Got a call from Taylor, a reporter from WBTW Channel 13 news, wanting to do a story on The Ring Finders of North Myrtle Beach. I agreed to the interview and contacted Matt Fry, TRF Myrtle Beach, and invited him to join in. We all met up on Oct 14th and had a great time. Enjoy.
Jim
On Monday, Aug 1st, I received a text message saying, “Can you help us locate a lost necklace? OIB 5 Jan Street?” I called the number attached to the text and spoke with Drew who stated a gold cross and chain had been lost but they weren’t sure where. I asked him if these could have been lost in the water, he assured me they weren’t. I told him I had another search scheduled for 3 pm and wouldn’t be able to be there until sometime between 6-7 pm. He agreed and I told him I’d call him when I was on my way. After finishing up with an unsuccessful search in the ocean for another gold chain with a pendant, I headed towards Ocean Isle. I called Drew and told him I was on my way and would be there in 35-40 minutes. On the drive I’m thinking about how difficult it is to find a Gold Chain. The last few searches for gold chains haven’t been successful and I was hoping I’d have better luck with this one.
I arrived at 6:30 and saw Drew and a young man coming down the stairs from the rental. Drew told me to park at another rental a few houses down. I had the car unloaded by the time Drew and Will walked up to the car. We introduced ourselves and I found out Will was the one who lost the cross and chain and was the boyfriend of Drew’s daughter. I asked Will to tell me the story of what happened. He said he had taken the chain off with the cross and put them in a bag so he could play in the ocean. When he was finished playing he remembered putting the cross and chain back around his neck and walked back to the house for a few minutes. At some point before returning to the beach he realized the chain and cross were gone. A quick search along his path yielded nothing. I started my search at the beach access and worked out to the beach. Luckily, Drew had the foresight to leave their tent up on the beach. I had Will lead the way from the beach stairs to where the tent was, while I followed swinging the detector. Once we got to the tent, I started a grid search from one side working forward. Within a few steps, I see a small little glimmer of gold sticking out of the sand. I ran the coil over the area and got a VDI (visual display indicator) of 1 on the Equinox 800. I reached down and pulled the chain out of the sand and handed it to Will. He was excited but his Great Grandfather’s cross wasn’t on the chain. I knew the cross couldn’t be far away. I swung the coil within 6 inches of the chain and at the same time I got a VDI of 5 I saw an edge of the cross sticking out of the sand. As I handed Will his Great Grandfather’s cross, that had been handed down to Will’s Grandfather, who handed it down to Will, he was so excited and relieved that his family heirloom had been found and returned. I did a quick test on the outstretched chain in the sand and got no indication at all; I then overlapped the ends of the chain over itself and got a VDI of 1 again. This explains why thin gold chains are so hard to detect.
Drew – thank you so much for contacting and trusting me to help find Will’s treasure.
Will – So happy your heirloom was found. Best wishes to you in your life’s journeys.
Jim
TESTIMONIAL:
It was 4pm on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, at Crescent Beach in North Myrtle Beach, SC. Our family had spent an overcast day on the beach together and had begun discussing dinner plans for the evening. The sun began to peek from the clouds, so my brother-in-law and his girlfriend decided to throw a football before we packed up for the day, so I joined. They went out in the surf at least waist deep, and I stayed ankle-shin deep to throw back out to them. Never had an issue with my college ring coming off my hand, but after a few throws, using my right hand, the water had helped to loosen the ring. That’s when it happened, I threw the ball out, and as my arm came down from the throw, I felt the ring come off. I didn’t see or hear where it hit the water. That’s when instant panic set in. However, I stopped and looked at where I was in relation to stationary objects on the beach, anchored boats in front of us and storm water markers nearby. I yelled for help from my brother-in-law and then called my wife down from the umbrella. Four of us frantically searched in the shallow surf for at least 15 minutes, until I realized that the ring would have burrowed in the sand by now and it would be hopeless to keep searching. That is when my wife and I both felt “shell shocked” at the loss. Mainly because the ring was custom made, almost a decade after graduating college, and it was very pricey. I had only had it for a little over a month — hence the rookie mistake of forgetting to take it off in the first place.
