how to find a ring in the water Tag | Page 7 of 9 | The Ring Finders

Lost engagement ring, Pensacola – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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What better way to transition into fall than one last ring return on a Volleyball court. I had just returned home when I got a call from my buddy Charlie who is out in CA. He had received a call from a friend of his named Joey who had in turn gotten a call from his wife Nicole and she was in a panic. Nicole had been playing Volleyball with her daughter at a local park and looked down to notice that her wedding ring and her engagement ring were no longer on her hand. This is about the time the panic had ensued and I think everyone will agree that it was totally justified. Luckily Charlie is a great guy and rather than telling Joey that he was out of town, he tracked me down and put us in touch. We were running out of daylight so I loaded up as fast as possible and called Joey to tell him that I could help and get an idea where to go. I pulled in the park and although there were lots of people there enjoying the playground equipment I had no doubt who I was looking for. As soon as I pulled my gear out, a big group of ladies and young people started waving me down. I noticed that they all had makeshift seines and colanders and I wondered which one was Nicole. Then I noticed the lady who was crying and I knew I had found her. I immediately introduced myself and told her not to worry that I was totally going to help her. She told me that I didn’t understand, they had searched everywhere that it could be with the strainers and they had even found the wedding band but she feared the engagement ring might be anywhere in the park and she was distraught. I asked her if they had been there the entire time and they said yes. I tried again to reassure her as I explained what I was doing and started my grid pattern. I made about one pass but as I was talking to her I could see she was in agony so I decided to take a different approach. I told her to tell me where she had found the gold band, she told me that they had already looked there and I told her to humor me. She did and I asked her if they changed sides at all and she said no. Lastly, I asked her if she wore her band closest to her heart and she said yes. I took a step towards the way I thought the ring first off her hand would fly and I said, “watch this” with a big smile. I went about two steps and got a good tone. I don’t think she realized I had something until I kneeled down with my pinpointer and then stood up saying, “Does it look like this?”  She broke down in tears and I was reminded why I love doing this so much. Congratulations Nicole and Joey. Thank you very much for trusting me to help you. God Bless!  💍

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Lost Ring, Perdido Beach – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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Sometimes everything comes together and no matter how lost something is, it’s just bound to be found. That was the case for this young lady on the beach yesterday afternoon who had lost a very important ring. It was already very late after work but I decided to hit the beach anyway. I had already gone to one parking area but after I walked all the way to the water I realized that I left my battery in the car. I walked all the way out and decided that I should head down the beach a bit because of a storm that was on the way. When I got there I decided to turn towards the rain cloud so that if I got caught in the storm, I would have the wind at my back running to the car. All of these things seemed to innocently transpire all to have BrieOcea come running up to me after only about five minutes on the beach. She asked if I was holding a metal detector and she looked hopeful when I told her I was. I asked her if she had lost something and she replied that she had dropped a ring that had been in her family for generations. I told her that I would be glad to take a look and asked her what the ring was made out of and when she lost it. She said it had almost been a week and that she thought it was silver. I think she saw me start to lose some confidence because she quickly assured me that it was a very small area. I asked her a little more about the ring and she said that there was a large black stone with a diamond in it. I made a note to dig everything because while possible, especially on older rings, diamonds are usually not on silver. I started gridding back and forth and it wasn’t long before she came over and said that her boyfriend had called from the condo and told her that we were slightly in the wrong spot. I made the adjustment and went back to the search. I found a coin or two and got my hopes up. Then I got a signal that could be trash but I knew it could also be gold. I went ahead and dug it because of my earlier thoughts about the diamond. I am very glad that I did because I pulled out a beautiful gold ring with a black stone and a diamond in it. When I called her over, she placed it back on her finger and she was just thrilled. She mentioned that she had made up her mind to not worry and let things work themselves out. When I told her the events that led me to her she said God must have sent me her way. Indeed!  I am so very glad that I could help reunite you with such a special ring. 😃

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Lost wedding ring in bushes, St. Augustine, Fl….Found with a metal detector!

