lost ring traverse city Tag | Page 2 of 3 | The Ring Finders

Platinum wedding band found in Kingsley, Michigan with a metal detector.

I received a text from Ed asking my availability due to the holiday weekend. He was cutting some wood with a saws-all and noticed his Platinum wedding ring missing after he finished. I told him, I need 10 minutes to load up and can be to his house in 20 minutes.

Once at Ed’s house he took me to the fire pit area to start the search. I did a grid search and found the rind after 10 minutes searching. Because the soil in our area is sand based the ring was already an inch under the surface. Ed was happy to have his ring back.

Lost Engagement ring found in Roscommon, Michigan

  • from Traverse City (Michigan, United States)

This adventure started with a text from fellow ring finder Chuck Raison. He asked if I could go to Roscommon to look for a ring. He had commitments the next two days and Karyn would like some sooner. That turned out to be a good idea on Karyn’s part.

I met Karyn at 6:00 pm at a cross country ski shop and got the details. She had lunch outside on Friday with a friend then they went skiing. She did not realize the ring was missing till after she woke up Saturday morning. She had searched her house and car and could not locate the ring. That’s when her thoughts took her back to Friday and spending time outside in the cold. Her Fiancee did an internet search and came up with The Ring Finders and here we are on Monday night.

I started the search in the parking lot in the area her car was parked. I search the intimidate area where the car was and the area where they plow the snow. I searched the snow piles and had no luck. Then the search moved to the front of the building and the sides of the road. The trails are across the road from the business. No luck in those areas also. Then we moved the the deck where she had lunch outside. I searched the outside areas where they shovel the snow off the deck and had no luck. Then, I moved up on the deck and the area was shoveled clean and I thought there is no chance the ring is up here somebody would have picked it up. I walked around the deck area and once I rounded a black plastic spool they were using as a table, I spotted a round shining ring on the ground. I called Karyn over and said is that your ring? She picked up the ring and we were both in disbelief on how the ring sat in plain view since Friday and nobody picked it up.

Engagement ring found in the snow Petoskey, Michigan with a metal detector

  • from Traverse City (Michigan, United States)

This adventure started with a Facebook message from Jasmine asking if I was available the next day. We exchanged messages for about a 1/2 hour. I got an address and details on the lost ring. I agreed to meet her the next day after work.

I got to her house and got the details and the search area. She was outside the back of the house playing with her dog in the snow. She was in an area about 25 feet by 40 feet. After going back into the house she immediately noticed the ring missing. Jasmine and her fiancee went and bought a metal detector from a local big box store and had no luck. They also used a blow torch to melt the snow without any luck. Then she searched “metal detector specialist” and my Facebook page came up.

I got the area down and started the search. Within the first 2 minutes into the search, I knew this was going to be a hard search. I was hitting 5 signals per swing of the detector. I ended up telling her this was going to be a hard find because all the signals. I asked whats with all the pocket change in the grass. She said her fiancee likes to throw his pocket change out the truck window into the grass. I ended up telling her not to wait outside with me this is going to take awhile. The temperature was below zero with a light wind. I initially tried to clear every signal and finally realized it would take a month to do that. I ended up putting on the 6″coil and just look for a gold signal. I knew by the size of the ring it should ring up between an 12:02 and 12:10 on the ctx. So after 2 hours and 10 minutes, I finally get a nice sounding 12:05 on the ctx. Slightly moved the snow with my foot and saw the ring sit up straight. I left the ring as it was and went to get Jasmine from the house. I almost had to drag her out of the house she was moving very slowly. She later explained to me, that just before I went to get her, she came to terms with herself that the ring was gone. We got out to the ring and I shined the flashlight on the ring and said I think your going to be very happy. She looked down at the ground and once she realized it was her ring she started screaming and jumped straight up into the air. She thanked me about 10 times and I just kept playing it down like normal. Then she said “No! you don’t realize what this means to me, You’re my hero you saved my wedding! I’m going to name a child after you!”. I was left speechless and didn’t know what to say after that. It turns out the ring was made from both grandmothers wedding rings being melted down to make this ring. They put the wedding on hold till this ring could be found. I’m not going to hold her to naming a child after me. If it happens, I would be happy to bring my family up to Petoskey to meet the child.

Jasmine, I was glad to help you and save the wedding.

Lost Wedding ring found in the leaves in Frankfort, Mi

  • from Traverse City (Michigan, United States)

I received a call from Christine that her sister had lost her Wedding ring at her parents house while getting the flower beds ready for winter. We agreed to meet the next day at noon.

