lostringouterbanks Tag | The Ring Finders

Lost – Gold and Silver earring – Kill Devil Hills (OBX), NC – FOUND!!!

  • from Ormond Beach (Florida, United States)

On Friday, I got a FB message from Lisa.  She explained that her mother-in-law had lost a gold and silver earring and was wondering if I could help.  I said of course. I asked her to call me and during the conversation we set a time to meet.

On the way I said a prayer for God to give me favor.   When I arrived, I met Lisa and Robin.  Robin said she had been sitting on the steps of their beautiful waterfront home and her cat came up to her.  She went on to say the cat had batted at her sparkly gold and silver earring.  Just then, it went flying and she heard a ding as it hit something.   She tried to find the earring but had no success.

The steps were flanked by bushes right up to the railing and the ground was cover with leaves.  Due to the tight conditions, I was only able to cover a small area with my metal detector.  As I expected, near a home, I found nails, pennies, and roof flashing.

I squeezed through the bushes and began searching with my pinpointer. (An electronic device like they scan you with in airport). Again, I found several trash items.  Next, I checked right under the stair stringers.  Bingo!  It was a good hit, and a shuffling of leaves revealed a bright, sparkling earring.

I hid the earring in my hand and went to find Robin.  I asked her if she could explain again how she lost it.  As she began the story, I raised the earring to eye level.  As she caught sight of it, she shouted, “You found it!!  Happiness.

Lost – Men’s Gold Wedding Ring, Southern Shores, Outer Banks, OBX, NC – FOUND!!!

  • from Ormond Beach (Florida, United States)

On Sunday, I got a FB message from Linda.  She explained that her husband, Steve, had lost his wedding ring while doing some work on their property in Southern Shores.  I gave her a call and we arranged for me to come over the following day.  It seemed like it would be an easy hunt.

The next day when I arrived, I met Linda and Steve.  They took me a spot near the garage where Steve had been cutting and stacking firewood.  The area was covered with leaves and a few pallets of wood.  When I fired up the XP Deus II, all I heard was noise.  I quickly found out the area I was searching had underground power lines and electromagnetic interference (EMI) which made it nearly impossible to search.

I tried the standard noise canceling and frequency changes, but nothing worked.  I spent about an hour searching and found the usual cans, trash, and yard debris.  I left disappointed and not knowing if I could ever find the lost ring.

A few days later, I hijacked my wife’s gold wedding ring, I found an area in my yard with similar EMI and made some changes to my program to be able to filter out the interference.  VOILA, it worked!

On Thursday, I called Linda and told her that I’d like to come out tomorrow and try again…she agreed.  When I arrived, I activated the changes and began the search.  Shortly thereafter, I got a great hit…it was a piece of foil.  A short time later, another hit.  I removed some leaves and found the ring buried in less than an inch of dirt!

I took the ring to the house and presented it to Steve.  The ring that had been so dear to the couple for 44 years was home!

Lost – 3 Pc Diamond Wedding Band Set, Corolla, OBX, NC – FOUND!!

  • from Ormond Beach (Florida, United States)

Around 10:30 on Friday I got a text from a Karen.  She said that she had lost her wedding and anniversary bands on the beach yesterday.  I gave Karen a call and let her know that I would head out right away, but it would take about 30 minutes depending on the traffic in Duck.

When I arrived Karen took me to the beach where I met Chris her husband and they filled me in on the area that they thought they had lost the rings.  It was an area about 20 by 10 yards away from the water, so I thought there would be a great chance that they were still there.  After about 4 passes with the XP Deus II; no luck.

As I normally do, I started asking more questions about if they had gone to the water and the path, they had taken leaving.  She had not gone to the water with the rings on, so I concentrated on the path to the steps which passed through the area of another group.

As I came near the group with seven or eight aluminum chairs, I got a great hit!  It was the first ring.  Karen began to cry.  The second ring was nearby.  But the gold one was still missing.  I covered the entire area to the steps.  On the way back, I prayed.

With nothing else to do and standing on ground that I had already covered, the neighbor group volunteered to move, and I agreed that it would be the next best step.  As they were moving, I looked down.  In the sand was the outline of the edge of a gold ring!!!  Could it be?  It was.  I picked up the ring and shouted, “Stop moving, there’s no need to move!”  When I did, I could hear Karen behind me and the left chuckling.  She had her three rings back!