  • from Sanford (Florida, United States)
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Mike McInroe…Metal Detector Specialist…Call ASAP Anytime…24/7..321-363-6029

Chris was just getting started on a relaxing hike in the Moses Creek Conservation Area and with all the warm weather and rain the mosquitos have been out in record number this year. As he was walking along he felt something biting him on the back of his left calf and he instinctively swatted at it and as his hand glanced off of his leg he felt and saw his wedding ring go sailing into the thick grass and bushes. He instantly dropped his backpack and began looking through the brush hoping desperately to find his ring. An hour passed and then two and still Chris could not locate his lost wedding ring. He decided to go home for a break and eat some lunch and then he returned to the very spot and continued searching the thick tangle of palmettos and brush. Another two hours passed and no ring! Dejected and discouraged Chris went home and began searching for the nearest place to purchase a metal detector. He decided to order one on line but it would take 5 to 7 days to arrive in the mail and he was anxious about not having his ring and wanted to do something more about finding it sooner. Another search led him to theringfinders.com and after reading some of the success stories he opted to give me a call. Chris explained what happened and the next day I met him at the trail head and armed with my trusty Garrett ATMax metal detector we set off down the path to the exact spot where he last saw his ring. It was quite obvious where he lost it because of all the trampled down brush and bushes. I set up my metal detector in Zero Mode, then ground balanced the machine and started searching along the edge of the trail working my way into the thicker brush. It became obvious that swinging a metal detector would not work effectively so we decided to step on the bushes and by bending them over it would allow me to swing my coil over each area. It took 15 minutes until I got a repeatable signal that had promise. Peering into the thick tangle I had to use my Garrett “carrot” pin pointer to actually locate Chris’s lost ring. Chris was elated and overjoyed to have his wedding ring back on his finger and as we walked back to our vehicles we talked of metal detecting and the joys and thrills of finding lost treasure!

Thank you Chris for allowing me to help you! And if there are any others out there who need my help, please call, text or email me, ASAP!

Mike McInroe…grateful to be a member of theringfinders.com

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Lost Ring Gulf Shores, AL – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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My wife Jeannie and I had another great afternoon today helping someone find their lost ring. As soon as I saw the message from Kristen this morning I could tell by the detail with which she described everything that this ring was really special to her. In actuality it was two rings because like a lot of people do, she had the wedding band and the engagement ring soldered together. This ring really meant a lot because of the family history attached to it. It had different diamonds that had once been worn by her Grandmother, her Mother and even some that had been in her Father’s wedding band. She definitely wanted this ring back. She lost it last Wednesday but finally a friend of hers had seen my website and referred her to Ringfinders. I was more than willing to help but we had a huge problem. The ring was on a stretch of beach that is usually off limits to metal detectorists. I provided some Google help and Kristen and I both started calling different numbers trying to find someone to plead Kristen’s story to in hopes of getting permission. After a lot of hold time and busy signals, Kristen finally got someone on the line who gave us written permission to head out. When we got to the beach, Kristen’s husband had done a great job of dropping a GPS pin where they had been swimming. I quizzed Kristen about how deep she had been wading and did some quick calculations based on the tide charts and I headed out to where I hoped it would be. Sometimes everything works out for the best and even after a few days in the Gulf I very quickly heard the sound of gold in my headphones. I walked over to Kristin who was in the water and I asked her if she wanted to leave her ring on the beach this time or did she just want me to give it back to her now?  As I started to smile she realized what I was saying and got excited. She followed me to the beach and got choked up as the gravity of getting her ring back with so much family history sunk in. I am so glad I could help you Kristen. I wish y’all the very best.

