lost ring Perdido Key Tag | The Ring Finders

Lost Ring from the Boat – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

Bryan is a Police Officer from Tennessee and brought his whole family down to Perdido Key to enjoy a well deserved vacation.  They decided to rent a boat and headed down the waterway to the East and finally settled at a place where a lot of boats pull up close to the shore and enjoy the water and sun and sand.  Bryan’s wife took her ring off to apply sunscreen and put it down on the boat and quickly forgot that it was there.  It was only later in the day after they had moved the boat a couple of times and started to head back to the boat rental place that she had the panicked realization that she didn’t have her ring on and it was nowhere to be found.  Thankfully, when they got back, a kind soul saw them distressed and suggested that they reach out to me.  Bryan wasn’t completely sure of the name of the place and as he described it, I got a knot in my stomach.  All National Parks, National Seashores and Florida State Parks have made it illegal to metal detect.  To make matters worse, this was very close to a National Historic area and that makes it crazy illegal.  I explained to Bryan that I couldn’t go there and of course he understood.  Over the years, I have had this happen a few times and I’ve learned that the best way to approach it is to have the person who lost the ring reach out to the Park services.  We spent the next few hours googling and ultimately finding some contact info.  It wasn’t long until a contact that Bryan spoke to in Ohio of all places was able to put him in touch with the Chief Ranger here in FL and before you knew it, we had written permission to go on an adventure.  Bryan lamented that they no longer had the boat and were leaving for home on Saturday.  I was so vested in this ring now that I told him I would not only take vacation from work on Friday but I would also take him out there in my own personal boat.  We made plans to meet Friday morning and I called my Father-in-law, Tom and asked him if he wanted to go on a big search.  As always, Tom was ready to go.  The three of us headed out this morning in my boat and enjoyed the calm water and the dolphins rolling.  We even had a big spinner shark put on a show in the air off the starboard bow.  We were on a mission though and as soon as we dropped anchor we all piled off into the water.  Bryan had a pretty good idea where they started the day but as I mentioned before, they had moved the boat a few times and weren’t sure where it had fallen off.  I told Tom that I would start on the right and he took off to the left.  We both started our grid searches and it wasn’t long until we realized just how big this area was.  I learned more about Bryan though as we walked along and determined that regardless of how things went, I would consider him a friend.   After about an hour, I sent Bryan over to check on Tom.  I saw from a distance that Tom had a signal and I stopped to watch since targets had been few and far between out here. Tom gently scooped a couple of times so I knew it was deep.  He held out the scoop to Bryan and pulled something out that I couldn’t see from that distance.  I yelled “Did you find it” but I needn’t have bothered.  Even at that distance I could see Bryan’s expression change to one of shock and disbelief and gratitude all rolled into one.  Bryan had his wife’s ring back!  It was an awesome ride back with more dolphins and a huge group of jet skiers but the best part was facetimeing with Bryan’s happy bride.  Bryan, you are a good man and I thank you for all you do for your community.  I’m glad we could make that drive back to Tennessee a little bit easier tomorrow.  Nice Job to you Tom!  I’m glad you are on my team.

Wedding Ring Found on Pensacola Beach !!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)


Lorna lost her wedding ring on the beach two days before the family was to move on military orders. She did a web search and contacted my Son in Law, David, who is also a the ring finders member, but he had an appointment out of town and wasn’t available. Lorna then contacted the next ring finder for Pensacola and she agreed to meet her the next morning. That morning two ring finders ladies showed up and planned to help each other. Unfortunately one on the ladies had a nasty fall and needed fire first responders assistance after about a twenty minute search for the ring that was not recovered. Now it’s about noon of the day they have to travel. Lorna contacted David again quite concerned. He told not to worry that his Father in Law was on a recovery in Orange Beach Alabama and would get back to her. The timing was excellent because I had just finished and heading back to Pensacola. I agreed to meet Lorna at 1:00. Lorna was just the nicest lady and had her two adorable children with her. I could tell she was concerned because the way her ring recovery had developed so far and she was short of time, so I asked her to recreate her steps the day before as best she could remember and I got to work. I searched the areas she identified with no luck. Next I looked at alternative routes she could have taken back to her car and after a little detective work, on the second possible route there it was! I am so happy I could help her and her family. Their smiles tell all.

