Lost Diamond Wedding Rings .. Santa Monica Beach .. Found
Michelle was visiting from Boston. Saturday she went to Santa Monica Beach near the pier with her mother and sister to take advantage of our weather. After most the afternoon on the beach they went up to the pier for dinner and a few drinks. That was when Michelle realized her two ring wedding set was missing. The last time she saw them was when she set them on the edge of her towel to apply sunscreen.
They walked a couple blocks back to the spot just before sunset but after 2 hours could not find the two white gold diamond rings.
By the time they got online to locate me, it was after 10pm. Michelle said they would stay to meet me at 11pm. We met on the beach in an area between the first two lifeguard towers south of the pier. The next day was Sunday and there would be other people with detectors on that beach.
It was dark, cold, and they were tired. Also a few extra adult beverages while waiting may have contributed to the confusion getting me in the exact location. I assured them that I could search the whole area but it would take a couple hours. It had been a long day for them so they decided to go back to their hotel. Basically they had given up hope that the rings could be found.
Later while working a methodical grid search, two other guys with metal detectors were working the same location at midnight. They were wondering through the general area and didn’t know what I knew, but I still worried that they might find the rings first and claim them as a treasure. Soon they wandered off down the beach. Shortly after 12:30am the magic moment came, when I scooped up a metallic signal that turned out to be Michelle’s beautiful diamond engagement ring. Three feet away was her diamond wedding ring.
I texted a photo of the rings to her and immediately she returned a call with excitement in her voice that is hard to explain. I met with her the next morning to return the rings. Part of doing this, is being able to hand the ring back to the rightful owner and seeing how grateful they are to have something so very sentimental to them back after thinking it was lost forever.