Engagement ring lost on the beach, Beach Haven NJ, LBI, recovered by Edward Trapper, NJ Ring Finder
While I was at work, I received a phone call from Ashley. She explained that she, her husband David, and their kids had been enjoying a beautiful afternoon at the beach when she took off her ring to apply sunblock. It wasn’t until hours later that she realized it was missing, remembering she had left it in the cup holder of the chair. After unsuccessfully searching, they packed up and headed home. A quick Google search led them to find my name, and Ashley promptly gave me a call.
We agreed to meet on the beach, and she briefly described the ring. When I arrived, David met me at the dune walkover. Based on his recollection of where they had been sitting and the pictures he had taken earlier in the day, we determined the search area. It was getting dark, and David had to return to the local amusement park to be with his kids.
I searched the area, widening my grid with each pass but had no luck at first. Along the way, I found some coins and a ring that didn’t seem to match Ashley’s description—I thought she had mentioned an emerald and diamond ring, but the one I found had emerald-cut diamonds. I set it aside and kept searching for another 30 minutes, still turning up nothing.
Back at my truck, I reviewed the information, puzzled as to why I couldn’t find the ring. Looking again at the one I had recovered, I realized it was a gold ring with emerald-cut diamonds. Curious, I called Ashley to ask for a more detailed description. This time, she described the ring as being yellow gold with emerald-cut diamonds all around. My jaw dropped—I had already recovered her ring without realizing it!
I sent her a picture, and she was in shock. It was her ring! Since she was staying just a few blocks away, I drove over to meet her husband David, who was extremely grateful for the recovery. We talked a bit, took some pics, and headed our separate ways.
I notice a text from Christopher requesting some help in locating Sandra’s David Yurman bracelet she had somehow lost on the beach in LBI the day before. They were not exactly positive that it was lost on the beach, but figured it was the most likely place it could be. The day before Sandra and some friends were doing some whale watching from the beach, and getting some excellent drone footage of the whales at the same time. That made me just a little nervous, as the whales move rather quickly up and down the beach, and it was very possible Sandra did the same. We arranged to meet at the house and walked up to the beach, while we discussed exactly what area they had spent most of the day prior. I asked Christopher to walk in front of me to box out the spot, as I followed behind, dragging my sand scoop around the perimeter. It was just a short while later, right in front of a group of people, that actually follow NJ Ring Finder on Facebook, where my metal detector got a loud signal, consistent with the bangle bracelet. Sure enough, It was Sandra’s bracelet, safe in my sand scoop, after spending two days buried in the Jersey Shore sand. Another near tragedy turned into memories !!!!
The night prior to Carries phone call, her son and some friends were over in Seaside Height NJ, on a small but well-known beach they call Sunset Beach. The were messing around like all teenage kids do, when his chain broke and his cherished cross went missing. It was pretty dark that night, but that did not deter their search efforts. Unfortunately they came up empty handed. They returned the following morning and again had no luck. The cross and location were posted on one of the local Facebook pages, where Carrie grabbed my number and called to set up the recovery. She gave me exact details of where the chain had broken, and within minutes, the cross was in my scoop. I immediately called Carrie, and we agreed to meet down the road in about 15 minutes. Another fantastic recovery of a cherished keepsake in the books.
It was another fantastic day in New Jersey so Denise and her family decided to pack up and head to the beach. Denise’s nephew loves the beach, especially flying kites when the wind is just right. Prior to flying the kite, she removed her necklace and engagement ring. Denise slipped the necklace through her ring and secured the clasp, then placed them both in her top pocket for safe keeping. They both had ran all over the soft white sand, almost covering the entire block, well about 2/3 of it anyhow. It was later on when she looked in the pocket and , OH NO, both were missing. Everyone searched the area for quite some time when they decided a metal detector was needed. They headed down to the local store and purchased one, figuring the necklace would soon be located. Well, unfortunately that did not work, so they decided to call in a professional. Once I arrived and got all the details, I covered the entire area where they were flying the kite, figuring that was the most likely area they would have fallen out of her top pocket. With nothing to show for my effort, we decided the next most traveled area was the top of the tide line, and down a bit to the low tide mark. After a few passes, I asked them to move back a little, and sure enough, very close to the chairs, was the spot my metal detector sniffed out the ring and necklace. Everyone was totally amazed, and the best I can figure, either the necklace never made it into her top pocket, or coincidently it fell out right in the area they had set up the chairs and stuff. Regardless another happy ending !!!!
