Metal Detecting Service North Myrtle Beach SC Tag | Page 4 of 8 | The Ring Finders

Engagement Ring Lost in the Ocean North Myrtle Beach – Found and Returned

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

Jai called me about 7 p.m. on Thursday, 9 Jul, asking if I could help find a 22k Engagement ring that his fiancé, Sim had lost in the ocean. He said she lost it about 3:30 that afternoon. Looking at the tide table, she lost it 2 hours before low tide at 5:21 p.m. so searching for it now would be pointless. I did want to see what I was up against so I told Jai I’d be right over to scope things out.

When I got to the beach I met Jai and Sim, who were set up at the same spot they were when she lost the ring. Sim told me that her and her sister in law had been riding a float in the surf when a big wave hit them, knocking them off the float. She continued to tell me that when she finally got her balance she was about waist deep, which means she was still a ways out in the water. She remembered being pretty much straight out from where they were set up. Jai wasn’t on the beach at the time, but his brother in law was. I asked him what he remembered, and he stated Sim and his wife were about 50 yards further south. I thought I had all the information I needed, so I told Jai and Sim I’d be back the next morning at 5 a.m. to work the outgoing tide.

The next morning the conditions weren’t good, the wind was blowing from the east and the swells were at least 5 feet, and both were coming straight in to the beach. After about an hour and a half, getting beat up, and busting the shaft on my detector, I told Jai and Sim I’d be back that evening for the low tide and bring a friend. I called Matt Fry, TRF Myrtle beach, and he had his own search. So I called Jim Brouwer, and he jumped at the chance to help. When Jim and I showed up that afternoon, the conditions had gone from bad to worse. Big swells made the search almost impossible. If we did pick up a signal, the swells would knock us off it. Jim and I struggled for about an hour, during which time I had the chance to talk with Sim’s sister in law. She informed me that she thought they were even further south than her husband had thought. This search was starting to look very bleak for finding Sim’s engagement ring. I told Jai and Sim we were calling it a day, but I’d be back out during the week. Their expressions said it all.

I wasn’t able to search the next day, but looking at the Sunday morning tide, wind, and swell information, conditions looked good enough to give it another shot. I had decided I’d start a perpendicular grid search a little further south than Jai’s sister suggested and work north to where Sim thought she was. When I walked out on the beach, the swell information was higher than predicted, but I started the grid doing the best I could. On my 4th line, I got a solid 13/14, which is usually a pull tab, but could be a small gold ring, too. In this case it was a pull tab. I took a few more steps and got another 13/14, I dug the target, and looking for the pull tab in the scoop I see the glimmer of gold. BAM, I had Sim’s ring. I sent Jai and Sim a text at 6:27 a.m. saying “Good Morning you two!!! I just wanted to let know I came back out this morning to look for your ring and…..” Then I sent another text saying “Bingo” with 2 pictures, one of me holding the ring and another of the ring resting on a shell. At 10:05 a.m. I got a response from Jai and a phone call; I don’t think he could have been any happier. A little later Sim called me; she was so excited and grateful. She told me that she had given up hope of getting her ring back. So happy I could restore her hope!

Jai and Sim – Thank you for letting me help find your lost treasure.

Jim

     

Car Keys Lost and Found in North Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

Joe Denton, the mine lab distributor in North Myrtle, called me asking if I wanted a search for some car keys. Sure, I’m always up for a search. Joe sent me the contact information, and I called Ben. Ben explained that his friend had lost his keys the night before on the beach. I told him I’d be there in 30-40 minutes.

As I’m driving to the beach, it starts pouring down rain; I’m good as long as there’s no lightening. When I arrived, Tristan met me at the beach access and explained that he and his buddies were out sitting on the beach. He said he was sitting in one of the low back beach chairs and figures the keys fell out of his pocket. He set me up in the area, and I started a normal grid search. I knew the keys would stand out loud and clear when I waved the coil over them. An hour and a half later, and moving my grid lines out farther and farther both north and south, there were no keys. Tristan had mentioned that he and some other fire fighters were down here for some R&R from Virginia. I asked him if these were the keys to the car that was going to get them back home, they were! He said he had contacted a lock smith who wanted $400.00 dollars to make a new car key. Tristan had also been in contact with his parents to overnight a spare key so the group could get home.

