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Lost my Wedding Ring Playing Volleyball!

  • from Dallas (Texas, United States)
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We got a email from an very nice young man who was in a little bit of a panic.  He was playing volleyball  with his team at the local “Bump & Drink Volleyball Club” and realized his wedding ring had come off sometime during the evening.  This was about 8pm, he had spent the next 2 hours on his hands & knees with his friends going through the really deep sand on the court he had played on.

His wife is 8 months pregnant and he really dreaded going home without his wedding ring and then having to tell his wife about it.

He found “The Ring Finder” website and sent us a email.  I responded immediately because I knew exactly what Volleyball Club he had been at, we had been called in before to find rings for other customers.  I immediately call the club and spoke to the manager, most of the Volleyball clubs are very strict about not allowing detectorists on to their courts, but this manager remembered us and said we could come in the next day 30 minutes before they opened.

Ellen & I arrived at 3pm on a Friday and began our hunt.  Understand this sand is awesome, but it is 12-20inches deep all over the 8 courts.  We had to use our beach scoops as we detected.  We knew what court he had played on and where he had wash off the sand at the end of the night, so we began our hunt.

We cover the court 3 times with no luck, I began covering the area I believed the customer would have walked to the wash off station”aka water hose!  Understand that Ellen & I both use Garrett ATPro’s and Garrett Pinpointers, I was digging in the sand and Ellen walks over and says “what did he say his ring looked like”, as I looked up she had this sheepish grin on her face and on her finger was a Platinum Wedding  Ring.   I started to get up, and she said don’t stop looking this might not be his ring!  We have had that happen more than once, we found a different ring than the one we were hired to find.

Well the customer was on his way, he was stuck in Friday afternoon Dallas 5pm traffic..YUK!  When he arrived, we shook hands and I said “my wife has a question for you”  she walked up and said “is this your ring”.  He was awestruck, his mouth dropped open, he was so excited.  He must have told us 3 times how much his wife was going to be happy…

This hobby is so much fun.

Another successful hunt for The Ring Finders!

Don & Ellen – Dallas/Ft Worth

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Local Man Hunts Your Lost Treasures in Newark, OH.

  • from Newark (Ohio, United States)
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Newark man searches for treasures

Baughman uses metal detecting to reunite people with lost jewelry

NEWARK — Jon Baughman could be considered a modern-day treasure hunter.

But he isn’t in it for fame or fortune. He’s most interested in reuniting people with lost jewelry that is important to them.

For several years, Baughman has spent his spare time using metal detectors and other gear to search for rings in Licking and Franklin counties.

“They are a person’s most precious item, especially when they are passed down from generation to generation,” he said.

“I enjoy giving peoples’ lost treasures back to them.”

A Utica resident, Baughman was inspired to learn about metal detecting from his wife’s grandfather, Ed Collins, and his father-in-law, Jim Jolliff.

Whenever the three men get together, they enjoy going out to parks with their metal detectors and seeing what they find. Baughman has also participated in several seeded hunts, where participants compete to see who can find the most items buried in the ground.

When he discovered the website, theringfinders.com, Baughman found a way to turn his interest into a business.

Theringfinders.com is a large database of metal detecting specialists so clients around the country can search for a ring finder in their area.

“The main thing is they are willing to help you out,” he said.

He joined the site in February 2012. Last year he got about 20 calls. So far this year he’s gotten six.

A calibration tech at Abbott Laboratories, Baughman keeps his gear in his truck so he can respond to a call as soon as possible. He travels with several metal detectors, including one that’s hand held, shovels, and scoops to search in sand and water.

Although he doesn’t search for lost jewelry in people’s homes, he’ll search any outdoor space, including beaches, parks, lakes and yards.

When customers call, Baughman tries to get as much information about the ring or piece of jewelry as possible. He needs to know where they lost it and how long it has been missing.

If it’s in a public place, such as a parking lot or a park, he has to move quickly. If it’s on private property, he has to get permission to search the area.

When he’s searching for a ring he uses his metal detectors, putting small flags into the ground behind him so he knows were he’s been.

If the jewelry is buried, he has to dig for it, using his hand held detector.

“I’m there to help them and search everywhere I can,” he said. “I keep talking to them and get some more details and some new (information) pops up.”

Baughman works on a reward basis but charges a $30 call out fee to every customer to cover his travel expenses. If he finds the ring, it’s up to the client to decide how much he gets as a reward, he said.

