Family Heirloom Ring Lost While Gardening in Howell Twp NJ, Found by Dave Milsted


Helena took off her rings and put them in a pair of shorts she was carrying. While running down the beach, she accidentally dropped the shorts in the dry sand. She picked them back up and continued running down the beach not realizing that her rings had fallen out. When she discovered they were gone, she tried to visually find them by retracing her steps, but, they had sunk out of sight. She lives in another state and had to return home without them. A few days later, she got my contact info and called me and explained the situation. That beach is one of our most detected beaches in the whole area, so, there was always a possibility that the rings had already been found by someone, since it had already been 5 days, but, the search area wasn’t in the most popular areas, so, still a chance. Working by just a map with a large area circled, I knew this might take a while. Helena sent me a photo of the rings on her fingers, so, I had a good visual of what the rings should look like. The two rings she described were a class ring, and a ring with a T shaped top with stones. I headed to the site that night, so I had the place to myself and didn’t have to dodge around people and miss detecting some spots. After about 10 minutes on my first pass, I got a call for a lost set of keys, on the same beach, but, about 3/4 mile away. I went ahead and hiked over to help get the keys, which took about 5 minutes to find. With that lady happy and able to get into her car and take her child and 2 dogs home, I hiked back to my ring search location. Sorry, I didn’t get any photos of that successful hunt. Everyone was in a hurry, so, it just didn’t happen. It’s now about 10pm. A resumed making passes about 100 yards long and after about another hour, I get yet another pull tab reading and find a 10K gold class ring. Alright, now we’re talking! About a foot away, I get another signal. This time it’s an 18K Tiffany “Love” ring. Hmmm, that wasn’t on her list. Another signal close by and I find another 18K Tiffany ring. Still not a match for the one she identified, but, it looked familiar. I pulled out my phone to take another look at the photo she sent me, and lo and behold, those two rings were also on her hand in the photo! There were 5 rings on her hand, but, she had only mentioned the two. Strange. I continued detecting right around that spot and the next target was the 2nd ring she had described, also an 18K Tiffany ring. One last target and I found the last ring, one with a blue stone…..also 18K Tiffany ring. Wow, what an “Olympic” hunt! 5 rings and 4 of them Tiffany. I texted Helena and asked her if she had just lost two rings, or, all 5. She then admitted that it was all 5, just as I thought. Helena was now happy, but, had to find someone to pick up the rings, as she didn’t want them shipped. Now, a couple of weeks later, a friend of her’s came to pick them up. Thanks for the reward.


Kelly started to send me vague questions about my service and what was required from her. It was a very busy day for me and I also had plans to search for a lost ring the next morning. Once she gave more details about where she had lost an heirloom gold diamond ring and also a second gold aquamarine ring from her father, I was started to worry as they were very close to a busy section of beach. I had made plans to sacrifice some sleep to arrive at Atlantic Beach a few hours before heading to my morning appointment in New Bern, NC. As I knew my search time was short, I “phoned a friend” to assist with the hunt. Justin and I started at the area Kelly had marked very well with pictures, illustrations and landmarks. Justin began hunting the upper section of the recently replenished beach that was full of small pieces of aluminum as I worked from the high tide line. It only took about 30 minutes until Justin was able to winkle out Kelly’s two beautiful rings! Kelly informed us that she worked in New Bern so we still had time to hand deliver her recently found rings before heading to my previous planned location.
Kristina was enjoying a cookout and water fun at Fiesta Island. After coming out of the water, she noticed her gold and diamonds ring was gone. Not knowing if it was actually lost in the water, or, the dry sand around where she was camped, it was hard to zero in on where it could be. She searched as best she could, and even came back later that night to try and find it, but, it remained among the missing. She called me the next day and we made arrangements to meet at the site that evening so I could see the approximate 50 X 100 foot search area and decide what the best time and method it was going to need. It took a little while to figure out the exact site on the beach, but, eventually we did and the search area was defined. The tide was still too far in, so, I decided to search the dry sand area first, even though the water was the most likely place for it to have been lost. Kristina went back home and left me to grid the area, which I did until 10pm when access to the island closes. This whole island is a virtual dump site with zillions of scrap targets everywhere. After a couple of hours, over 100 pieces of junk, no ring, so, as planned, I returned the next morning at 5am to search the wet sand and water at a minus tide. I figured the ring should now be just in the wet sand, so, I started at the water’s edge and worked my way up the slope going parallel to the water’s edge. An hour and half later, and another 100 pieces of scrap, I had gone up the slope almost to the previous night’s tide line, but, still no ring. Ok, I figured it was time to put on the booties and hit the water. In walking up the slope toward my truck, I decided to do one more pass right at the previous high tide line. After about 3/4 of the way across, I get a signal and looked down to see an outline of a gold ring! No way, I ‘m thinking. How is a gold ring sticking up above the sand like that after being lost for two days? That’s a first for me, but, sure enough, it was Kristina’s ring! The first photo is the ring as I found it. The second is right after I lifted it up and set it sideways to verify it was Kristina’s. It turns out that there is a hard layer under the ring at that very spot that prevented it from sinking further. Another interesting aspect of this is that there was a couple that had been jogging back and forth over that very area during the time I was detecting close by. It’s amazing that they didn’t see the ring and make off with it. We lucked out. I texted a thrilled Kristina with a photo of her ring and we made arrangements to meet later in the day for the return after she got off work. A pleasure to meet you Kristina and thank you for the reward.