Tristan finally walked over to me, with a couple of his buddies and let me know that they weren’t over as far as I was searching, and really appreciated me trying. This was one of those special serendipity moments. As we were walking off the beach, I noticed the life guard setting up for the day. I walked over and asked him if someone had turned in a set of keys, as I’m asking him, the beach patrol was driving up in their beach cart. The life guard said no, so I asked the beach patrol. She said as a matter of fact, someone had. As she pulls the keys out of the glove box, I saw Tristan’s face light up. Right place, right time, right person and Tristan had his keys back. Sometimes things just happen, and this was one of them.

Tristan, you and your buddies stay safe, and have a safe trip home.

Jim

    

Lady’s Yellow Gold Engagement Ring Lost in North Myrtle Beach SC, Found and Returned

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

I received an e-mail from Summer, saying she had lost her ring the previous evening around 6 p.m. in ankle deep water. We went back and forth with e-mails, and I finally asked her to call me, so I could make sure I was going to the right area of the beach. Her fiancé, Nick, called me and gave me the exact location and said they’d be there waiting. I told him I’d be there in 10 minutes, grabbed my detector, and was on my way.

I got to the beach and walked out towards the ocean, holding my detector straight up in the air. I called Summer to let her know I was there and to look for me. She spotted me and pointed me in her direction. Once we found each other, I got more details. She pointed out one location and Nick pointed out a different area. Ok, double the area I thought it’d be, but one I could handle. Her losing it at 6 p.m. the night before meant she lost it roughly an hour after high tide, which was good because I got there right at low tide. I started doing a parallel grid at the low tide line, planning on working the incoming tide up to the high tide line. As I’m walking the grid, I look up and see an older gentleman detecting about the mid tide line. I walked over to him to let him know what I was doing; his response was that he was looking for the same ring. So, evidently Summer and Nick had seen him detecting and asked him to help without letting me know, or letting him know I was looking also. There were a couple of times we got in each other’s way, but I maintained my parallel grid. Summer and Nick came up and said they had to leave; I assured them I’d call them when I found it. They also let me know that they had originally come on the beach a little further down from where we were. Ok, I’m thinking now that I may have to come back during the night time low tide. With the distance I had covered already, the tide was catching up to me. I was pretty confident that I hadn’t gotten to the area she lost her ring, but I wanted to make sure I got the low tide area before it was under water. I kept my search going, extending it out further to cover the new area while making my way to the high tide line. Shortly after Summer and Nick left, the older gentlemen came up to me. We introduced ourselves, his name was Jim as well and we compared notes. Summer had told me, she lost the ring around 6 pm in ankle deep water. At some point, she had told Jim she lost it around 7 pm close to knee deep, which was no big deal. Jim said he was going to quit for now and come back out at the low tide tonight. I told him I was going to keep working my way up to the high tide line. About 2 more grid lines and I got a banging 22-23 VDI on my detector. I knew I was looking for yellow gold, but I was expecting something in the 17 VDI range. One scoop and I had the target out of the sand; I spread the sand out with my foot and saw the faint glimmer of gold. I had to look at the picture Summer sent me and the ring I was holding to make sure I had the right one. Bingo, it was a perfect match. I took a picture of the ring and sent it to Summer, with a text saying “Look familiar?” She immediately texted back saying “You found it!!! Oh my goodness thank you” Meanwhile, I caught back up with Jim to let him know I found it. Shortly after, Summer and I met up in the parking lot where she got her treasure back.

Summer/Nick – thank you for trusting me to help find your lost treasure.

Jim

       

Engagement Ring Found by Owner

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

Not all ring finder stories end with a happy ending. As hard as the members of The Ring Finders try, some treasures just aren’t found and returned. Then there are the stories that have a very happy ending that members had nothing to do with. This is one of those stories.

I received a referral off of a Face Book group that I responded to. Jessica had lost her engagement ring while her and her fiancé, Oscar, were on a 6 mile bike ride. I contacted Jessica and offered to help. I had a couple of appointments the next day, so I told her I could come by at 4 pm to start a search of part of the route. She explained that she and Oscar were leaving to go back home at 4 the next day and wanted to know if I could come earlier. So we set it up that I’d be there at 9 am and we’d take a golf cart ride along the same route as their bike ride, so I could get a feel for the search area.

