lost ring Wisconsin Dells Tag | The Ring Finders

In the News – Pro Helps Briggsville Man Find Cherished Ring

  • from Madison (Wisconsin, United States)
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Check out this newspaper article about a recent lost ring find.  This was a great hunt and proof that a ring is not always where you think it was lost.  We spent a good hour searching the inside of an animal pen looking for 45 year old wedding band lost while spreading a bale of hay.  After searching the area 2 to 3 times, multiple different ways for close to 2 hours – I asked where else Jim might have been the day he lost his wedding ring.  After 5 mins of looking in this different area, I spotted the ring.  I called Jim over and handed him my handheld metal detector and let him find it.  Check out the link below for the full story of this lost ring including video of the hunt – the expression on Jim’s face when he found his ring is priceless and the reason we do what we do.

Newspaper Article: “Pro helps Briggsville man find cherised 45-year-old wedding ring on his farm

Original Story: How to Find a Lost Ring – “Like Finding a Ring in a Haystack”

 

 

Lost Ring – Never Give Up Hope, Ring Found 3 Years Later

  • from Madison (Wisconsin, United States)
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Recently, we were featured in an article by Doug Moe, a local reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal. The story was about our Ring Finding activities (http://host.madison.com/news/local/columnists/doug-moe/doug-moe-the-man-who-finds-lost-rings/article_3ef64cca-adf5-5735-8399-4f6e440631e0.html). After the article ran, I was contacted by about a dozen people who had lost their wedding ring between 1 and 8 years ago. This was awesome, because a lot of time people just give up looking for their ring. If you have a good idea on where and how you lost your ring, there is probably a pretty good chance it is still there. One of the couples who contacted me was Heather and Ron and this is their ring story.

Three years ago, Heather was preparing for an Easter Egg hunt in her backyard. The weather was just starting to warm up, so she decided it would be nice to have the hunt outside. She first wanted to clean up the dead leaves that were around her shrubs and in her planting beds from the past fall. Heather’s lot backed up to a wooded area, which was a convenient place to throw leaves and other yard waste. It was here that Heather tossed the leaves from her yard.

The next day, she was busy preparing for Easter dinner, when suddenly she realized that her wedding ring of 19 years was missing. She had been so busy getting ready for company that she didn’t focus on the fact that her ring was not on her finger. She felt absolutely sick, but hoped that it would show up. Days passed, but still not ring. She wondered if she had lost it in the house or maybe it fell down the drain? Ron, Heather’s husband, inspected all the traps under the sinks in the house. No ring. Time went on, but still no ring.

Heather thought back to the day she lost it and remembered that the day prior, she was in the backyard raking and cleaning the leaves. She also remembered that she was not wearing any gloves while working in the backyard, and there was a chance the ring could have fallen off while scooping up or tossing the leaves in the woods. They searched the areas she was working, but did not find anything. It’s amazing how a ring can quickly disappear from sight. After about a year of searching and wondering, Heather gave up – accepting the fact that she’d never see her ring again. They went to the jewelry store and picked out a new ring to replace the one missing from her finger.

Fast forward 3 years, and Ron was reading the Sunday paper one winter day. He showed Heather an article about some local “Ring Finders” who had helped others find their lost rings in the area. Ron called me the next day and told me their story. I said we could help, but needed to wait till Spring when the snow had melted and the ground thawed. This past weekend, I happened to be visiting an old family friend on the same side of Madison that Heather and Ron lived. I called Ron and setup a time to come out and take a look.

When we pulled up, we were greeted by Ellie, the family dog. Kylie, my daughter, enjoyed playing with Ellie … and I think Ellie enjoyed playing with Kylie too. Carter, my son, and I immediately started the search. We first scanned the planting area where Heather was working in 3 years ago. Amazingly, we found nothing. Typically around the perimeter of the house, we find a fair amount of junk left over from building projects or a recent roofing job – but there was nothing (which is awesome). So, we moved to the area where Heather had tossed the leaves. Almost immediately, we got a good strong and consistent signal. Carter scratched away the soil and we could quickly see the edge of a ring start to appear. The ring had been lost for 3 years, and after only about 5 mins we had found it!

