Gold & Diamond Ring Recovered at McMinnville Masonic Cemetery
Civil War era Fighting 69th Irish Regiment marching in St. Pats Parade 2013. (Courtesy of Irish America Magazine)
The Masonic Cemetery in McMinnville is very historic, hauntingly beautiful in places and worth a visit.
Bill was performing in a veteran remembrance ceremony, reenacting as a Civil War soldier from the famous Fighting New York 69th Irish Regiment. He was wearing a blue uniform and short coat similar to those shown above and was armed with a .58 modern replica Civil War era musket.
During the ceremony Bill fired his musket 4 times in honor of our fallen and passed heros.
After the ceremony, Bill remembers putting away his uniform, his musket, his cap box, his white gloves in the back of his car. After removing his gloves he noticed his ring was missing, but where?
Rather than buying a metal detector, Bill coolly decided to call a professional. He found me on TheRingFinders that very afternoon. We made an appointment to meet the next day.
On the phone, Bill remembered changing out of his uniform “near a tree with two benches”.
The next day I arrived a few minutes before Bill and easily found the two benches by the tree.
Bill drove up a few minutes later and confirmed the suspect search area. In addition to his verbal description, his friend had made a map showing the tree and the two benches.
Thanks to Bill’s great memory, and his friend’s smart map, I was able to recover Bill’s ring about 10 steps from the back of my car, in about 5 minutes, .
Bill explained the ring was a gift from his wife 24 years ago. She has one just like it.
He’s very glad to have it back!
Metal Detecting: Marshall Smith – Text or call: 310-968-4860
Greater Portland Area TheRingFinders
Metal Detectorist serving the Greater Portland Area from Hillsboro, Oregon
Forensic Investigator & GIA Graduate Gemologist