Everything went as planned and I was there at 9. We jumped on the golf cart and started the adventure. During the route, Jessica was showing me where they were riding in the streets, going with the flow of traffic, or on the sidewalks. I confirmed Jessica was wearing the ring on her left hand. Jessica told me she had put suntan lotion on before they started their bike ride. She also said that towards the end of the route, she had shaken her hands a few times to get the circulation back after grasping the handlebars for so long. We both came to the conclusion that if the ring was anywhere, it would be in the last half of the route. We also concluded the ring should be in the middle of the street, because they only rode on the sidewalk in two places and that was only for a block or two. Jessica and Oscar had retraced the entire route on foot and golf cart, searching the street area as soon as they got home and Jessica realized the ring was gone. So, I’m thinking the ring flew off her finger when she shook her hand, bounced and rolled across the road and ended up on the side of the road or in the grass areas. By 9:30, I started my search and covered about 2 miles of the route working both sides of the street before I had to leave for my appointments. I made it back at 3 pm and covered another 2 miles, again working both sides of the street. Right around 5 pm, I called it a day, planning on being back early the next morning and finish up the whole back half of the route.

At 9:08 pm, I received a text from Jessica, “Jim I can’t believe it but I just found my ring!!! It was inside my laptop?!! I don’t know how it got in there!!!! I was going through everything again and I noticed my laptop wasn’t closed all the way and I opened it and there it was!! I’m so relieved.” I immediately responded telling her how happy I was for her, and I truly was.

It’s completely and totally irrelevant how the ring got back to where it belongs, and as I said, I had nothing to do with it. The important thing is, her ring is back where it belongs. She is one very excited, happy young lady with a huge smile on her face making for a very happy ending!

Jessica and Oscar – Congratulations!!! Thank you for the beautiful card. Take care of each other, and I wish you two only the best in life.

Jim

   

Lady’s Yellow Gold Band Lost in Myrtle Beach – Found and Returned

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

I got a call from Joe Denton, NMB Minelab distributor, about a lady who had lost her Gold band in the dry sand in North Myrtle Beach. He gave me her number and I called her. I introduced myself and learned her name was Elizabeth and she had lost a yellow gold band. She told me she was in North Myrtle on 21st Ave North, right next to a life guard stand. No problem, I grabbed my Equinox 800 and headed out for the 10 minute drive to the beach. After finding a place to park on a busy Sunday, I made my way out to the beach. When I got out there, I called Elizabeth saying I was there and holding my detector up in the air so she could see me. She didn’t, I gave her a couple of landmarks like the banana boat ride. She didn’t see it. Ok, I must be in the wrong spot. I asked her again about being in North Myrtle Beach. She said she’d ask the life guard, and I asked to talk to her. The life guard said they were about 10 blocks up from the sky wheel on 21st Ave North. Ok, she wasn’t in North Myrtle Beach, she was in Myrtle Beach. This happens all the time with visitors; both Myrtle and North Myrtle have exactly the same street numbers. I explained that since she was in Myrtle, I needed to call the TRF for Myrtle, Matt Fry. I tried his number a couple of time, with no answer, so I called his wife. I explained the situation and she gave me permission to take the call. Matt and I have a great working relationship, so if one of us gets the other one’s call we’ll work it out.

I called Elizabeth back, told her I’d be there in about 25 minutes, and headed south. Once I got there, I went through the same routine of calling her and holding up my detector. This time she found me. She led me over to the spot and explained that the ring was dropped in the sand right off the blanket that was spread out. She told me the ring was yellow gold, but in my head I’m thinking white gold. So I’m looking for a VDI (visual display identifier) numbers between 8-10. I immediately got a VDI of 17, and passed over it. Took another step, it was like dah; I confirmed yellow gold, turned around and took out 2 scoops of sand. Bingo, I had it in the scoop. As I’m showing it to Elizabeth, another young lady was walking towards us and Elizabeth said “he found it.” This young lady’s name was Jessica and the actual owner of the ring. Jessica said she had taken her rings off so Elizabeth could put them in her bag, and this one was dropped in the sand. Elizabeth felt horrible, so both ladies started digging through the sand with no luck. Elizabeth had originally called Joe to rent a detector, and Joe sent her my way. All’s well that ends well!