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Lost Texas A&M Ring – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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Sunday closed out what was an epic weekend of recoveries. I didn’t think it could get any better until I got home around noon and saw an email from Jesse. He left his phone number so I immediately called him. Now before I go any further, some of you may not know about my relationship with Texas A&M. Last spring I got a call from an Aggie saying she had  lost her class ring at night and I was lucky enough to find it. Then I was on the beach in the summer and a man approached me saying he lost his, you guessed it, Texas A&M class ring. I found it. Later in the summer, I got another call and after I found his too, I joked that I would need an honorary t-shirt or something if I kept finding them. It happened to get on the Aggie website and people were sharing left and right and messaging me to say thanks and I even got a 12th man towel sent to me. Awesome people. 😃. The calls kept coming but I ran into some bad luck. I had the first Aggie ring that I just couldn’t find and then I had another that was lost on the National Seashore and the Ranger would not give me permission to even look. I thought maybe the magic with the Aggies was over. That was until Jessie said the ring he lost was a class ring. I said, wait a minute, are you an Aggie?  When he said yes, I laughed a little to myself and said, I’m coming to find your ring. I talked my secret good luck charm (my wife) into going for some added help and we set off for another hour drive to Alabama. Jesse was still there with his parents standing watch and we talked for a bit before I started my search in the water. There were tons of people and it took all of my social skills to keep a good line while at the same time not risking the Coronavirus. Two hours later I was seriously wishing for the last 2 days where I had quick recoveries. I was determined though and I came back to talk to Jessie and check on my wife. My wife told me later that she had overheard Jesse’s dad consoling him and comforting him saying it would all be ok. She got a bit choked up and decided then to make me keep going no matter what. She is a trooper.   I took a different approach in my questioning with Jesse and felt some renewed hope when I realized Jesse was trying to tell me where he thought the ring would be and not where he was. You can credit his Mom for having him stand in the water where he thought he had lost it. I got a whole new perspective when he said he had walked out in front of one of the volleyball courts but he couldn’t remember which one. I started my second pass and I got a loud signal that sounded like a penny. I had already dug over 50 pennies in the previous hours but I never leave a good signal when I’m helping someone just in case. Sure enough, in the scoop was this young Aggie’s solid gold ring that means an incredible amount to him. I looked up and realized that no one was paying attention and they didn’t see me scoop it. So I took my headphones off and walked over to the family as if I had another question. I said Jesse, one more thing. Looking dejected he said, yes sir?  I said, it was the second volleyball court. As I smiled and held out my scoop they all realized what I was saying and literally jumped up and down hugging each other!  It was awesome!  What other hobby let’s you help so many people. Keep them coming Texas A&M, I don’t ever want you to lose one but if you do, I’ll be here to help. Congrats Jesse, your Mom and Dad and your Collegiate family are awesome!  GIG EM! 😃

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Lost Necklace Pensacola Beach – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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Saturday night was day two of what turned out to be an epic weekend. I had been looking forward to this day for a long time because we got to take my 16yr old daughter Haley car shopping for the first time. I knew how important the day would be to us all so I planned on no recoveries at all. I still had to give Blair a call though when I saw her message to me bright and early. I talked to her for awhile and told her how I could help and she explained about how she had lost her necklace on the beach the night before. She explained that it had a lot of sentimental value to her and I gave her two options. I told her that I would be glad to put her in touch with a friend of mine who could be there that morning or I could come out myself the next day. She said that she was sure my friend was great but there was just something about me that made her trust me. Well that made me feel like a million bucks and I told my wife about the awesome compliment. Once again Jeannie came to the rescue and reminded me that we were supposed to take back the kids after dinner and if I was up for an evening hunt, she would go with me. I called Blair back and she was thrilled and we made arrangements to meet on the beach right before sunset. When we got there, we all said hello from a Covid safe distance 😄 and they pointed out the area they had marked where they thought the necklace had fallen. I went over and was setting up my machine. I have learned over the years to open up the metals I can hear when the person doesn’t sound completely sure what it is made out of. I’m glad I did because less than two minutes later I had a tone that was almost like gold but it sounded clean in my ears. I reached down after moving a little sand and pulled out the necklace. Two recoveries in two days in less than five minutes of searching. Awesome!  As you can see, Blair was also thrilled. Thank you for putting your trust in me. I’m glad I was able to help. 👍

 

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Lost Ring Dauphin Island – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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Friday was the start to an awesome weekend. I had taken the day off from work so I had already spent the first part of the day metal Detecting on my own. I was cleaning all of my gear and I came inside to relax for a minute when I got a phone call from an Alabama number. Taylor explained to me that he and his wife Sawyer were vacationing with their whole family in Dauphin Island when Sawyer accidentally lost her ring. They were pretty sure that it was out in the Gulf but they weren’t positive. I was explaining that I probably wouldn’t be able to come until Sunday because it was already after 5:30 pm when my wife walked by and heard “engagement ring”. Luckily for them, my wife is a sucker for any wedding ring recovery so she immediately said, “let’s go, I’ll come with you.”  I said ok and began moving fast and realized that Jeannie didn’t hear the first part that it was an hour and a half away and we were racing sunset. It was a great trip and Dauphin Island is really pretty but when we parked I only had about 30 mins till Sunset and the Gulf was upside down. We spoke for a few minutes and I ran out in the Gulf towards the Oilrig in the distance that was the only marker Taylor had. He said it was chest deep on him so I started walking and it was way out there. Meanwhile my wife, Jeannie had to go move our car because we were in the wrong spot so when I started the hunt she wasn’t back yet. I turned around and Taylor gave me the thumbs up that it looked like the right area so I made the first pass in my grid search. The waves were lifting me up and moving me so I knew it was going to be a tough search. I thought about it and I said to myself that I should probably move a step in because of the tide and the fact that Sawyer is really petite and would probably need shallower water to throw the ball they were playing with. Sure enough, I took 2 steps and I got that beautiful Gold sound and I had her diamond engagement ring in my scoop in a record 3 minutes. 😃. They were so excited and their whole family had been watching from the beach and the condo. One family member told Jeannie as she was running back from the car that I must have been showing off because I was already done. Haha. So glad I could help y’all out. 💍