By this time, it was 4:15pm, I stepped back up on the beach and thought to myself, check the tide chart. It was almost at peak high tide, and low tide would be after 11pm that night, in which I knew the area the ring was in, would be completely uncovered with water at that time. Do we come back then and dig around? That’s when I thought to search online for “professional metal detecting service, north myrtle beach”. The first result I clicked on took me to a “TheRingFinders” webpage with the first article showing a recovery of a woman’s wedding band set in North Myrtle Beach almost a year ago by a gentleman. I skimmed the article and realized that this was no novice just messing around, this guy must be a true professional given the circumstances of that recovery. That’s when I located his number and dialed it. On the third ring, I was greeted by Jim. Confirming he was in fact the “the ring finder man.” He proceeded to ask where I was, and I gave him details of what had just happened. It was 4:20pm, and he said stay put, I will be there in 20 minutes. He dropped his plans with his wife and immediately came to us to help.
Exactly 20 minutes later, Jim called me, and I watched as he walked out on the beach – “to the rescue.” He came up introduced himself and immediately my wife and I felt a sense of calm. He was super friendly, lighthearted about the situation so that we were able to laugh about it and at the same time. He obtained details and immediately set forth on his mission. Starting from a point we indicated, he worked in and out south. His grid patterning from the boundaries that we provided was evident that this was “not his first rodeo!” We anxiously watched and waited.
After close to a dozen in-and-out passes, from the beach to waist deep, out past where we told him I would have been standing. He came ashore, asked more questions from myself and my brother-in-law, and redirected his search north from where he started. On the second pass headed out, he stopped, right about where I would have been standing, now knee-deep. His waving motion of his detector had stopped. He was holding it still on something. Moving the detector aside, he took his scoop and made one dip into the water and up came a “scoop full of sand.” He carefully washed away the sand from the scoop and reached inside it. Turning around to walk ashore, he looked at us and “did a little dance!” That’s when we knew, bingo!
Jim came ashore, walked up to me and held out his fisted hand, and dropped my ring in my hand. Mission accomplished recovery complete. Everyone seemed shocked that he found it, myself included – however, I really and truly had faith in Jim from the time I talked with him on the phone. I would have been more shocked if he wasn’t able to recover it, that’s how much I trusted his skill. I had not read his biography at this point, nothing other than the skimming of that one story online. Later, we learned that Jim served our wonderful country for many years in the United States Coast Guard and also working in the federal government. He has continued his selfless service to people along the Grand Strand area for many years in his retirement – what a kind gesture to put his skills to work in such a way to help those in a panicked time of need.
“Thank you” was simply not enough to express my gratitude for his help. I went to shake his hand, and instead he leaned in and we exchanged a “bear hug!” A friendship was sparked. I gave Jim some cash that I hoped would be enough monetary compensation for his time, effort and ultimate success. He didn’t count it, but instead held it up and said “whatever this is, just know that ten percent of it will be donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in honor of you and your wife!” Such a kind gesture, once again.
In less than an hour and a half, a ring was “lost” by me and then recovered by a true professional and class act, Mr. Jim Wren. A one-of-a-kind college ring now really is a conversation piece, with a story to tell! Something that I will be able to pass down.
God Bless You Mr. Jim, you deserve all the best my friend!
Sincerely,
Travis
About 5:15 p.m. on Sunday, March 27th, I received a text message saying, “Hi Jim, My name is Lyndsey and I heard you are an excellent ring finder. Any chance you are available near OIB (Ocean Isle Beach)”. I called the number and talked with Lyndsey to get the details. She said her friend, Sean, had lost his wedding band while playing catch with her son in the dry sand. She said Sean had told her he had the ring on until he removed the ball glove and within minutes realized his ring was gone. The last thing she mentioned was that their group spent about 45 minutes looking for the ring with no luck. I told her I’d be there in 35-40 minutes, grabbed my gear and headed out. She texted me her address as I was driving out of my neighborhood.
I arrived about 6 p.m. and met Lyndsey in her driveway. She told me that Sean didn’t know that she had found somebody to try and find his ring and hoped we could surprise him. She walked me out to the beach and showed me the area they had been in. I asked what type of ring and she said she was pretty sure it was white gold. I knew the VDI (Visual Display Indicator) number range I was looking for so I started a grid search parallel to the tide line. Plus, since the ring had only been lost within the last couple of hours, it should be within a couple of inches. I completed the area passing up numerous deeper targets outside the range I was looking for. I confirmed the white gold and the time period and the only thing Lyndsey wasn’t sure of was the metal. She texted someone and found out the ring was made from Cobalt. I had no idea what Cobalt was, so I called a friend to see if he had any ideas on where that would show up on the VDI. He had no idea either, so I did another grid search perpendicular to the tide line over the same area expanding east, west and north. This time it took a little longer because I was checking some of the targets I hadn’t check before. While I’m searching, Lyndsey was checking her pictures on her phone and found one that saved the day! She moved me to search further east, which I did. About 3 more grid lines I hit a shallow, solid 9 on the VDI. On my second scoop, I saw the silver looking ring sticking out of the sand. Boom! After almost an hour and twenty minutes, I had Sean’s ring in my hand.
