Madison Tag | The Ring Finders

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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Two Lost Gold Diamond Rings at Calve Barn in Mt. Sterling, OH “FOUND”

  • from Newark (Ohio, United States)
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Two Lost Gold Diamond Rings at Calve Barn in Mt. Sterling, OH "FOUND"

Two Lost Gold Diamond Rings at Calve Barn in Mt. Sterling, OH “FOUND”

I received an email from a lady that lost both of her Gold Diamond Rings while helping her neighbor feed some calves. Some of the calves were sucking on her fingers as she feed the others. Before she lefted the barn, she realize that both her rings were missing. It was dark out and it would be impossible to look for both rings since there is straw and calve manure everywhere in the barn.

I came with my rubber boots and my metal detecting and started searching though the straw and calve manure. Found the five stoned gold ring within 15 minutes of searching. But the other bigger diamond ring was no where to be found after another hour of looking. I then switched to a smaller coil and moved some calve pins. There was the other ring, in the corner where the bigger coil could not get to. Her face lit up when she saw the other ring.

 

 

 

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Metal-detector enthusiasts ease the sting of losing the bling – The Columbus Dispatch

  • from Newark (Ohio, United States)
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By  Lori Kurtzman The Columbus Dispatch Thursday June 21, 2012 9:24 AM

 

A Blacklick couple got into an argument one night last month. Cooler heads did not prevail.

It might have felt satisfying, what the man did, but it proved to be a bad decision because, once you chuck your fiancee’s engagement ring into the pitch black of your backyard, chances are you’re not getting it back.

Unless you know Jon Baughman — or any of the other Ring Finders.

They’re a worldwide collective of metal-detector enthusiasts who claim more than 430 successful recoveries of rings lost to wild gestures, extreme gardening and lovers’ quarrels.

“I guess that happens quite a bit,” said Baughman, a Licking County Ring Finder, recalling the email he got from the woman asking him to find her ring in a patch of thick weeds and water. Her fiance had launched it in that direction.

Baughman is 27, a father of two with a third on the way in Washington Township, near Utica. Right now, the former Army National Guardsman is looking for work, so he figured he’d try to make some cash from the hobby his wife’s grandfather introduced him to years ago.

A few months ago, he came across the Ring Finders website, which was started by a Canadian man who seems to enjoy nothing more than reuniting people with their jewelry. The site is full of success stories, emotional tales of lost rings. In one story, a finder salvages a clumsy proposal by digging up the ring a brain surgeon buried in the beach sand and promptly lost.

Baughman added his name to the directory in February.

He charges $25 to respond to a call. He figures that’s enough for gas and a Gatorade. He’s more interested in helping than making money. He asks for a reward only if he actually finds the ring.

The ring in Blacklick initially eluded him. He had the fiance throw test rings, trying to re-create the mood of that night, seeing where the diamond might have landed. But after three hours of searching, he lost the sunlight and found nothing.

He came back another day and worked quickly, already familiar with the area. Within 15 minutes, there it was — a shiny little declaration of love.

He texted a photo of the ring to the fiancee. She was elated.For perhaps obvious reasons, the woman asked not to be identified in this story, but she said she and her fiance are getting along much better now. They plan to marry by the end of summer.

Baughman doesn’t get sentimental about such things. He’s a detective, not a therapist.

“The main thing is being satisfied that you did find the ring,” Baughman said. “And next time they throw it, they’ve already got your number there to call.”

lkurtzman@dispatch.com

@LoriKurtzman

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/06/21/finders-ease-the-sting-of-losing-the-bling.html

 

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