After picking up the puppy they decided to hit the beach for a little R&R. So, they really didn’t know what street they were off of. Eze found the name of the hotel they were in front of, and I knew they were in Matt Fry’s area. I told her I’d call Matt and one of us would call her back within 5 minutes. I tried calling Matt and couldn’t get a hold of him, so I called Symone back and told her I’d be there in 35-40 minutes.

When I got to the beach I called Symone and told her I was walking out on the beach. She met me and pointed out the area where they had been sitting. She told me she had walked straight out from there to about waist deep water. She lost her ring a little over an hour after high tide and with the outgoing tide I thought there’d be a good chance of finding it. The problem was, it was mid afternoon with an east wind that was blowing some big waves towards the beach. I grabbed my White’s PI and started trying to do a perpendicular grid search from shore to water. My first signal was solid, but the waves kept pushing me off the target. I paced off steps to the beach and waited for the tide to go down a little bit more. When I told her what was going on, she told me that she was going back to the car and relieve Eze from the puppy watch. Eze came down to the tide line as I was coming back from retrieving the bottle cap that gave me the original signal. I talked to Eze and got his side of the story. He said that when Symone lost her ring, and was frantically waving her arms, she was more to the right of where she had me. I switched detectors to my Equinox 800 and kept the grid search, but started working to the right of the center line. On my third line I got a banging signal with a VDI of 11-12. With the waves still pushing me around, I finally got the target in the scoop. As I shook the sand out of the scoop and looked in, I saw her beautiful ring underneath a few shells. As I’m walking out of the water, I called Eze over and asked what her ring looked like. As he’s explaining her ring, I held it up and he got real excited and said it looks just like that. I told him, let’s surprise Symone. I gave him my IPhone, set for video and we made our way back to the parking lot. The video says it all.

Symone and Eze – Thank you so much for trusting me and The Ring Finders to help find your lost treasure. What a beautiful treasure it is. Have a safe trip home, and good luck with your new puppy.

Jim

   

Lost Ring Block Island, RI… Found!

  • from Stonington (Connecticut, United States)

The ring symbolizes Larit’s 15-year marriage, and he lost it in the ocean during summer vacation. The ring was not lost once, or twice, or three times. The platinum band was lost as early as their first year of marriage but always finds its way back home.

Larit lost his ring while surfing at New Shoreham, aka Block Island, Rhode Island. I arrived on the island and hitched a ride with the local taxi service to Scotch Beach. Joe, the taxi driver, dropped me off at the entrance, and Larit took me straight to the spot where he lost his ring while surfing two days prior. We discussed the search boundaries with a couple of beach-goers who were familiar with the area. This was the same area Larit had a local metal detectorist from the island search on the previous day, but he came up empty-handed. After hearing this news, my determination was at an all-time high. Larit explained this was his first-time surfing, and he was falling off the board repeatedly. He felt the ring slip as he took one of his falls, which is good news when recapping and identifying the search area. He recalled the water level being knee-deep about 2 hours after high tide. I turned on my detector and got started searching in the knee-deep water. Except the knee-deep water kept going! That is one reason this beach is so popular; the gradual slope is great for frolicking in the water but not so great for trying to pinpoint the location of a lost ring by water depth. I spent a total of 3 hours searching for this ring, dodging frisbees, footballs, and boogie-boards, oh and small children. The good news, the gradual slope left most of the search area in ankle-deep water as the tide went out. I cleaned that beach out. There was no pull tab, bottle cap, or a bit of lobster cage left in that entire area. I scooped up what must have been the very last piece of metal on the beach, and when I looked down, I saw a glimmer of silver as the sand washed through the drain holes. Finally!! I low-key inspected the ring for the Tiffany markings Larit mentioned earlier, careful not to be too obvious with my inspection. I didn’t want to alert the crowd of people standing on the beach sipping White Claw and laughing at us for wasting our time looking for this hopelessly lost ring. I came back to the chairs where Larit was sitting and told him I needed a break. He understood, and we started talking about the ring. I asked question after question to confirm I had the correct ring – I did not want to drop the big surprise and present the wrong ring! I stood up and said I was heading back out another round of searching, but before I walked away, adrenaline pumping like I was about to propose, I leaned in with my scoop and asked Larit if this was his ring. He sat there in shock for a second, then reached and pulled the ring from the bottom of the sand scoop. We celebrated for a moment, then he told me of all the other times this ring has been lost over the last 15 years. Larit has managed to get this ring back over and over again. His persistence and refusal to give up is the reason he gets it back every time.

“Keith is truly the best. I was skeptical, but he went the distance taking a ferry to block island! He found my ring in the ocean!! I had someone else try before him, and after twenty minutes, he told me it was a lost cause… Keith spent over 2 hours. On top of that, he’s a really good guy. Highly recommend.” – Keith

Lost ring in the ocean? Contact a professional detectorist to discuss the next steps. Serving Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and short distances into other surrounding states. If you have lost a ring or something of value, contact Keith Wille now uncoverthings@yahoo.com | Call or text 860-917-8947 | www.metaldetectionkeithwille.com

Keith Wille’s Media Mentions:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/science/archaeology-metal-detectorists-pequot.html?_r=1

http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-lost-jewelry-hunters

http://www.wfsb.com//Clip/12684346/mans-missing-wedding-ring-found-at-waterford-beach#.V7693rpuG4k.email

http://www.theday.com/local/20160823/with-stroke-of-luck-waterford-resident-gets-his-ring-back

http://patch.com/connecticut/waterford/widower-embraces-man-after-finding-treasured-wedding-band-waterford-beach

https://www.thewesterlysun.com/news/surf-gives-back-ring-with-a-little-help/article_4252dcae-7f1c-5d66-8f39-376da5db5929.html

 

Watch the Block Island ring find video…