On the way back to the house, Lyndsey and I devised the surprise return, needless to say, Sean was Surprised! Lyndsey was taking the reveal video and didn’t want Sean to see her so the beginning of that part of the video is filming the floor.
Lyndsey – Thank you so much for trusting me to help find Sean’s ring and for taking the videos!!
Sean – happy belated 2nd Anniversary to you and your lovely bride, Kate. Wish you two all the Best.
Jim
On Sunday afternoon, I received my second call of the day for a lost ring. This one had been lost in the very early hours of Sunday morning on Ocean Isle Beach, NC. The call came from Jim, the groom. He said that he had lost his wedding band in the ocean after an evening of celebrating his and he’s new bride, Marie’s 6 pm wedding. At exactly the same time, I was talking with Jim, I was getting a text from Cindi, Jim’s mother. She had done the research and found me through The Ring Finders web site. She had sent my information to her son, and both of them were trying to contact me. At some point Jim passed the phone to Marie’s dad, Jim, and I learned that Jim had lost his ring in waist deep water at 2 am. A quick check of the tide table showed low tide was about 10:30 pm Saturday night, so I’m thinking this might be a tough search. I advised one of the Jim’s and Cindi that I had another ring search at 6 pm and that I’d be there as soon as I got finished with the other search, which was probably going to be about 8 pm with travel time.
I got to Ocean Isle about 7:45pm and met Jim (father), Marie and Jim (bride and groom), and a few of their friends. To help as much as possible with my search, I needed to get a consensus, from everyone that was there when he lost the ring. I needed to know the time, the location, and how deep Jim was. I started my grid search parallel to the beach, trying to work the outgoing tide. Within a couple of hours, it was pitch black on the beach and both the wind and waves had picked up to the point I wasn’t comfortable out there by myself. So, I called it a night and called Marie telling her I and a buddy would be back out around 9:30am the next day.
At some point I had called Jim Brouwer, a good friend that has helped me in the past, to see if he was interested in giving me a hand on this one. The search area wasn’t huge but with all the circumstances, it’d be great to have 2 of us looking. When Jim Brouwer and I got there around 10 am, I showed him the area and we drew a line in the sand where Jim (groom) suspected he entered the water. Jim B. took the north side and I took the south. After about 2 hours and almost at dead low tide, I see Jim B digging a target in about thigh deep water. Considering the time we were out there, I had dug just one bottle cap and Jim hadn’t dug anything, so this was a good sign. As I watched Jim search through his scoop, he raised his head and gave me the “yes” nod. Thank you, Jim!!
Marie and husband Jim went to get Jim B and me some water, so when I tried to call Marie she didn’t answer. I called Cindi to see if the kids were with her, she said no and then asked if we found the ring. I told her yes but I wanted to surprise the kids. Cindi said she was coming down. Marie called me and I asked her if she’d come down. The plan was to tell Marie and Jim that we were done with the search while I was pointing out the areas we had searched with my index finger. The whole time I had Jim’s ring on that finger. It took a few minutes and I finally said “Follow my finger down.” Jim saw his ring first, and then Marie. Beautiful reactions from both and a few tears ran down their cheeks.
Jim and Marie, Thank you so much for trusting me, Jim Brouwer, and The Ring Finders to help find one of your most treasured items. In just two days, your rings have started the stories of your lives together, and what stories they are. Best of Luck to you both, I wish you only the best.
Jim
I got a call from John Finnerin, The Ring Finder for the Wilmington NC area today asking if I could take a ring call for him. He had family coming in town and wasn’t able to take the call himself. “Absolutely!” So he gave me Justin’s name, number, and a brief scenario of what had happened. I called Justin and told him I’d be there in about an hour and a half, and I was on my way. After I got through the traffic, I called Justin to get more details. He told me that his wife, Ty, had taken her 3 rings off and handed them to him so she could get wet in the ocean. He put the rings in his lap for safe keeping. Within a few minutes he stood up to get a beer out of the cooler and the rings went flying. He saw one of them land in the sand and was able to find it, but wasn’t able to find the other two. I assured him that once I got there, he’d have the rings back on her finger within 5 minutes. I wasn’t being cocky, it was the fact that he had just lost them, knew exactly the small area where he lost them, and hadn’t moved from the spot since it happened. As a beach ring finder, these are the searches you dream of.