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Lost wedding ring in ocean, Toronita Beach, Fl….Found and Returned!

  • from Sanford (Florida, United States)
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I received an email from Omar stating, “I just realized this morning that I lost my wedding ring. It probably happened at Toronita Beach yesterday evening. The tide was high and I was boogie boarding. Please call me if you think there is a chance that you can find it.” It was close to midnight when I read Omar’s plea for help and I answered immediately wanting to encourage and instill some hope. I always start by asking some very pertinent questions like…What time of the day were you in the water? Did you feel your ring come off? How large of an area did you swim in and how long were you in the water? How deep was the water where you were boogie boarding and how far out did you go? Thankfully Omar responded early the next morning and gave very descriptive answers to all my questions regarding the how, when and where! And one key piece of information about their boogie boarding was he and his daughters were trying to see how far they could ride the waves all the way to the wet sand. With that knowledge and the fact they were in the water at “high tide” put the target area in a much easier part of the beach to metal detect, especially at low tide!

The next morning I met Omar at the beach, two hours before low tide, and he showed me the area where he and his family spent the evening boogie boarding. One thing he did mention was that while they were in the water he remembered a yellow house up past the dunes and they never went past the south side of that property. So that gave me a starting point. I promptly set up some flags in the sand every 15 feet apart until I had an area approximately 150 feet wide. By this time low tide was an hour away and I was hoping and praying that his ring would be somewhere in the wet sand area. After saying a prayer with Omar in the parking lot I geared up and started my systematic grid search and worked my way from the first flag and headed out to the waters edge and back. It took about an hour to cover half of the area and I managed to find a few coins and the occasional rusty nail. At one point I popped out a large gold hoop earring and just the edge was exposed in the sand and I thought, “There is Omar’s ring!” But false alarm! Fifteen minutes later I got a great signal on my Whites TDI Beach Hunter metal detector and low and behold it was Omar’s beautiful gold ring!

Omar put it this way….”After over 21 years, I lost my ring for the first time. My wife sympathetically searches my brain and our house but the ocean waves are the thief. First reaction horror. Then disbelief, confusion, disappointment, frustration. Hopelessness pairs with helplessness until I arrive at a desperate web search. Theringfinders.com. Do I dare to hope? I send out an SOS email. Mike responds with a shower of useful questions. I carefully respond to each one. He graciously responds building cautious optimism. “God willing I will find your ring.” We meet at the beach. The search process begins. His faith and experience at work. I retreat back to my job, un-expectantly settled and able to focus. Excited about premonition in my life. In just a few hours Mike unearths a victory. I become like a little child filled with an excitement not felt in decades. The ring is not just a comfortable object, but symbolic of so much more to me. How is it that humans come to value a thing whose true worth is not known until it is lost and then found. Read Luke 15 to understand. Sincerely, Omar”

How I thank God for giving me the opportunity to meet and help Omar and his dear family.
Maybe you need hope and help to find something you’ve lost.
Give me a call, text or email ASAP!
Mike McInroe,
Honored to be a member of theringfinders.com

