September 1, 2023: As Jamo’s daughter said “It was a great weekend on the Cape” at least until her father rushed into the water and lost his cell phone. The party of three searched for the phone but did not find it. Photos, contacts and other information was to spend three days buried in chest deep water. After viewing a 1851 Large Cent that Leighton (another RingFinder) had just found and abut 10 feet away that I heard a strong signal. It took two tries to get the target into my scoop and pull it from the bottom of the beach. Amazingly it was an I-phone11 in good looking condition.
At home I did not see any ingress of water into the phone, I pulled the SIM card and there was no sign of water there either. With all the power cords I had, none fit the Apple. I called Leighton and asked him to bring me one the next day.
The next day the phone was put on charge. A half an hour later it turned on with a photo splash screen which was locked. We tried a few common pass-codes and none worked. I did not know how the Emergency Number functioned and being hesitant about it dialing 911. I did not want to activate a 911 call. I spent some time researching and found Medical ID might yield some usable information. My luck, it only gave the owner’s name and age. There was no emergency contact name or number. However the first name was unique – Jamo.
I searched Facebook and found two matching names and with the age deleted one. I messaged the other and had no answer. I was able to deduce Jamo’s daughter’s name and from her Facebook page her husband’s name and his Facebook page. I messaged each of them and waited… A few hours later I received a text from Susie. I called her number and YES, the phone was her father’s. We held a short conversation which was interrupted by a call on my home phone from Jamo.
I told Susie I would call her back and answered My other phone. I talked with Jamo and related the story of finding the phone and search for the owner. As fate had it, Jamo was returning to Cape Cod the next day and we made arrangements to meet and make the return. The “Next Day” turned into another two days before the phone exchanged hands. At the exchange…shat an outstanding note Jamo had written and then read to me. This is one gift that is at the top of my most memorable returns the list.
The moral that we all can learn form this return it to put a contact phone number into your Medical ID if you have a cell phone. I have entered two contacts and my home phone number in mine, not that I plan to loose my phone, but one never knows what will happen. Lets all keep on smiling along with Jamo.