Ring Found! Orange Beach

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

Tanner called me Thursday about a lost ring.
It belonged to his grandmother and his mother and his wife was wearing it close to the shore with her baby in her arms. The baby wiggled around a little bit and the ring slid off her finger. She had the wherewithal to watch it drop and put her foot on it so that she could mark its location and then waved to get some of the other family members to come give her a hand. Unfortunately there was a little bit of Surf that day, a wave hit her, pushed her around a little bit and she lost the spot where the ring fell. Tanner and his whole family had come over from the Fort Worth area for a vacation. They had aunts, uncles, cousins, lots of kids, his mother, father, there was a whole group of them and the whole topic of conversation was worrying about that ring. When I got there they pointed out about where it could be. I have a top-of-the-line Metal Detector designed for the water. Fortunately they knew pretty closely to where it was lost and it hadn’t been in the water but a day. I got lucky on this recovery and within about 15 minutes I located it to everybody delight. With that recovery i’m sure I made everyone happy. The vacation was saved, nothing to worry about anymore and I was just happy that I could be part of that.

Ring Found, Orange Beach Al

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

Tess lost her absolutely beautiful wedding and engagement rings while vacationing at the beach. She and friends searched the beach for hours, sifting the sand with no success and it was getting dark. She called me at 9:30 that evening asking if I could help. After discussing details of when and where, it was the best guess than it was lost either on the sandy beach or in the water. I said I would help and I would be there at daylight. Tess met me just as the sun was up enough to see and reviewed the area to search. It was a fairly large area. I decided to search the beach first before lots of people showed up and before the umbrellas went up. The search took about 2 hours. When looking for a gold ring, depending on the metallurgy it could mimic just about any other commonly found metals. Because of that fact I had to dig every signal. I did lots of digging on that beach and did not find her ring. Next step was to search in the water. Fortunately there was not that many signals in the water. I think I dug about 10 targets before coming upon a weird signal, the target data kept jumping around suggesting a soda can but the signals could have been a gold too, so I started digging. Digging has to be done with care to avoid and damage to precious property. It took me three gentle scoops before the target was in my scoop. The entire time I was saying to myself this is a soda can, I know it’s a soda can, but knew I had to dig everything. To my amazement Tess’s cherished ring was there safe and sound. I learn something new just about every time I do a ring recovery, her ring was really three rings probably with different metallurgy!

Found, Wedding Band in the water near Pensacola Beach

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

The shorebreak was still pounding on the beach this past weekend. Brett was playing in the surf when his ring slipped off his finger and disappeared in the foamy surf in about knee deep water. There was a strong down the beach current from the surf and Brett was afraid his ring got caught in the current. It was a big heavy ring with lots of area for the water to push on. He and his friends searched for quite some time with no success. Brett lived out of town and had go home but called me the next day and I said I would do my best to help. I started a search a few hours later based on Brett’s best recollection only to discover that the beach had change shape which is common on Pensacola Beach. The landmarks he relied on no longer existed. There were lots of people on beach the day before and once I got started searching four different people told me about the ring being lost and where it was lost, with each location being different in a 300 foot area! I called Brett and explained we needed to do a bit of detective work to locate the area to search. Fortunately he is very good at estimating distances. Based on structures off the beach, calculating the tide and waiting for the tide to reach the same depth as the time the ring was lost, I started the search again. Within about 45 minutes I got a good repeatable signal. Brett’s ring Apparently sank rapidly in the soft sand that was being agitated by the surf and soon was about 8 or 10 inch deep. After three scoops his ring was recovered. I immediately took a picture of the ring and sent it to him. It was a beautiful ring and Brett’s smile says it all. I was happy I could make his day.