I called Heather back out and distracted her with a “question”, when she turned around, she saw me holding up her ring.  She was shocked.  I don’t think she would ever had guessed that we would find her ring that quickly. After a couple of seconds, she let out a loud scream and jumped up and down with joy. This is my favorite part of Ring Hunting … the reveal. I love the reaction and expressions on people’s faces when we pull something out of the ground, that just seconds earlier, had been lost forever.

Thank you Ron and Heather for the generous reward. We will donate a portion of the reward to Carter and Kylie’s school, as we do with all rewards. We will then use the remainder to purchase some additional “test rings”. We have a couple of rings that we’ve found and have not been able to return. These prove very valuable when first starting a hunt. If we can get a similar ring and drop it in the same environment, it helps us tune our machines and focus on what signals to look for.

Remember, even if it’s been years – there is still hope that your ring can be found.

Every ring has a story, what’s yours?

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Lost Ring Found in Volleyball Court at Wisconsin Dells Hotel

  • from Madison (Wisconsin, United States)
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I got a call from Mark and Rachel, owners of the All Star Value Inn in the Wisconsin Dells.  Rachel said that her husband had been playing volleyball the night before with friends.  The court was recently redone and was part of their property in the Wisconsin Dells.  He did not remember it specifically flying off, but does remember having it on throughout the match.  Rachel said that he even thought to himself, “I should probably take off my ring so that I don’t lose it”.  Famous last words, right?   Seconds later, while about to serve, Mark felt two of his fingers rug together and there was no ring on his finger.

The good news is that they were the owners of the court, but how would they find it?   Mark had plans to rent a metal detector and find it himself.  However, he would have found out that operating a metal detector isn’t as easy as it might seem.  The average person wouldn’t believe how much junk is located in the ground, even in a freshly redone volleyball court.  Rachel went on Google and searched for “Rent a Metal Detector”.  One of the pages she found was www.TheRingFinders.com, and there just happen to be someone specifically located in the Wisconsin Dells area.  She sent a quick email to me, and I immediately responded.  I set up an appointment the next day to take a look.

When I arrived, Mark and Rachel were having a friends and family picnic right next to the volleyball court.  My son and daughter were along for the hunt.  I started the hobby of metal detecting and ring finding as a way to spend time outdoors with my kids.  They love the hobby, and love helping others find what was lost.  My daughter was first on the metal detector.  We found 4-5 pieces of trash: a pop top, a Matchbox Car, some small metal objects, and a nail.  The mosquitoes were  pretty bad that night, but we kept on hunting.

All of a sudden we got a pretty strong signal from the metal detector, which is usually a good sign.  My daughter reached down, grab a fist full of sand and pulled out Mark’s ring!  We walked over to the picnic table and handed the lost ring back to Mark.  Everyone was surprised that we had found the lost ring, and so quickly.  Mark’s ring had a unique inscription on the inside, “P.S. I Love You”, so there was no question it was his.   My daughter was probably the most excited, as it was her first lost wedding ring recovery all by herself.

Mark and Rachel were generous with their reward for finding the lost ring.  They then asked if we had eaten anything that night.  I responded no, and that we had to head back home as my kids had started school already.  She asked if we had ever eaten at the Top of the Rock on the strip in Wisconsin Dells, which was their favorite place to eat.  We had never been there, so she called the restaurant and opened a tab with our name on it.  She said, “Order whatever you guys want and put it on our tab”.  What a cool reward.  We felt like celebrities when we walked in.  The manager of the restaurant practically greeted us at the door, “You must be the people who found that lost ring”.  We responded yes, and he showed us to our seats.  After a nice dinner, the kids and I headed back home.

So remember, don’t waste your time figuring out how to rent a metal detector, just rent a Ring Finder! 

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