I called Justin when I got to the beach and he met me at the beach access ramp and walked me out to the lost ring area. I had him move a couple of beach chairs and a cooler. The search area was maybe 3’X5’, I turned on my Equinox and told him to time me. I was able to stand in one spot and cover the whole area. Boom, I got the 9 on the VDI that I was looking for. I took a small scoop of sand, checked the hole and knew I had the rings in the scoop. I gently shook the sand out of the scoop and held it up for Justin to retrieve both rings. I heard Justin’s friend say 10 seconds. Big smiles from everybody. I also found out that Justin and Ty were down from Raleigh, with another couple, to celebrate Ty’s birthday tomorrow.
Justin and Ty, thanks for trusting The Ring Finders to help find your lost rings. Ty, I hope you have a great birthday, and you guys have a safe trip home. Oh, and thanks for the shot!!
Jim
I received a call today from Josh looking for the guy with a metal detector that can find rings. I confirmed he had the right guy, and asked what had happened. He responded that he had given his gold wedding band to his wife, Emily, for safe keeping while they were on the beach. She had put it on her thumb and at some point it slipped off. I asked a few questions including where they were. When he responded they were staying at the Holiday Inn in Myrtle Beach, I knew I’d have to get a hold of Matt Fry. Since Matt’s The Ring Finder for Myrtle Beach, any calls I get for that area I pass to him. When I called, he said he was in the middle of something and to go ahead and take the call, thanks Matt. I called Josh back and told him I’d be there in 30-45 minutes.
Vacation time is definitely back in full swing at Myrtle Beach. Traffic was bumper to bumper, and parking was non-existent. I grabbed a parking spot in the hotel parking lot, and stopped by the front desk to let them know, so my car wouldn’t get towed. As I walked out on the beach, I saw a couple waving at me. When I got close, we introduced ourselves and Josh showed me a small area in the dry sand, maybe 5’X5’, where they thought the ring slipped off. I turned on the Equinox and thoroughly scanned the area with not even a peep. So, I started a grid line working north, still with no targets. After about 4 lines, I went back over the same area working the grid south. Two lines south from my original starting point; I got a solid 17, which told me I had gold! I scooped the ring out of the sand, shook the sand out and let Josh reach in the scoop and retrieve his wedding band of 7 years. Both Josh and Emily were extremely excited their lost treasure was found.
Josh and Emily, thanks for trusting me and the Ring Finders to help find your lost ring.
Jim
Ring and Jewelry Metal Detecting Recovery Service. Call Jim ASAP! 843-655-5889
On Friday, March 12th, I was out doing some metal detecting on the beach after a long spell of being stuck in the house due to COVID-19. After finishing up, and with little to show for my efforts, I checked my cell phone for any calls or text messages. I had a text from Travis that said in part, “Jim – have a silver ring Lola red somewhere in an azalea bush on Oak Island at my in-laws house. Let’s touch base and see what your availability is when you have a moment. Thanks!” This was my first lost ring call for 2021 and I was ready. I called Travis and asked what the situation was. He stated that he had lost his ring almost a year ago in some azalea bushes. I told him I had nothing going on and could be there in a couple of hours. He said he’d text his mother-in-law and let her know I was coming. In the meantime, I did a quick Google search to get an idea on what type ring I was looking for and get an idea of what numbers on the detector to look for.
When I got to his in-laws house, I knocked on the door and met Travis’ father-in-law, Bill. We introduced ourselves and he showed me the bushes where the ring was supposed to be. I asked how the ring ended up in the bushes. Bill said that Travis had been cleaning out a bucket and when Travis threw the water from the bucket into the bushes, the ring went with the water. Bill also stated that he had used a metal detector himself but wasn’t able to find the ring. I grabbed my Equinox 800 and pin pointer out of the car and went to work. The back of the bushes were accessible so I was able to work the detector in and around the low hanging branches and over some roots. Within just a couple of minutes, I hit a target showing a solid 14 on the 800 VDI (visual display indicator). I wasn’t positive I had Travis’ ring because with the description I got from him and my Google search, I expected a higher VDI number. I learned a long time ago that with all the different metals and percentages of metals being used to make rings and other jewelry, things don’t ring up on a metal detector like you’re expecting. Also, if I’m looking for someone’s lost treasure; every signal I get needs to be checked. Because of all the low branches, I wasn’t able to get to the target from where I was. I marked the spot with a stick and made my way to the front of the bushes. I was able to crawl far enough under the bush that I could use the pin pointer to find the target. I moved some dead leaves and Bingo! I took a quick picture and sent it to Travis asking “is this it?” Within seconds he texted me back saying “That is it!”