Some of his customers have thrown their rings after a fight with their fiance or spouse. Others have lost it swimming or had it fall out of their pocket.

One woman called him to help her find her husband’s wedding band, which fell off his finger when he was pulling leaves off a rake. She was thrilled when he was able to find it.

He also was able to help a man in Gahanna who lost his ring playing football with his sons and a woman in Mount Sterling who lost two rings in a barn.

Although he’s had many successful finds, there have also been times he couldn’t find the ring.

Some have sunk to the bottom of the lake and others have been picked up by someone else. But he never gives up the search until the customer tells him its over.

“At least they have closure,” he said. “When you have something that’s lost, you want to know if it’s there or not.”

While he’s hunting, Baughman often comes across lots of metal objects, from cans and pop tabs to horseshoes and bottle caps. He picks up what he finds and stores it in a bucket in his garage.

“I was in Scouting, and we leave it better than how you find it, so I always pick it up,” he said.

When it comes to ring hunting, it’s important to be patient and thorough, Baughman said.

“Practice is the biggest thing and knowing your equipment,” he said. “There is a lot of detective work.”

His favorite moment is being able to tell someone he’s found their ring.

Once he returned a class ring to a woman who hadn’t seen it in 29 years. She was so happy she cried.

“You always get that rush when you find one,” he said. “I always get a big smile on my face because I know I made them happy.”

ajeffries@newarkadvocate.com

740-328-8544

Twitter: @amsjeffries

October 07, 2013

http://www.newarkadvocate.com/article/20131006/NEWS01/310060029/Newark-man-searches-for-treasures

About this series

“Aces of Trades” is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs — whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at advocate@newarkadvocate.com or 740-328-8821.

Looking for something?

For more info about Jon Baughman, call 740-334-7293 or go to theringfinders.com/Jon.Baughman/#us-oh-newark

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Jon Baughman, an experienced metal detecting specialist and member of The Ring Finders Metal Detecting Service, demonstrates how he uses different metal detectors and equipment to find customers’ lost rings and other objects. / Michael Lehmkuhle/The Advocate

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Jon Baughman, an experienced metal detecting specialist and member of The Ring Finders Metal Detecting Service, demonstrates how he uses different metal detectors and equipment to find customers’ lost rings and other objects. / Michael Lehmkuhle/The Advocate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jon Baughman, an experienced metal detecting specialist and member of The Ring Finders Metal Detecting Service, demonstrates how he uses different metal detectors and equipment to find customers' lost rings and other objects. / Michael Lehmkuhle/The Advocate

Jon Baughman, an experienced metal detecting specialist and member of The Ring Finders Metal Detecting Service, demonstrates how he uses different metal detectors and equipment to find customers’ lost rings and other objects. / Michael Lehmkuhle/The Advocate

 

Jon Baughman often finds himself digging up trash instead of precious rings and notes the variety of objects he finds from old horseshoes and bent spoons to beverage can pull tabs. Baughman pockets all trash he finds and disposes of it later. / Michael Lehmkuhle/The Advocate

Jon Baughman often finds himself digging up trash instead of precious rings and notes the variety of objects he finds from old horseshoes and bent spoons to beverage can pull tabs. Baughman pockets all trash he finds and disposes of it later. / Michael Lehmkuhle/The Advocate

 

Jon Baughman, an experienced metal detecting specialist and member of The Ring Finders Metal Detecting Service, demonstrates how he uses different metal detectors and equipment to find customers' lost rings and other objects. / Michael Lehmkuhle/The Advocate

Jon Baughman, an experienced metal detecting specialist and member of The Ring Finders Metal Detecting Service, demonstrates how he uses different metal detectors and equipment to find customers’ lost rings and other objects. / Michael Lehmkuhle/The Advocate

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Lost my Ring while Playing with my Dog!

  • from Dallas (Texas, United States)
Contact:

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We got call from the gentleman above who said he had lost his ring in the backyard while playing with the dog at friends home.   The challenge on this hunt was the it was 102 degrees in Dallas that day, it was miserable.  My wife and I arrived and began the search with our Garrett ATPro’s and we began in the area where the customer said he thought it was.