Elizabeth/Jessica – so glad I could help find the lost treasure.

Joe – thanks for the referral!

Jim

   

Wedding and Engagement Rings Lost in the Dry Sand, Found and Returned Myrtle Beach, SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

I got a call from Matt Fry’s (TRF Myrtle Beach) wife, Sunny saying that Matt and she were on the highway and Matt just got a lost ring call. She asked if I could take it for him. I asked her to text me the man’s phone number. Shortly after getting the number, I called Randy to get the details. Randy told me his wife had lost her rings and wondered if I could help. I told him I’d be there in an hour.

When I arrived at their location and was walking out on the beach, I text Randy saying I’m here. As I walked on the beach I saw Randy waving his hand, so I made my way over to them. I introduced myself and asked what happened. Randy’s wife, Lesa, said the rings were within about a 6 ft radius and she had taken them off and put them on the towel, forgot them until she shook out the towel. I asked if the rings were separate or soldered together, she said they were separate and both rings were yellow gold. I turned my Equinox on and took 6 steps. First signal was a VDI of 16 so I knew I had one of the rings. Took a few scoops to get it, but as I lifted up the scoop I saw the small wedding band. I turned around and handed it to Lesa, who was trying hard to hold her emotions. A couple more swings and I got another signal, 12 on the VDI, scooped it up and had her beautiful engagement ring. As I handed her the second ring there was no more holding the emotions, a few tears fell, but they were happy ones! Total search time was about 30 seconds.

Lesa and Randy, thanks for calling The Ring Finders and so glad we could help. Enjoy the rest of your vacation!

Matt, thanks for the call, happy I could help.

Jim

   

Lost in the Sand, Sentimental White Gold Diamond Pendant North Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

I got a text message from Joe Denton, Minelab and Garrett metal detector distributor in North Myrtle Beach, saying “Call this lady. Names Teresa and she lost her necklace.” Joe gets the occasional frantic calls from people looking to buy or rent a metal detector because they’ve lost a ring or other piece of Jewelry. When he does, he usually steers ‘em my way.

I called Teresa and left a message, she quickly returned my call. She said her necklace had broken and her pendant fell in the dry sand. She gave me the resort name and I told her I’d be there in about 15 minutes. When I met up with Teresa and her husband, Ronnie, they showed me the suspected spot in the dry sand. I got the details and found out the pendant was a white gold pendant with diamonds. I started up my Equinox 800 and did an east/west grid and didn’t get a signal, other than a soda can buried deep in the sand. I started a cross grid going north/south and still wasn’t picking anything up. Ronnie had told me that they were sitting in one area, went to lunch, and when they came back they moved up and over to a new spot on the beach. Teresa also said she walked down to the water to rinse her hands off after apply suntan lotion. I widened the search area, including getting wet in the incoming tide, and still wasn’t finding anything. At that point, I switched to my Gold Bug II thinking maybe the Equinox just couldn’t detect the pendant. I’ve also learned to always take a second detector; nothing is more embarrassing than to start a search and your machine’s not working. I was starting to worry that I might be searching the path they took when they went and came back from lunch, too. I started another grid line with the Gold Bug, and on my second line I got a scratchy signal. I took a small scoop of sand and laid it out, ran the detector over it and got a better signal. I spread the sand out with my foot and picked up a small patch of sand. I gently shook the sand out of the scoop and saw a shell and the back part of the pendant. I turned around to find Teresa standing on the beach, held the pendant up for her to see I found something. She got the “did he really find it” look on her face. She literally ran over, and when I handed her her pendant, she was overwhelmed! Her happiness, tears, big hug, and the Thank you is exactly why I enjoy doing this so much.

Teresa and Ronnie, so glad I could help find your special 2 year old Valentine’s Day present. Enjoy the rest of your vacation and have a safe trip back home.

Jim

  

Lost Cell Phone in Myrtle Beach, SC – Found and Returned

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

George called me from his wife’s phone saying he had lost his phone and wanted to know if I could help find it. When he gave me the hotel name, I was pretty sure he was in Myrtle Beach, which he confirmed. That’s Matt Fry’s area, so I told George that I’d call Matt and one of us would call him back within 10 minutes. I didn’t have any luck getting a hold of Matt, so I called George back and told him I’d be there in about 30 minutes.