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Lost Ring and Shark Visit – Gulf Shores, AL – FOUND!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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I was so tired yesterday that I didn’t even write up the story but the day was totally worth it. The night before I received a call from Angel who was down from Tennessee with her fiancé celebrating their engagement in Gulf Shores. She explained that she had been out in about thigh deep water throwing a football when her ring came off. At least she assumed it was in the Gulf, like most people, she wasn’t aware that it was gone until later that day. I agreed that I would come the next day but it would have to be at Sunrise because I was working that day and would have to find it before then. I pulled into the condo at 5:45am after an hour drive and Angel was already eagerly waiting for me in the parking lot. As we walked down to the beach and she explained where she thought it was, I quickly learned that she is just a lovely person and I said a quick prayer for help finding the ring. I got out in the Gulf and it was just awesome. The sun was beginning to peak over the horizon and the water was clear and calm. I was really enjoying myself and before long Angel’s fiancé joined her on the beach. I was explaining about the need to dig the occasional coin when I saw movement from my right. It was a small shark maybe a bit over 4ft long and he came right up to me about arms length. He just kind of eyeballed me and said hello and I thought that it was a great sign. I proceeded to do my first search pattern left to right with no luck. I then went into super detective mode and scoured the entire area again the other way going North and South. As I was wrapping up about an hour later I started to get worried. That ring was not where they thought it was. I walked up and suggested that we move some of the chairs around and let me grid off the beach. I could see Angel getting really worried so I tried to stay upbeat. When I was done with the beach, I told her that I wasn’t giving up yet so she couldn’t either. I told her to think about other areas it could be while I went back into the water and expanded my search west. I was on only my second pass when I got the unmistakable sound of gold. It was such a good signal that I got their attention and they watched eagerly as sure enough I had it in my scoop. There were so many shells it was hard to see until finally I saw a flash of diamond. I gave them a big smile and a thumbs up. It’s the first time I have had to fend off a couple with my metal detector and back away saying “Don’t hug me, don’t hug me”. 😃 Luckily, social distancing won out and as they hugged each other and cried a bit, I promised that one of these days I might make it up to Nashville post Covid and I would gladly take those hugs. Until then, Angel, I am so glad I was able to help you two out and I wish you all the very best! 💍

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Lost Ring after Tropical Storm – Orange Beach, AL – FOUND!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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Yesterday after work I got a call from a nice man named Nathaniel from Huntsville, AL. He and his wife were staying at Orange Beach and had already ridden out Tropical Storm Cristobal so they were really ready to get down on the beach and do some exploring. Sometimes after a big storm there will be tidal pools left after the surge takes out a bunch of sand and leaves the water in it’s place and that’s what Nathaniel was enjoying, throwing football back and forth when his wedding ring came flying off. When Nathaniel called me I went through my standard list of questions and the only thing I was worried about was that a gentleman on the beach with a detector had helped them look in the water for about 45 mins to no avail. It turns out that this was a Good Samaritan from out of town and might not have been familiar with hunting in saltwater. I told Nathaniel that I would be there in about an hr and not to worry that even if it took awhile I was prepared for a night hunt. I was secretly thinking that it wouldn’t take long to grid the tidal pool but when I got there I saw that it was easily the largest one I had ever seen on the beach. It was over 100yds by 100yds. Wow. 😳  Luckily, Nathaniel is a very intelligent guy and had immediately marked his position with landmarks and then walked straight out and marked his position on the sand with a beach chair. We had a great starting point. We went over a few more questions and as the rain poured down, I started my search. I could hear the disturbed areas in my machine where they had been digging, looking for it so with every step I was hoping to hear that gold tone. The first try was a no go so I asked a few more questions about whether he was throwing the ball hard or lobbing it, etc.  I expanded my search and started to see that tell tale sign of doubt and worry on Nathaniel’s face. I told him not to worry that I even had another detector in the car and if I had to I could grid out the entire area. He nodded and smiled a bit as I finished up the larger area with no luck. I came back over and asked him what he was thinking while he was watching me search and he said he was worried. Nathaniel is a big strong guy and he said he was throwing the ball hard so I asked him if he was throwing a tight spiral. He said of course 😄 so I told him that if he had followed through the ring may have flung to the other side towards shore. He said he had thought of that but he didn’t see it splash and he felt like it just had to be the other way. I smiled and politely told him my favorite line that “if they knew where it was, they wouldn’t need me.”  He laughed and agreed to let me do a bit of searching towards the waters edge. I went 3 feet and got a 12-37 which is usually a zinc penny on my machine but I never pass a good signal while searching for a ring and I always dig it very gently so I won’t damage the ring just in case. It came up in the scoop so easily that it didn’t make a sound and when I held it over to Nathaniel he just yelled, “YOU ARE THE MAN!!!”  Haha, that feeling of elation never gets old. It turns out that it was Nathaniel’s wife’s birthday and she was at dinner with family hoping that he would make it in time. When I found out I insisted that we make a run for it and they could send me pics later. As you can see, he made the dinner and I’m pretty sure his wife liked her birthday present. 👍😃. I’m so glad that I could help out, Nathaniel. It was a pleasure meeting you. God bless!

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