We searched for about 2 hours, gridding out the yard, going through the flower beds we were having no luck.  I ask the ring owners wife if he could come home from work and show us exactly where he was and exactly what  he did with the dog.   He arrived about 20 minutes later.  He stood in the yard and said I did this and my son & I looked at each other and knew what had happened, the ring was slung back to the other side of the yard when the man threw the toy for the dog.  My son found the ring in about 10 minutes.

The customer and his wife were thrilled, we were soaked, and sunburned, but happy!

Another successful hunt for “The Dallas Ring Finders”

Don & Ellen with help from our son Tripp

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My Daughter Lost my Key Fob Somewhere on our Street!

  • from Dallas (Texas, United States)
Contact:

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We got a call about 5:30pm from a customer that we had help several months ago, her daughter had lost daddy’s very special knife in the high grass.  We were able to find it and created a happy customer.

This same lady’s neighbor’s daughter grabbed her mom’s car keys and ran through the yards of about 5 homes chasing a dog and then ran back to her house.  Now you need to understand these are hugh yards, 100-200 ft across per yard.  All the neighbors and family had been looking for 1 key and key fob that had fallen off.

Our previous client came home and heard about the keys and immediately said “I know who to call, lets call “The Ring Finders”,  she gave us a call and explained what happened and we said let a us grab a quick dinner and we would head that way.

We arrived and chatted with the owner of the keys, the little girls dad, the little girl was in bed being punished for losing mom’s keys.   He explained where she had run and told us we had permission to scan all 5 of his neighbors yards.  Ellen & I got our Garrett ATPro’s and began to search, some areas were very thick grass.  About 5 minutes after we started my son and his girlfriend arrived to assist.  Sometimes just more eyes in a situation helps, it was starting to get dark.

We all spread out and it 5 minutes I hear my son say “Found It”  we all ran to him, including the owner and all his neighbors, my son was not even using a detector, just walking and looking.  As I told him, son we do not care how it gets found only that it gets found.

Everyone was happy the father said it would have cost him $300-$400 per replace the key fob for his wife’s car.

So from a referral comes another successful hunt for “The Dallas Ring Finders”

Don & Ellen with assistance from Tripp & Shannon

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Lost Wedding Band while Tube Fishing at Lake Lavon,Tx

  • from Dallas (Texas, United States)
Contact:

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We received an email from Crystal after she did a exhaustive google search to find someone to help her husband find his wedding ring.  Her  husband Aaron had been tube fishing on Lake Lavon in Texas all day long.  He had no idea where he lost the ring and I think really did not expect us to find it.

Trying to coordinate schedules for us to make the hour drive out to the lake took several days, so today when we all arrived at the lake the ring had been lost for 9 days.  We arrived about 9am and met Aaron & Crystal,  remember he was very unsure where he lost the ring, in fact he thought it was probably out in 20-25 ft deep water where he had been tube fishing.

Aaron showed us the area where he and his buddy cleaned the fish in a picnic area.  Ellen & I got out both of our Garrett ATPro’s and began the search.  Aaron and Crystal took a walk down the beach while we were detecting.  We had only been there 20 minutes when we spotted the Silver Carbonite Wedding Band.  We could not believe we found it, this was one of those searches you go on almost knowing its going to be a long shot at best.

BUT, it turned into a awesome day.  Ellen & I walked down the beach and Aaron & his wife spotted us and began walking back our way.  As we got close to them I said “Boy the lake is really low” instantly you could see their faces get a little sad thinking we had not  found the ring and already given up.

THEN, I said, “Aaron let me ask you a question, would you like to have this back” and I held up his ring.  As you can see in the pictures, they were ecstatic and could not thank us enough.

What a wonderful hobby we have and the joy we get to bring to people when we find their lost item.

Another successful hunt for “The Dallas Ring Finders”

Don & Ellen

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Lost Ring … Del Mar Beach, CA.. In Surf at High Tide

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)
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Saturday – July 20, 2013     I received a call from Kathleen in Del Mar, CA. after she found my number on ” The RingFinders ” website.  She and her husband Jeff had been to the beach a couple days before at 6:30pm, which was about high tide.  Jeff was boogie boarding in the surf when he took a big wave and when he recovered from a wipeout he was missing his wedding band. While  talking with with Kathleen, I explained that it is a difficult search, because the detector can only detect ring size metal to a depth of 6″ to 8″ inches. Depending on surf conditions the sand can move more than a foot of sand in one tide. Kathleen gave me good directions, which made it easier to start hunting.