I called him and asked if he wanted me to mail his ring home or leave it with his father-in-law, he told me to leave the ring with his father-in-law and he’d pick it up the following week.
Travis – Thanks for trusting The Ring Finders and me to help find your lost treasure.
Jim
I was researching a Face Book page where someone had referred me to a young lady that had a recent loss. In the process I read a post from Terisa stating that her husband, Nathan had lost his tungsten wedding band in some bushes. I reached out to her by text saying I’d be glad to help, if she liked. She responded saying her and Nathan had been trying to find a place to eat. They were on a mini-vacation and in the middle of the covid-19 virus, and couldn’t find a restaurant to eat at. About the only place open was a little ice cream shop. Out of frustration, her husband “misplaced” his wedding band in a large bush next to the ice cream shop. This seemed like a pretty simple search.
When I got to the strip mall, I thought it’d be best to ask permission before I started climbing through their bushes. I walked into a smoke shop, the shop closest to the bushes, and told the lady behind the counter, who I was and what I do. As I was telling her I needed to look in the bushes for a man’s ring, she interrupted me and said, “I found that and called them, leaving a message, and they never called me back.” Meanwhile, she was looking through a drawer until she found the ring. I compared the picture Terisa sent me to the ring, and I had a match. Easiest and fastest return I’ve had. On the way home I stopped off at the post office and got it in the mail back to Terisa.
Terisa – thank you for allowing me to help find your husband’s ring.
Jim
I had gotten a referral off of a Face Book page about a young lady who had lost both her wedding and engagement rings on Ocean Isle Beach, NC. Her name, Leanna, and phone number were in the referral, so I called her. When she answered, I introduced myself and told her that I was a member of The Ring Finders, explaining what it is that we do. I also gave her The Ring Finders.com web site so she could verify the service as well as who I was. She asked about the cost of the service, and I explained I did this on a reward basis, so if she wanted to do a reward it was totally up to her. Leanne and her husband had traveled back home and weren’t in the area so after talking with her husband, they agreed to have me look. She explained that she had taken her rings off and put them in a bag and left them in a cup holder on her Aunt’s beach chair. It wasn’t until they left the beach and got to the end of the beach access, did they check and find the rings weren’t in the bag. The chair and all the rest of their belongings had been sitting in the dry sand. Her husband stated they were set up to the left of the beach access, about 3 houses down.
This would be my second search for the day on Ocean Isle, just 4 blocks apart. I had already called Jim Brouwer to help me search for the other ring. Thinking this would be a quick search; I decided we’d look for this one first and then get the second one. It never fails, the ones you think should be quick and easy never are. Jim and I got to the beach and saw people set up right where we needed to search. We started our search weaving in and out of chairs, umbrellas, and people. There were a few couples that moved for us after they knew what we were looking for. I took a quick picture and sent it to Leanna to confirm we were searching in the right area. After about 45 minutes, with no luck, we decided to go after the other ring. Our plan was to come back a little later when most of the people would be gone.
After a successful find on the other ring, we showed back up to look for Leanna’s rings. There were still a few people but not near the crowd. As I’m doing a grid search, two young ladies (Virginia and Nadia) walk up to me. They tell me their cousin had lost her wedding and engagement rings the day before. I asked them if their cousin was Leanna, which they replied “yes.” I told them those were the rings I was looking for. We went back and forth about what happened, and I told them Leanna and her husband thought they were behind the 3rd house. I asked them what they remembered about the loss. Right off, they both said that they thought they were a little further east and about the middle of the dry sand. I talked to Jim, and we dividend the new search area in half. I worked the middle of the dry sand walking east, and Jim worked closer to the slope going east. About 10 minutes, I see Jim digging out a scoop of sand, and reaching down and picking something up. He walked over and handed me Leanna’s wedding band. He then walked back to the spot, swung the coil over the area, took another scoop and pulled out her engagement ring. I took both rings and laid them in the sand to get a picture. I sent it to Leanna with a text saying BA-BOOM! I then called her and ask if she got the text, she said she hadn’t checked her phone for a while, I told her she needed too! I heard her kind of gasp and said something like “Oh my goodness.” She was one happy young lady.
Leanna – Thank you for trusting us to help find your lost treasures.
Virginia and Nadia – if you read this, Thank You both for getting us in the right spot, it made all the difference.
Jim – Once again, thanks for your help!
Jim