We met at noon and I got the story. She was cleaning leaves out of some beds in front of the house. She had bagged up about 10 bags of leaves. She also dumped other plants/grass in the back of the property in 3 different piles. She had me check 2 of the bags of leaves and the area in front of the house. We had no luck so off we went to the piles at the back of the property. I searched the area twice with no luck. Her father had walked out to talk to me and watch the process. He stated she was in all 10 bags of leaves they had in the garage. So, off we went back to the bags in the garage. We had to bring them out into the driveway because the detector way picking up the tracks on the garage doors and the car. I searched through about 5 of the bags and finally got a signal in one of the bags. We took the bag out in the side yard and dumped it out to search further. Just as I was zeroing in on the ring they spotted it in the leaves I has moving around.

Custom designed Platinum wedding ring found at a Traverse City beach.

  • from Traverse City (Michigan, United States)

My wife showed me a Facebook post from Keri. She had lost her Platinum wedding ring while at a local campground beach when throwing a football. Her post told the location of the lost ring. I told her I could help, but she needed to take the post down asap. I informed her someone would go in and get the ring and keep it. She took the post down and I went to work.

This call should have taken me 20 minutes to complete but ended up taking 2 1/2 weeks. The beach she was at metal detectors are not allowed. I’m not going to go into all the details here. I’ll just say due to a miscommunication between the park staff and Keri the permit took 2 1/2 weeks to get. Once I got the permit, I read the whole thing to make sure I followed all the rules on the permit.  One of the rules was, I could not be in the swim area when the the area is open for the day. So, I waited till 10:00 pm and went to hopefully get the ring. 2 1/2 weeks is a long time for a ring to sit at a public beach. I know people have snuck into this area at night to detect it, also people camping metal detect the area not knowing they are not allowed to detect the area. One of the other rules is, I could not take any compensation for helping Keri. I left work early twice costing me 4 hours of pay and 5 trips driving to the park trying to get the permit. One other rule was anything I found that was not Keri’s ring had to be turned over to the Ranger station.

In talking to Keri after she lost the ring her daughter paced off steps from a buoy in the swimming area. 34 paces deeper into the lake and 21 paces toward the middle of the swimming area. When backup Dave and I got into the swimming area I paced off to the location and set up marker. We were in the water less than 20 minutes and had the ring. I checked out with the Rangers, turned in the pendant we found and emailed Keri I got the ring. We met up at 11:00 pm and I gave her the ring back. I accepted no compensation for this 2 1/2 week ordeal. I did not ask for a picture of Keri because all issues completing this call.

 

Custom one of a kind Gold Wedding ring found in lake Michigan at Lower Herring lake.

  • from Traverse City (Michigan, United States)

I was on Facebook last night and noticed a post from John saying he has been married for 51 years and his wife lost her Wedding ring in Lower Herring lake at lake Michigan. He gave very a detailed description on where the ring should be. I get very nervous when people give very specific directions online. I am always afraid somebody will go find it and not give it back.

About 45 minutes later, I get a call from John asking if I could help. I said sure, but I think this needs to happen tonight and not wait till morning. I told John if he would meet me and show me the exact spot they were at I would head out right away. He said he was good with that and gave me the directions to the cottage they are renting for 2 weeks.

I got to the cottage at about 9:30 pm and John told me we needed to use his boat to get to the location. We got everything loaded into the boat and headed out. Lower Herring lake dumps into lake Michigan through a small channel. People park boats before a coffer dam and walk to the mouth of the channel at lake Michigan. We got to the location and John showed me the area to search. Search time started at 10:00 pm. The water in the channel is about knee deep but moving very fast. Its very difficult to walk across you have to scoot your feet on the bottom. Helen got onto a tube and floated from the channel out into lake Michigan. When she got off the tube she noticed her ring missing and was devastated. John is a metal detectorist and searched the dry sand and into the water. He was having problems in the fast moving water and a knee that needs to be replaced.

I started using the ctx3030 but was concerned about breaking the shaft from the pressure of the water moving so fast. I was hanging onto the detector with both hands just to be able to get it to move in the water. I scanned the whole river and out into lake Michigan to about 15 feet. I decided to switch to the Excalibur II and go out into lake Michigan further. I was trying to do the best grid pattern in the fast water and being at night. Finally after 2 hours of searching got the signal I was looking for about 40 feet out into lake Michigan. I got the ring in the scoop pulled it out and thought this is no normal ring. I took the ring up to John who was waiting on shore and asked him about the ring. His wife had the ring custom made its a one of a kind. We headed back to the cabin to make his wife very happy with the find. I had a fun time on this search and spending time with John and Helen. The time on the clock in the back ground shows 12:23 am when we got back to the cabin. I thank John and Helen for the generous reward.

