how to find lost ring in a lake Tag | The Ring Finders

LOST WEDDING RING IN POPULAR IOWA LAKE

  • from Waverly (Iowa, United States)

A fun day on a pontoon ends up with a wedding ring at the bottom of Clear Lake in Iowa. After reading other finds Margi gave me a call and asked if I was willing to come look for her ring.  I was more than willing except for one problem. I had a broken toe and was currently in a boot cast. After a visit to the doctor that week, I was told that I could start the transition away from the boot and into an ankle brace.

The ring was some where by the beach and swim area of the State Park and Campground. We made plans and made a reservation at the campground for the following weekend and meetup with Margi and her husband Dan at 8am on Saturday.  When Saturday came we met and walked to the beach area. There was a large swim area marked by buoys and boats would anchor just outside the swim area and have fun. In the summer afternoon this would attract dozens of boats and hundreds of people.  They had anchored the pontoon and proceeded to jump in the water and play.  They actually had a photo of her jumping in the water. Studying the photo, you could clearly see the ring on her finger and you could see the left 2 buoys as you were facing the shore. To give a little perspective, we were 400 feet from shore and only 4 foot of water.  Using the buoys as our reference point we started searching. After 3 hours of searching we found many bottle caps, a 2020 penny, a 1966 dime, an old ring type pull tab from the 1970’s, and a top of a beverage can that was opened with a churchkey so dating prior to mid 60’s. Boats and people were starting to come so we had to suspend the search but I assured them that I would be back the next morning.  During our time together I found out that the ring had not left her finger for 30 years. Dan saved up for 3 years and had it custom made so it had a lot of meaning.

That afternoon, my wife Jeni and I regrouped. I went and bought a waterproof case for my phone so I could take it out in the water with me. The next morning at 7am, Jeni and I went to the beach and we went back out using the GPS coordinates of the photo. We searched what I thought was the correct place for another couple hours and found more junk. At this point, I was needing more sun screen so we went back into the beach. I ended up downloading a GPS app to my phone and put the coordinates of the photo into the app and when we went back out I was able to stand at the exact location of the photo.  The thing was at this new location which was left of the buoys which did not make sense as we have focused all our time right of the buoys that the photo clearly showed.  Jeni stood at that new location and I used her as a reference. I started to scan the area and within 5 minutes I got a hit at a location that was consistent with where she would have jumped in. I scooped and there it was less than 10 feet from where my gps said the photo was taken. I turned to Jeni and I could not even speak and she saw the look on my face and asked what was wrong. I was able to get the words out that I found it. After finding so many bottle caps it was just unbelievable.

We made our way back to shore at which point I gave Jeni the ring as I was shaking. We went back to our camper decided to shower to wash off all the sand and change before we called Margi.  We gave Margi a call on speaker and I explained that we had been searching since 7am and we were going to pack up but then asked if she wanted to come get this rock before we left. There were tears over the phone which made Jeni and I start to cry. Margi and her daughter came and we reunited her with her beautiful ring. It was a fun weekend that ended with so much joy.

Lost Diamond Ring, Ma Me O Beach, Alberta, Canada.

  • from Edmonton (Alberta, Canada)
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I received a call from Noreen on June 24th regarding a diamond ring that her mother Edna had lost while out swimming in the lake the day before.  After asking Noreen a few questions I agreed to drive out to the lake the next day.

June 25:  I arrived at Ma Me O Beach and met Noreen and her mother Edna, at the cabin. Noreen showed me the area that they were in the lake swimming. The area was huge, approximately the size of a football field. I told Noreen that the search was going to be tough, almost like looking for a needle in a hay stack!

The search took me over four sand bars which were waist deep, and chest deep between each bar. It was good that Noreen had pictures of her mother on a float tube and this gave me a good reference point to start my search.  I searched the area for about four hours and called it a day. I told Noreen I would be back the following day.

July 26:  I decided to do an early morning search because the lake would be smooth like a sheet of glass which made it a pleasant time to search. The water was clear so I was able to see the sandy bottom.  Noreen also wanted to assist in the search so I gave her my backup detector.  We went over the search area that I did the previous day and had no luck. The weather forecast for the next few days was not good; the lake would be very rough and impossible to do a good search.

July 3:  The Lake was calm and a nice day for a search.  After studying the pictures and checking my GPS tracking I decided on an area but again had no luck.  My equinox 800 developed problems so I changed to my 3030 and proceeded to search, again with no luck.

 

July 11:  A very busy day at the lake with lots of people out.   We covered a huge area with no luck.

 

July 16:  I expanded my search area.  I must say for a busy lake the bottom was very clean with hardly any junk in the lake. Again, another day with no luck.

 

July 21:  I regrouped with Noreen and her brother Dan and asked again the same questions which I had asked before.  I must have sounded like a broken record to them but it was very important to me. Again we did a thorough search of the area and again no luck. I could tell Noreen and Dan where starting to doubt if the ring was ever going to be found. I told them I would find that ring and that it just takes time. Edna said to me that the ring is gone and someone else was going to find it. I told her if someone was going to find it that would be me.  That helped to reassure Edna.  Edna had just celebrated her 93rd birthday on the day she lost her ring.  The ring had been given to her by her father and had been on her finger for the past 60+ years.

 

July 26:  I did a weather check and the lake was rough, but the day was expected to be a nice so I decided to head out again.  When I arrived, the lake was rough so I waited it out and by noon the wind died down so we were able to search again.  I told Noreen that I was going to find the ring today if I had to stay in the lake all day!  Two hours into the search I received a loud tone followed by a sweet low tone.  Music to my ears! I knew it could be the ring.  I scooped it up and to my surprise there was the ring!  I walked over to Noreen and asked her if this was “IT”.  She could not believe that I had found her mother’s ring after so many hours in the lake searching.  What a wonderful feeling that was for me to be able to see Edna put the ring back on her finger.

 

Thank you, Noreen for sticking with me and not giving up on me.  Another happy client

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