I drove to the location, arriving about 12 am. two hours before low tide. Setting up a grid search of 75 yards parallel to the beach. After five passes towards the receding tide I got my first and only signal.. There it was and I knew right away it was Jeff’s ring. It was just about 5″ or 6″ inches deep. I had been slowly swinging the detector for about 30 minutes overlaping each swing as not to miss a ringsize area. Missing a 3 inch area could make a 30 minute search turn into hours of hunting. I always tell people that I’m searching for, ” Just don’t watch me work, because it will drive a normal person crazy” It’s a slow and methodical process.

I text Kathleen a photo of the ring and asked her to call. She immediately called back with an excited voice. We set up a meeting and Jeff was outside his home waiting at 1 am when I drove up. I handed him his ring and he told me how he lost it. He is vacationing from Louisiana and is not familiar with westcoast surf.  Jeff said the wave picked him up smashing him under the water. When he came up he had sand in every orfice. Then he noticed the missing ring.  He just knew it was gone forever and probably half way to Hawaii by now.  He explained to me,  how he had told all his friends about his surfing experience and the loss of his ring. I only wish I could tell Jeff’s story the way he told it.  Now he can tell them a better story. ” The Recovery of his ring”   It was a pleasure to meet Jeff and talk to his wife on the phone and I am realizing that there are so many nice people in this world.. I love helping people with a skill that has taken me many years of experience and research to learn.. ( And Lots of Luck )

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Found Lost Wedding Ring in Lake Wilson in Weatherford,Tx

  • from Dallas (Texas, United States)
Contact:

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We got a call from the gentleman above late on a Friday afternoon.  Said he had fallen out of a boat on a small private lake in Weatherford,Tx and wondered if we would come try to find it.  I said we would be happy to but it would have to wait a week as were on our way to the airport to leave for vacation in Cancun for a few days.  I loved his response, he said “well it ain’t going nowhere”.  We agreed I would call him in a week when we returned.

As promised we called the following week and spoke with John about his ring, he explained that he and a friend were coming in from fishing on a small boat, he had stood up just at the moment his friend decided to pull the boat up a little higher on the bank.  When that happen, John lost his footing and fell into the lake.  He said he could feel his wedding band slipping off but could do nothing about it.  The waters edge was slippery and covered in algae and dropped off about 5-6ft in depth.

John found “The Ring Finders” website and located us.

Ellen & I drove 75 miles to the spot on the highway to meet John and have him and buddy lead us back on the dirt roads to where the lake was.  I set up my gear and went into the lake, it was amazing how deep it got so close to the shore.  John told me while I was in the water that he had used swimming pool cleaning poles to try and drag the ring up on shore and he also had a friend bring out his metal detector but no luck finding the ring.  I spent maybe 20 minutes in the water getting a feel for the area where John thought the ring would be.  I was getting lots of hits on my detector and using my water scoop was very difficult in the muddy bottoms.   As I went to change hands with my equipment my detector passed over a flat rock covered in algae  and my Garrett AT Pro went off loudly so I knew something was there.  I reached over with my hand and felt along the top of the rock and there was John’s wedding ring.  My wife and John had been talking along the bank and I said “hey John would you like to have your ring back?” and held up his gold wedding band .   He was flabbergasted, he said over and over “I thought I would never see it again”.  These reactions are what make this so much fun.

My wife was filming with her IPhone and began to ask John some questions.  He said this was the first time this ring had been off his finger in 57 YEARS.  He buddy then said, ‘tell them what you did’.  John replied with a sheepish grin, “I did not tell my wife”  he said I have a friend who owns a Pawn Shop who got him a temporary wedding ban to wear until we could hopefully find his ring.  We laugh and laughed.  Then John said…. “I wonder if the Pawn Shop with take the other ring back”.

It was a wonderful day.

Another great find for “The Ring Finders”

Don & Ellen Wilson

 

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Found Wedding Ring in Trophy Club,Texas

  • from Dallas (Texas, United States)
Contact:

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We received a call from a lady who said “thank God I reached you”I have a lost ring for you to find.  I said OK and ask for the details.  She described it as a Men’s gold wedding ban.  I ask her where is was lost and she said in her backyard.  I ask as I always do, “are you sure that’s where you lost it” and she said she was positive.