Lost – Lady’s White Gold Diamond Wedding Band, Outer Banks, OBX, NC – FOUND!!

  • from Ormond Beach (Florida, United States)

I couldn’t sleep well Thursday night.  Around 2 a.m. I got up and looked at my phone.  Someone had mentioned me on Facebook.  It was on a lost ring post.  DIAMOND WEDDING BAND LOST.  It even named the town and access point.  I sent a text to the number listed to call me.   No call.

I decided to get up early and go down to the access to see if I could find it.  At around 6 I called the owner but got not answer.  Trying to find a ring on a beach with no information is a daunting task.

I covered all the obvious areas, close to the water, near the steps entering the beach, areas that showed lots of activity and I even found an area that looked like someone had been searching by sweeping their feet.  Just then a man approached me waving his arms and saying, “excuse me.”

“My wife lost her diamond wedding band last night.”  I asked, “Christina?”  He looked and me very strangely and I said her name was in a Facebook post.

He led me over to the area where they had searched by sweeping their feet.  I started with a long sweep parallel to the beach.  On the second sweep, I got a great hit.  I knew it was the ring.  As I handed it to Christina, she began to cry.  Her ring of 20 years was back where it belonged…on her finger!

 

Lost – Men’s White Gold Wedding Band, Corolla, OBX, NC – FOUND!!

  • from Ormond Beach (Florida, United States)

On Tuesday, I got a call at about 10:31am…I did not get it.  Around noon, I called the number back…no answer.  Finally, at 12:30, Tyler called me.  He said that he lost his white gold wedding band on the beach.  I asked him if he thought it was in the water; he said no, he didn’t think so.

I arrived on the scene in Corolla a few hours later.  Tyler was not sure when he lost the ring.  He gave me a general area involving tossing a football near a stump in the water.  The search area was about 30 yards long and just past a stump that was rapidly disappearing in the rising tide.  I fired up the Deus ii and started at the water and worked up toward the parking area.

After I was convinced that I had covered the area, I began working the water.  I was not prepared for a water search but went out about thigh-high.  Nothing!  The tide was rising too fast so we decided to come back tomorrow at low tide which would be around 12:30pm.

I arrived this time in swim shorts.  The beach had grown by at least 30 yards toward the water!  I started large sweeps to cover all the territory that I needed to.  I took a minute to pray!

I continued and after just a few passes my hat slipped down.  I stopped to adjust it and set my coil down on an area of sand that I had gone by.  I got a bit signal as I lower the coil.  When I had finished with my hat, I investigated the hit.  Scoop one was nothing.  Scoop two and I saw the ring shining in the sand.

I put the ring in my cupped hand and called Tyler over.  I asked him if he would go over where he lost the ring again.  As he did, I raised my left hand up with the ring, showing it to his wife Caroline and then bringing into his view.  Happiness!

Lost – Lady’s diamond turquoise and men’s wedding band, Kill Devil Hills, OBX, NC – FOUND!

  • from Ormond Beach (Florida, United States)

Monday it was raining, with lightning and thunder.  My iPhone rang.  The lady was saying that she had lost her engagement ring on the beach.  I asked her if it was in the water…she said no.  I told her that we had a great chance of finding the ring, but we should try to go out after the storm even if it is dark.  I told her that I would call her in 30 minutes.

I called her and the storm had move off to the south and east.  I met Regina and her friend Susan at the beach access.  As they led me to the beach, I fired up the XP detector.  As we got closer, they said they thought we were at the area…but something was wrong; things looked different after the rain, and they were not 100% sure.

As a beautiful rainbow appeared to the south, Regina gave me a starting point and I began doing sweeps.  When I was about halfway through my second sweep, Regina told me there was a second ring, not as important or expensive.  It was her late husband’s wedding band.  I thought, we must find these.  I said, “So if I find one, I should find the other.”

I was in my third or forth sweep finding nothing but bottle caps when I got a solid sounding target.  I thought it could be the ring but I expected a lower number.  There it was!  In the scoop!  Even though it was getting darker, the diamonds sparkled, and the turquois stone glistened.

I held the stone up to show the ladies who had ventured off to the south.  Regina saw it and immediately began crying as I gave it to her.  One more simple sweep and I dug the other ring out with my toe.  Hugs, tears…another person recovered happy beyond belief!

We found two rings at the end of the rainbow!