Lost Ring off the Pier – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

Stephen and his family were having a great Memorial Day weekend. They were enjoying all the things that this great country affords us and Stephen had even been able to go on a group motorcycle ride. They were capping off a fantastic weekend thanks to the men and women who died for our country to make that possible. Stephen ended it playing in the water at his Aunt’s pier with his children. That’s when I came into the picture. Stephen realized that his wedding ring had come off his hand most likely when catching the kids jumping into the water. He looked online and found my number and gave me a call. This was a pretty straightforward return only finding a few pieces of old Hurricane debris when I took a good look at the pier. Having two kids myself I immediately knew where I would have been if the situation was reversed. I walked out about neck deep where the slide emptied into the water. I figured that’s where Stephen would have spent a lot of the day catching kids. Immediately I got a great gold tone and scooped up Stephen’s ring. I’m glad I was able to make a great weekend even better Stephen. Thanks for calling.

Lost Wedding Ring – Pensacola, FL – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

So apparently Pine straw is out there trying to steal some rings so be careful. 😃. A few days ago I received a call from Bill. Actually backing up, Shelly, Bill’s wife had heard about me from a friend and messaged me through Facebook. After a quick reply, she had Bill call me. Bill described that he had been working in the yard putting out some pine straw when he looked down and saw that his ring was missing. Bill had been wearing that ring for the last 38 years so I was willing to bet that he noticed it was gone quicker than most people would have. When I told him how I could help he decided he wanted me to come try even though he wasn’t 100% sure that it was in the yard. I was pretty sure that I could find it and I was determined to try. What Bill didn’t realize is that when I saw the address I noticed that he lived in the neighborhood next to mine. If there is one thing I like even more than helping people find a ring, it’s helping a neighbor find their ring. When I got there, I switched to the pinpointer coil so that I could get down between the bushes and Bill went back inside to let me concentrate. He didn’t have to wait long and was beside himself when I knocked on his door and told him his ring was perched on my detector by the tree (Covid safe 😷👍). He was even more surprised when he went to talk about a reward and I explained that I literally could have cut through the neighborhood and walked there. I wouldn’t take anything from my neighbor and new friend. I’m so happy that I could help!  Merry Christmas to you both Bill and Shelly!  God bless!

Lost Alabama Class Ring – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

One night last week I got a call from a very nice gentleman that needed some help. He had been out putting in pine straw and when he got done he noticed that his class ring wasn’t on his hand. This was really bad because he’d had this ring on his finger since 1968 when he graduated from the University of Alabama. He immediately told his wife and she put out the call for help. Someone eventually told her about what I do and gave her my phone number. When Mr. Spivey called he asked if I was the Ringmaster, I was tempted to say yes but I didn’t want to jinx myself. 😃 He was very nice and explained what happened and I told him how I thought I could help. We agreed that I would come early the next morning and I asked him to text me the address. He explained that he didn’t have all of that techy stuff and offered to give me the address and directions. I told him the address would be great but he very thoroughly proceeded to give me the directions. I was thrilled to hear someone describe exactly how to get to their home and go over each part of the route that they felt was important to describe the way to their home. I thought about how technology had changed a lot of that but I thoroughly enjoyed hearing him describe that route he had been so many times. 👍 When I got to the house in the morning I was met in the driveway by a pretty Lab. I was pretty sure that she was friendly but I gave a quick call to the number I had. Mrs. Spivey assured me that “Penny” was a sweetheart and I opened my door to lots of tail wagging and some curious sniffs. By that time, Mrs Spivey had come out and walked me out to the back so I could see all of the fresh pine straw. They weren’t 100% sure that it was in the yard but it seemed like the most logical place so I started my search. Mrs Spivey went back inside and instructed me to knock if I needed anything. I was using a small sharpshooter coil so I was able to go through everything and stick it down between all of the shrubs as well. As Murphy’s law would state, I was at the very last bush when I got a beautiful, very obvious gold tone. I pulled back the leaves and parted the fresh pine straw to see a gorgeous, well loved, solid gold ring with a Crimson stone on top. I thought for just a second about how much it had been a part of Mr. and Mrs Spivey’s lives and then I went to knock on the door. She came out and asked if I needed anything and finally noticed the ring when I pointed to it on my detector. As you can imagine, she was thrilled and even got a bit choked up when she talked about getting it back to her husband. I am so glad I got to make sure that it wasn’t the end of the journey for your family heirloom. Merry Christmas to you both.   