Dave & Maureen were enjoying a mini vacation on the beach of Emerald Isle, NC. Dave placed his wedding band in his hat while he was swimming in the ocean. When he returned, he put the hat on and the ring flew into the sand. The newlywed couple searched for 15 minutes but got rained out by a thunderstorm. Maureen texted me later that night and asked if I could search for the ring the following day or 2. After learning the ring was very close to a public beach access, I was concerned another person would find Dave’s ring. Even though it was getting late, they agreed to meet me as soon as I could arrive and begin the search. Dave & Maureen remembered the area very well and this lead to my quickest recovery yet as my first signal was his ring and using a headlamp, part of the ring was visible in the sand at night. I think I took 8-10 steps before finding his beautiful wedding band. It was very pleasing watching Maureen & Dave celebrate the recovery!



Chris sent me an email asking if I could help him. He lost his wedding band the night before while at rugby practice. I did a quick Google map search of the field, and it looked pretty barren. So I decided to walk the field before work. When I get there, the field was a solid grass carpet about 5 inches tall. It’s not going to be found by a quick walk.
There was a guy on the field with a human-powered push mower. I asked if his name was Chris. He looked at me with a concerned look, as I was in my work uniform, which makes me look like a police officer. He said yes, and I told him that he sent me a message that he lost a ring. There was relief on his face. He showed me the areas that he was in during practice, pretty much the whole field.
I told him that I wouldn’t get there until the weekend because of work and another recovery that I have today after work. He told me that his wife didn’t know he was at the practice, and he didn’t tell her that his ring was lost. They just celebrated their 4th anniversary a few days earlier.
I went to the beach that night to search for the other ring; I need to get into the water at low tide. There was a thunderstorm when I arrived and when the storm passed the ocean was angry. Large, powerful waves were kicking my butt. I couldn’t complete the search, so I will have to return.
I called Chris and told him that I would be at the field in an hour and 15 minutes if he wanted to meet me there. He said he couldn’t, that his inlaws were over, and he didn’t tell anyone that his ring was lost. He left the room when he saw that I was calling to answer the phone. I told him that I would spend about an hour there tonight, but it could be a several-day search because it is such a large field.
I knew where he placed his bag & drink. So I started there. No luck. So I started at 1 corner of the field and decided to search length-wise. I figured 1 down and back would take about an hour. There are a lot of targets. A lot of “can slaw”, cans that have been cut up by a lawnmower, leaving many aluminum pieces.
I got about ¾ of the way down my 1st path, and I got a good tone. I located the ring with my pinpointer. I was amazed I found it in about 30 minutes. My mom must have helped. I took a picture and sent it to Chris. He called me back about 10 minutes later, just as I was getting in my car as the skies opened up. He was in total shock. He said after he got the picture, he told his wife what happened. He said he was going to be in the dog house if I didn’t find the ring.
We met the next day to return the ring. Chris said he was allowed to go back to rugby practice.
I love my hobby!!
Haylee called me. Her great, great grandmother’s ring dropped between the boards of the deck. She looked immediately, looked later, had the boards pulled up and had several other people look as well. Two weeks passed and it was till not found. She called me to help out. I followed along as she shared her story. Based on what she said and the conditions present, she should have already found it herself. I picked up where she left off and couldn’t find it either. That is when we started questioning what actually happened. With a new approach it didn’t take long before I hit the sound I was looking for. Watch my video for the details and the beautiful reaction from Haylee.


TOPSAIL, NC
Alison was out on a boogie board that had a break in the foam causing the nose to dive down. This caused Alison’s hand to plunge hard into the sandy bottom. She felt her engagement ring get pulled off of her finger. About an hour after the loss, she found out about Crystal Coast Ring Finders. After speaking to her I loaded my equipment and headed to the Topsail beach location. A through grid search only provided 2 wires and a newer penny. I extended the search area to the west and received a strong signal on the Minelab Equinox 800. Before attempting to recover the item, I looked at Alison and her husband with my fingers crossed. Before Alison’s husband could get to me, I had her lost engagement ring in my hand.