I said OK then we can find it, then I asked the most important question.  How was the ring lost, what was he doing when he lost it……. there was a long silence and she said “I know it’s there because I threw it there”.  I said that was no problem and we would drive the 28 miles to Trophy Club,Tx around 7pm to let the heat go down, it was 101 degrees warm.

We arrived at a beautiful home, got our equipment out, the lady kindly showed us where she was when she threw the ring and then my wife her re-inact the event (this is a must we have learned).  We spent maybe 20 minutes detecting the yard and there was a lot of underground trash.  We knew the ring would “Hit Hard” on our detectors because it had only been 3 days since it was lost and men’s wedding bands are typically large in size.

We were correct in our assumptions and the Ring was returned for another happy customer for “The Ring Finders”.

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Don & Ellen – The Dallas Ring Finders”

PS…. the husband was in counseling while we were looking for the ring.

 

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Wedding Set Lost on Day of Anniversary at Rehoboth Beach: Found

  • from Lewes (Delaware, United States)
Contact:

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I received a phone call at 7:30 am on May 27th 2013 regarding a Platinum Wedding  set that had been lost the day before on May 26th 2013 in the sand at Rehoboth Beach, Del. The story was that the couple were celebrating their wedding anniversary on May 26th and that they were at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The owner had taken her rings off and placed them in her lap in order to put suntan lotion on the couples child. Forgetting that she had placed the rings in her lap she stood up and the rings fell into the sand. There were attempts made to recover the rings by sifting the sand, but the rings were not to be found. Upon getting the phone call I arrived at the beach about an hour later only to find that the beach had been raked by the city workers using a tractor and a sand rake. My fear was that the rings had either been gobbled up by the sand rake or that they had been carried in an unknown direction down the beach by the sand rake. I began my search in an area that was pointed out by the ring owners husband with negative results. I then adjusted the area of my search due to the husband believing that they had been closer to the water than he originally thought. The husband left the beach in order to help his wife pack as they were to leave to go back  home on this day, I told him that I would call him with the results of the search. The husband had’nt made it back to his parked car before I recovered the 1kt diamond Platinum ring right in the area where I began my second search. I called him and told him that he might want to come back down to the beach which he did and at that time I returned the recovered ring to him. I then conducted a spiral search from the area that the diamond ring was found and I failed to locate the wedding band. I then searched north of that same location without recovering the band. Then a search of the area to the south of the recovered diamond ring resulted in the recovery of the wedding band sixty feet south of where the diamond was recovered. It appeared that the sand rake had moved the wedding band from the area of where it had been dropped. I actually saw several of the small diamonds on the wedding band glistening in the sunshine before my metal detector passed over top of it. A small portion of the top of the wedding band was exposed just above its hiding place in the sand. The wedding band was recovered and returned to its rightful owner. Another anniversary saved by the Ringfinders!

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Lost Engagement Ring Sturgeon County Alberta

  • from Edmonton (Alberta, Canada)
Contact:

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I received a call from Emma stating that she had lost her engagement ring in her yard on her acreage in about one foot of fresh snow.  Emma recalled that she had the ring when she came out of the house and that after doing her chores noticed that her ring missing. She searched for her ring for a couple of days but had no luck finding it so she did an internet search and was able to locate me on the web through the “theringfinders.com directory” and gave me a call.

When I arrived at her acreage Emma showed me approximately where she thought her ring was lost. I thought to myself that this search was going to be a challenge! (Mechanics Yard if you know what I mean) and as well, Emma had moved some snow around and pilled it on a tarp. I searched for 3 hours with no luck that day, I told Emma to call me once all the snow has gone from her yard as I would have a better chance of finding the ring.  Three weeks later Emma called me and told me that most of the snow had gone and would I come out to her acreage again. She informed me that she had rented a metal detector and with friends had hunted for several hours over the weekend with no luck. She was giving me another chance to find it and was prepared to go purchase another ring if I didn’t.

I headed out to her acreage and went to work searching the area again with no luck. Something was telling me to look beyond the area which she thought her ring might be. I searched for two more hours and there in a small patch of snow I found her ring. I can tell you she was one very happy lady when I called her over to her ring. It had been there lying in the snow for over one month!

Thank you, Emma, for giving me the opportunity to locate your lost engagement ring. I wish you all the best to you on your wedding day this summer.

Take care,

Norm Peters

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