Lost engagement ring, Pensacola – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

What better way to transition into fall than one last ring return on a Volleyball court. I had just returned home when I got a call from my buddy Charlie who is out in CA. He had received a call from a friend of his named Joey who had in turn gotten a call from his wife Nicole and she was in a panic. Nicole had been playing Volleyball with her daughter at a local park and looked down to notice that her wedding ring and her engagement ring were no longer on her hand. This is about the time the panic had ensued and I think everyone will agree that it was totally justified. Luckily Charlie is a great guy and rather than telling Joey that he was out of town, he tracked me down and put us in touch. We were running out of daylight so I loaded up as fast as possible and called Joey to tell him that I could help and get an idea where to go. I pulled in the park and although there were lots of people there enjoying the playground equipment I had no doubt who I was looking for. As soon as I pulled my gear out, a big group of ladies and young people started waving me down. I noticed that they all had makeshift seines and colanders and I wondered which one was Nicole. Then I noticed the lady who was crying and I knew I had found her. I immediately introduced myself and told her not to worry that I was totally going to help her. She told me that I didn’t understand, they had searched everywhere that it could be with the strainers and they had even found the wedding band but she feared the engagement ring might be anywhere in the park and she was distraught. I asked her if they had been there the entire time and they said yes. I tried again to reassure her as I explained what I was doing and started my grid pattern. I made about one pass but as I was talking to her I could see she was in agony so I decided to take a different approach. I told her to tell me where she had found the gold band, she told me that they had already looked there and I told her to humor me. She did and I asked her if they changed sides at all and she said no. Lastly, I asked her if she wore her band closest to her heart and she said yes. I took a step towards the way I thought the ring first off her hand would fly and I said, “watch this” with a big smile. I went about two steps and got a good tone. I don’t think she realized I had something until I kneeled down with my pinpointer and then stood up saying, “Does it look like this?”  She broke down in tears and I was reminded why I love doing this so much. Congratulations Nicole and Joey. Thank you very much for trusting me to help you. God Bless!  💍

Lost Ring, Perdido Beach – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)


Sometimes everything comes together and no matter how lost something is, it’s just bound to be found. That was the case for this young lady on the beach yesterday afternoon who had lost a very important ring. It was already very late after work but I decided to hit the beach anyway. I had already gone to one parking area but after I walked all the way to the water I realized that I left my battery in the car. I walked all the way out and decided that I should head down the beach a bit because of a storm that was on the way. When I got there I decided to turn towards the rain cloud so that if I got caught in the storm, I would have the wind at my back running to the car. All of these things seemed to innocently transpire all to have BrieOcea come running up to me after only about five minutes on the beach. She asked if I was holding a metal detector and she looked hopeful when I told her I was. I asked her if she had lost something and she replied that she had dropped a ring that had been in her family for generations. I told her that I would be glad to take a look and asked her what the ring was made out of and when she lost it. She said it had almost been a week and that she thought it was silver. I think she saw me start to lose some confidence because she quickly assured me that it was a very small area. I asked her a little more about the ring and she said that there was a large black stone with a diamond in it. I made a note to dig everything because while possible, especially on older rings, diamonds are usually not on silver. I started gridding back and forth and it wasn’t long before she came over and said that her boyfriend had called from the condo and told her that we were slightly in the wrong spot. I made the adjustment and went back to the search. I found a coin or two and got my hopes up. Then I got a signal that could be trash but I knew it could also be gold. I went ahead and dug it because of my earlier thoughts about the diamond. I am very glad that I did because I pulled out a beautiful gold ring with a black stone and a diamond in it. When I called her over, she placed it back on her finger and she was just thrilled. She mentioned that she had made up her mind to not worry and let things work themselves out. When I told her the events that led me to her she said God must have sent me her way. Indeed!  I am so very glad that I could help reunite you with such a special ring. 😃