Lost – Gold and Silver Men’s Swiss Army dress watch – Kitty Hawk, Outer Banks, NC – FOUND!!

  • from Ormond Beach (Florida, United States)

I got a Facebook message at 8:45 pm.  I did not see it until the next day.  The message read:  “Please help friends at Kitty Hawk.  He thinks he misplaced his watch at the beach just above the tide mark. (Soft sand) Swiss Army Men’s Officer’s dress watch.  His wife has a matching one only smaller. (Very sentimental)

I called and talked with Sally.  She told me that they were leaving today at 10am.  I met them at the site after 7:30am.

I started the XP up at the water’s edge (as usual) and worked toward the cottage.  Only a few hits but no watch.  Bill was very meticulous.  Yesterday, when the watch turned up missing, he had recorded directional heading from the cottage to where they had been on the beach.  From that he was able to mark a 30-yard search area near the water.  Yet, no watch!

I continued up over the dune along the walk path.  Bill had mentioned previously mentioned that they had a bag on the beach that was emptied under the house in a sandy area.  I decided to check knowing that if this didn’t work, I would have to come back at low tide and probably go in the water.

Big hit!  The Deus II screamed at me.  I knew it was the watch.  It had worked its way down to about 5 inches in the sand.

I knocked on the cottage door and presented the watch.  Billy and Sally were thrilled!

 

Lost Platinum Diamond Engagement Ring – Southern Shores – Outer Banks, NC – Found

  • from Ormond Beach (Florida, United States)

I received a call from Molly in Southern Shores.  She had lost her Platinum Diamond ring on the beach.  I told Molly that I was in Kitty Hawk, which is very close, and I could be there in about 20 minutes.

When I arrived, Molly took me to the beach.  The family had marked off the spot that they thought the ring had ended up.   In the center of the spot was their umbrella and it was bounded by beach chairs.

I fired up the Equinox 800 and began a grid search.  The sand was very course and unlevel.  I covered the area with no hits.  I asked them if they had walked down the  beach or gone in the water.  They answered that they did not.  I decided to sweep the area from the walkway to the chair area…Nothing!

Then I decide to expand the search area outward in the direction of the surf, which was coming up.  Bingo!  Almost immediately I got a strong signal that was right on top.  I reached down with my hand and brushed the sand away.  Diamonds shown in the bright OBX sunlight and I recognized the ring from the picture that Molly had shown me.  Congratulations Molly and family for finding your exquisite ring.

 

Lost Men’s White Gold Wedding Ring – Nags Head – Outer Banks, NC – Found

  • from Ormond Beach (Florida, United States)

While I was on the beach looking for a ring that was lost last week, a lady named Katie approached me and told me that her party had lost a ring on the beach earlier in the day.  She showed me an area about 20ft square that she thought her brother-in-law Will had lost the ring.  I covered the area pretty quickly and thoroughly but only found a few bottle caps.  I then asked her if there were any other areas she could think of.

She walked over to an area and asked me if I could make a diagonal from there to a sand mound on the beach.  I put my Equinox 800 to quick work starting at the sand mound.  I got a hit that was strong, but a number that is not normally associated with a ring.  I dug it anyway.

I saw the ring and picked it up with my closed hand.  Sidney, Will’s wife, asked me did you find it.  I said, “could you describe it?”  She described the ring and I handed it to her.  Both Sidney and Katie were overjoyed.   The EQ800

Lost Women’s Diamond White Gold Wedding Ring – Nags Head – Outer Banks, NC – Found

  • from Ormond Beach (Florida, United States)

Got a call from Brooks who said that he and his wife were visiting from western NC.  While she was on the beach he said that she was doing something and felt her ring flick off of her hand.  They looked and looked…even sifting the sand with a colander to try to find the ring.  No luck.

I told Brooks that I would be right over and loaded the Equinox 800 in the truck.  It took me a while to get down to Nags Head but once I did, I met Brooks at the access point and he filled me in on the details.

I fired up the Minelab machine and went to work.  Almost immediately I got a good 9 to ring up but it was deeper that I expected the ring to be…so I continued on the sweep for a while.  Getting no other hits, I returned to the 9 and dug around in the sand with my hands.  Low and behold a ring popped out.

I asked Brooks if that was it.  Yes, Yes it was, and what a beautiful ring.  His wife met us at the access parking lot and they were both overjoyed.  I love getting rings back to their owners.