Lost Diamond wedding ring found in Traverse City, Michigan at Bryant park with a metal detector

  • from Traverse City (Michigan, United States)

I received a very nice polite call from Swapana asking if she could hire me to find her Platinum Wedding ring. I said sure and told her I could be at her location in about 1/2 hour.

I got to the location and her husband Brent met me in the parking lot. We went over the details while walking to the area they were set up at on the beach. They are in Traverse City for a family vacation and were enjoying the day at the beach. The kids were digging holes and having fun in the water. Swapana noticed her ring was missing. They spent time sifting through the sand with there fingers and had other people on the beach helping. They had no luck finding the ring. One of the neighbors on the beach recommended doing a google search on someone with a metal detector to come find the ring.

I got the search area was 8 feet wide by 8 feet long. She also walked to the car a couple times. I asked Swapana to move the metal chairs back a couple feet so they don’t mess with the detector. She replied they already did. So that told me to search a little closer toward the water. I started searching for about 30 seconds and got a good signal and the red dot on the Ctx3030. The numbers were right on the pull tab range. I knew by the tone it was her ring and not a pull tab. I bent down and stuck my fingers in the sand and pulled the ring out. Swapana was just finishing moving the two chairs and was turning to look back toward me and I handed her the ring. She stood there for about 10 second and could not talk in disbelief. Then I heard oh Shoot(not the word she used) he found it already. Her two boys walked up and were disappointed they did not get to see it. I told them if I found the ring to fast, I will close my eyes and they can throw it and I’ll find it again. The two boys though that was a great idea. Swapana was having no part of that and was hesitant to give me the ring back to do my close up picture.  I was happy to save the vacation for Swapana and her family.

Wedding ring found in Lake Leelanau with a metal detector

Received an email from Peter that he lost his Wedding ring earlier in the day. He was washing his dog out on the dock. His hands were lathered up with soap and the ring slipped off hit the dock then fell into the water. He looked with goggles and could not find the ring. The search area was pretty small but I was hampered with a lot of other signals in the water. I made a decision to just dig it all and clear the area. One of the trashiest signals brought the ring up. In the scoop with the ring was corroded change a stainless bolt and washer. Total search time was about 30 Minutes. 

Lost wedding ring found with a metal detector at Stearns Park beach in Ludington, Michigan

I received a call from a fellow Ringfinder Greg Larabel about a lost ring in Ludington, Mi. The closest Ringfinder Chuck Raison and himself had other commitments could I take this call. He gave me the phone number for Scott. I called Scott and got the story and set to meet Scott at the location today at 3:00 pm. Scott said he was throwing a football with his son in water about 5 feet deep with his son and saw his 14 k White gold ring go flying off. They searched the area with goggles and had no luck.  I met up with Scott at 3:00 pm got the story again and started the search. Scott walked me out to the area he was in. I had him place two of my snow plow markers as reference points. He mentioned that the wavers were larger yesterday than they were today. I explained to him that will raise the water in the spot he was in, so I might need to search closer to shore. The waves were big today also, I was on my tippy toes and jumping up so the waves did not go over my head. I started at the markers Scott set and worked close to shore. After about 40 minutes I got the only signal of the day and had Scott’s ring. I called Scott and his son over that I had a ring. Showed it to Scott and he verified it was his ring. He said he has no idea how I could find the ring in such a large area. The ring was about 15 feet closer to shore right in line with the marker Scott set.  He said to his wife last night the ring is gone forever and will never be found.  She said let me google it and found The Ring Finders. Scott has a very nice family, I enjoyed talking to him and his wife after finding the ring. Now they can get back to enjoying whats left of the family vacation.

Ring found in the sand Frankfort, Mi

I was traveling to a different call tonight and got a call from Chase lost his very sentimental ring in the sand at the Frankfort beach in Frankfort, Michigan. I told Chase I would come tonight its a public beach with a lop of traffic. I did not want anybody else finding the ring if we waited till the next day to search. The first call ran late so I did not make it to Frankfort till 9:30 pm. Met Chase and two of his friends. We headed to the spot they were throwing a football to start the search. They did a great job getting me in the spot. It took about 10 minutes to find the ring. We were headed out of the parking lot at 10:00 pm. This was a nice short search, I enjoyed it and made Chase a happy man to get the ring back.