Silver “I Love You” Ring Lost in Sand .. Santa Monica, CA. .. Found and Returned
Alisa lost her silver “I Love You” ring in the sand about midnight Saturday. I received a text at 1:35am early Sunday morning. It was from Alisa asking for my help to find her silver ring lost at Santa Monica Beach. She would be calling me in the morning. I do take calls anytime day or night because it can make a big difference whether we have a successful search. Rather than wait for the call, I texted her back saying I would be on the beach in Santa Monica at 6:30am.
Alisa replied that her and her boyfriend Ash could meet me near lifeguard tower 25 at 7:30am. When I arrived I just started to grid the area around the lifeguard tower before they arrived. Texting Alisa, I told her I had started. She text me telling me the ring was lost near the benches next to the pedestrian walkway. It was about 100 yards away from the tower.. I walked over to that location and could see finger dragging impressions in the sand.
Starting my grid there paid off with a find of the ring before Alisa and Ash showed up.. I took a picture of the ring texting it to her.
When they arrived Alisa told me she didn’t feel the ring slip from her finger. She did know that the ring was on her finger when they sat down that evening. She noticed it missing before they left the area. Seven or eight bystanders and couple of police patrolmen helped them look for the ring in the sand for a couple hours.
The ring was special to Alisa as it was given to her by her boyfriend Ash, celebrating 6 months of being together. It was another fun search for me. I hope I never get tired of helping people find their sentimental treasures. Sunday .. 9-20-15
Sarah and her husband had spent the day at Laguna Beach. The weather has been awesome, sunny and temperatures in the mid 80’s. They left about 2pm to get on the road before traffic got too bad. Thirty minutes down the road Sarah realiz
ed she did not have her wedding ring set. Two very special rings that she has worn for over 25 years. Her and her husband had recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary last week. She knew that she had put the rings in the cup holder of her beach chair while putting on sunscreen. There was a possibility that the rings were in the sand where they had been sitting. Returning to the beach and sifting through the sand with their fingers with no success . Sarah Google searched “how to find a ring in the sand” . Up popped a link to TheRingFinders with my contact information. I was in my car about 8 miles away, but it took about 20 – 25 minutes to get to her location. Just as I pulled up Sarah’s husband found the larger ring. I was able to locate the smaller ring after a few swings of my CTX3030 minelab metal detector. It was a weak signal which may have been because it was in a vertical position. It may have been buried a little deeper because they had been moving around a lot of sand doing their search. What’s most important is Sarah has both of her very special rings back on her finger, hopefully for another 25 years. Sarah commented how her smart phone and the internet worked to bring us together. I agree, I have the metal detecting equipment and know how to use them, but the smart phones and internet makes these recoveries happen.
I received the call at about 3:30pm while detecting at Huntington Beach. It took me awhile to walk a half mile to my car, but I was able to me Alexis and Andrew at 5pm. We talked about the circumstances leading to the loss of the ring. I explained to them how my equipment works. Some people think metal detectors can find things several feet from the coil. Other people do not believe the work for such small items as rings. I knew it was possible to search the long walk back to the parking lot, but the best place to start would be where she picked up her blouse. Sometimes other persons move an item containing the ring or keys not knowing something was hidden inside. I set up an area to grid search about 40’x30′.. Making six passes parallel to the beach with out success, I setup my CTX 3030 to beach mode – all metal and began a cross grid. The next move would have been the long walk back to the parking area. (time consuming and the sun was setting). Three 30 foot passes to and from the water I got a nice 12-02 signal. Calling Alexis over to see the signal and hear the sound, I told her this is your ring and I scooped it. It was a beautiful ring. She dropped to her knees in tears of joy. Andrew also came over to thank me telling me that he had all but given up on ever seeing their ring again. It was a great day and I got another lesson of humility. It is a game of inches and it pays to cross check.