RINGS TOSSED INTO CARTERET COUNTY CANAL FOUND WITH METAL DETECTOR
We all have done things we later regretted, and this recovery story is one of those instances that has happened more often than one may think. Because of these 2 rings being intentionally thrown into a canal, I will change the names of the party involved on their request.
While driving back from my local hardware store, I received a call from “Mrs. Smith”. She inquired about my recovery service and conveyed a sense of urgency for my assistance. Without very little to go on, she mentioned there were 2 gold rings lost in a canal. I informed her because of the heat, I don’t travel with my equipment in my truck and would need to go home before heading her way.
Upon arriving, the couple were both outside and met me to explain what happened. “Mr. Smith” informed me that he took both, his and her, rings and threw them into the canal behind their home. I didn’t inquire any further as my only business was to find and return both rings. I asked about the depth and knew it was after low tide there so I would need to get busy or possibly in water too deep to effectively dig. After getting an idea of what I should wear and the type of equipment needed to use on this soft bottom with scattered oyster shells, I jumped into the surprisingly warm water and started my best to grid the area Mr. Smith pointed out. About 10 minutes later, I was able to pull Mr. Smiths gold band from about 4 foot of water. We thought both rings would be near each other, and this was not the case as Mr. Smith threw them from a long distance. Mrs. Smith’s ring was small and I was getting numerous other signals that either were too deep or small trash. More minutes past as the couple both sat along the water waiting patiently in the hot sun. I finally received a steady signal from about 4 ½ foot of water and brought the target to the surface. After cleaning most of the smelly mud from my sand scoop, I noticed a small gold circle laying in the scoop. I turned to the couple and gave them a big smile. Both of their tossed & lost rings were returned. Mrs. Smith wanted this whole event to be private and I respect her decision and she permitted a picture of the 2 rings and a shot of me kneeling in front of the canal where I made the recovery.
#crystalcoastringfinders
Eileen called just as I had gotten out of the dentists office, wondering if it would be possible to come and search for her I-Phone that slid off the roof of a car, and landed somewhere alongside the roadway. She explained that she had put the phone on the roof of the car, and said goodbye to her company. Forgetting the phone was on the roof she went inside, and her company drove off. The following day she realized the phone was missing, and realized what had happened. She contacted her friend hoping he had picked it up prior to leaving the night before, which wasn’t the case. They had finally decided it must have slid off the car roof and landed somewhere on the side of the road. Using the find my phone app. they found the last known location of the phone before it died, where they searched for 4 days without any luck. That was when she decided to call in a professional recovery expert. We made arrangements to meet on the side of the roadway that afternoon. It was there Eileen went into more detail about HOW important this phone was, as nothing was backed up to the cloud, including over 6000 pictures, that were absolutely unreplaceable. This area was right in front of a big housing complex, that had manicured grounds with fences and pristine walking paths. I was praying it didn’t fall off there as the grass cutters had recently cut the lawn, and it would have shredded it to bits, had they ran it over. I instructed Eileen to go into the management office, explain what happened, and ask if possibly the phone was turned in. While she was in doing that I covered the entire area on both sides of the road, and all the landscape, with no luck, just as I had figured. Standing back, looking in the opposite direction, the curve in the road looked ever so inviting of an area, for a phone to slide off the roof. I walked back covering everything from the road in about 10′ with no luck. Then I turned around and continued back along the tall weeds, and wood line. Right along the weeds, just inside of where the mowers cut, I received the loudest broken signal from my metal detector, that I know ever to familiar, would be her cell phone. Sure enough BINGO!!!! I had her phone. I decided to record the moment when I returned her it, and needless to say, what a heart filled experience it was, reuniting Eileen with over 6000 photos, which covered many years of her life prior, to this almost tragic mishap.
Jennifer called to inquire about the possibility of recovering her wedding and engagement ring, that accidently flew off her finger into the water, at the boat dock. As usual I questioned her about exactly what had happened, as well as any information she might know about the water depth, clarity, current, etc. She explained that she had opened the state room door, stepped out onto the finger dock, and was brushing some crumbs off one of the boat cushions, when both rings flew right off her finger, into the dark water below. Jennifer was adamant this was exactly what happened, and confirmed both rings must be pretty much straight down, or possibly under the other boat, or under the finger pier. The water was a workable depth of around 5′ or so, depending on what end of the finger pier I was. Knowing how deep and dark the water was, I had to gather many items to ensure I had what was needed, to make this a successful recovery. Once on location at low tide, the water did average 5′, so that was a good thing. What wasn’t so good was how black and muddy the bottom was, as you can see the nasty black mud in the one picture. after clearing MANY targets, which is common in marina locations, I got a promising signal, that turned out to be Jennifer’s wedding ring. She was quite surprised I was able to find it with all the trash on the bottom. One would figure the other ring would be right near by, but after another 45 minutes, I had no luck. I really didn’t want to throw in the towel, but I was leaving for vacation early the following morning, and had to call it a day. Jennifer was extremely grateful, as I promised her I would return the first chance I had after I got home.