When I arrived at the beach, it was pretty crowded. I called George to let him know I was there and he said he’d be right down from the hotel. When he arrived on the beach he pointed out the area, which at the time, was being occupied by two young ladies. As I started walking over to them to ask them if they’d mind moving, they started packing up to leave, so no problems.

I started doing an east/west grid line, and on the third leg I got a 31-32 on the Equinox 800 so I knew I had he’s phone. Surprisingly, the phone was deeper than it should have been after less than 2 hours of being in the sand. I very carefully used my scoop to get the phone out of the sand, saw it lying in the hole, and reached down and pulled it out. George was in a little bit of shock, but very happy he had his phone back.

George, thanks for contacting me to help find your phone. Have a great rest of your vacation and a safe trip home.

Jim

Man’s White Gold Wedding Band Lost in North Myrtle Beach, Found and Returned

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

I received a late night email from Kim saying that they were here on vacation with some friends and one of them, Tommy, had lost his wedding band. She asked if it was something I could possibly help with. I replied asking if he thinks he could put me in the right area and to give me a phone number and I’d call him this morning for the details. She wrote back saying she thought he could and gave me his number. I think she was emailing me while Tommy and his wife were searching for his ring in the dark.

I contacted Tommy at about 8:15 this morning, waking him up, and got the details and location. Told him I’d be there in about 20 minutes and was on my way. These were perfect conditions because it hadn’t gotten hot yet with a heat index over 100 and there shouldn’t be the big crowds to contend with.

When I arrived, I walked out on the beach and called him saying I was there. When we met, he was standing in an area of soft sand that was maybe 10ft X 10ft. He told me that he had handed his ring to his wife to hold while he put sun screen on himself and her. He wasn’t sure what happened after that, but at the end of the day, the ring couldn’t be found. I started a grid line and just as I started the 4th line, Boom, I got a solid 12 on the Equinox 800. I dug a small scoop of sand, checked the hole to make sure I had the ring, and dumped the sand. As I did, I saw the glistening of his white gold ring lying in the sand. I reached down, and picked it up with the scoop, shook the sand out, and walked over to where Tommy was standing. I stuck the scoop out for him to see his ring and then he reached in and plucked it out. Overjoyed was definitely an understatement in this case.

Kim, I didn’t get to meet you, but thank you for reaching out to me and putting me in touch with Tommy.

Tommy, thank you for trusting me to help find your lost treasure, and getting it back where it belongs. Have a great rest of your vacation.

Jim

 

Beautiful 1K Diamond Engagement Ring Lost in North Myrtle Beach, Found and Returned

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

I received an email, and then a follow up phone call, from Kim saying she had lost her engagement ring and asking for help in finding it. She said she lost it around 1pm that afternoon. Looking at the tide tables, the next low tide would be at 1:30am the next morning. I got the resort address and told her I’d be right over so I could get an idea of what my search area needed to be. After seeing what I was up against, I told her I’d be back at 1am.

The search area wasn’t all that big, so when I got back at 1am, I started a perpendicular search going from the wet sand to the water line. I kept expanding my search area both north and south and wasn’t getting many targets, and definitely no ring. Kim and her husband came out to the beach around 2am and I confirmed the search area. I decided to change tactics and started a parallel grid line with the beach and still nothing. Finally around 3am, I called it a night. I had a big family reunion starting later that day, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it back out at the next low tide. I told Kim that I was going to contact both Matt Fry, TRF Myrtle Beach, and Jim Brouwer and see if one or both could cover for me. Around 8:30am I got a call from Jim saying he was available to search. Shortly after we hung up, Matt called and said he wouldn’t be able to help. I contacted Kim and told her Jim would be there to search and he’d be calling her shortly.

Sometime around 2pm Jim called saying he’d found her ring. I must have walked right over the ring, missing it. That happens sometimes, but thankfully Jim backed me up and Kim’s ring made it back to where it was suppose to be.

Jim, Thanks a million for helping me out!

Kim, sorry I added a little more stress by not finding it in the first place, but thank you for trusting us to help find your lost treasure.

Jim