White Gold Wedding Band Lost in the Ocean, Found and Returned Myrtle Beach SC
On 7/16/2025 a little after 9 a.m. I received a call and voice mail from a 724-area code. I was on my way to Charleston, SC for a VA appointment and wasn’t able to immediately respond. The voice mail said, “Hi Jim, my name is Misty. We found you on ring finder and I lost my ring yesterday. I believe I lost it when I got knocked down by a wave at the beach and I’m hoping that you can help us out and help me find that. My number is 724-etc.” After listening to the voice mail, I took a guess that they were in Myrtle Beach and quickly looked up the tides for the day. I called Misty and got additional details, like the time she lost it and confirmed they were in Myrtle Beach. She confirmed Myrtle Beach and said she thought it was around 2 p.m., her husband said between 12 and 3 p.m. I told her I could be there around 4 p.m. and see what I could do. Once I got to my appointment, I double checked the tides and realized I had the wrong day. That’s what happens when you’re driving and trying to look at your phone. My best guess was she had actually lost it about 2 hours before low tide. I text her and told her that low tide was at 6:31 and that I’d be there at 5. I also ask her to send me the resort address. She agreed to 5 and sent me the address. On the way back from Charleston, I was watching the thunderstorms moving through the area due to the heat we’ve been getting. I text Missy and told her I was keeping an eye on the storms. The rain doesn’t bother me cause I’m probably going to get wet going in the ocean. Lightning’s a whole other story; I’m basically carrying two lightning rods in my hands, my metal detector and my sand scoop. Both have carbon fiber shafts which are able to conduct electricity.
By the time I got to the beach, the storms had passed, the sun was shining, and it was hot again. I met Misty and her longtime friend Barbara in the parking lot. We walked out to their spot on the beach, and I met her husband, Justin. They were set up within a few feet of where they were the day before. I got a north and south boundary line, probably 30-40 yards apart and searched around their area from the day before. No luck there, I started a perpendicular east/west grid line from about the middle of the beach out into the ocean. I was finding the typical trash, bottle caps and pull tabs but no ring. I searched for about an hour and half and only had a few yards left to search. This being a white gold wedding band I was expecting between a 9 and 12 on the detector’s VDI (visual display indicator). Suddenly, I hit a solid 10-11 and I knew I had her ring. I dug out a couple of scoops of sand and saw her beautiful ring lying in the sand I had spread out with my foot. I reached down and picked it up and looked up at them as they were looking at me. Now for the shock reveal. I put the ring in my pocket with the bottle caps and pull tabs, oh and an earring I had found. I walked back up the beach where they were sitting, looking like I was exhausted. I pulled out the items in my pocket and maneuvered her ring under a couple of bottle caps in the palm of my hand. I told them I wasn’t haven’t much luck and offered to show her what I had found. I bent down to show her, and she suddenly saw her ring and from there things got very emotional, happy, total shock and disbelief. I loved it!!! Her husband told me he saw me move the ring but didn’t say anything. Misty came up out of her chair and gave me a big hug. It doesn’t get any better than that, a very happy couple.
Misty and Justin – Thank you for allowing me to help get your treasure back where it belongs. Have a great rest of your vacation and a safe trip back to PA.
Jim
