Barnegat NJ Lost Wedding Ring in the Yard recovered by Edward Trapper NJ Ring Finder 2022














Anthony was doing some landscaping in his yard. After he was done planting a couple of things, he discovered his wedding ring was missing. Not being visible on top of the ground and not knowing how deep it may be buried, he wasn’t able to find it. An online search brought him to TheRingFinders.com and my contact info. We made arrangements for the search the next morning. I arrived with a buddy of mine and got the low down on where Anthony was working and other possible locations where the ring could be. First plant in the back yard, nada, so, we went to the side yard and the other plant. There was also some fresh bark that he had spread over the ground around the new plant. Hunted one side without a sound, I swung a bit over to the other side and got a weak jumpy sound off to the side a bit. I walked around to the other side and tried again. Still a bit of a strange signal, but, my coil was up against an adjacent pot, so, I just got out the pin pointer and investigated. Zeroed in on the target a couple of inches down and discovered it was his ring. Being a mix of tungsten carbide and gold probably produced the odd signal. A pleasure to meet you Anthony, and thank you for the reward. Hopefully the Padres will go to the World Series next year!

Kathleen reached out to me 3 weeks ago after finding me in the Ring Finders Directory. She lives in the Fairmont section of Philadelphia with her husband Eric. She was quite stressed and anxious as she conveyed to me that her beautiful custom-made white gold diamond engagement ring had gone missing. Over the phone she did a great job explaining the details surrounding the lost ring….she keeps both her rings(diamond & band) in a bowl on the kitchen counter…the bowl is shared also by her and Eric’s car keys. They were moving both their cars in and out of driveway and garage so they could start their day. Next thing she knows her band is in the bowl…but no diamond ring! She and Eric turn the inside and outside of the house upside down looking for the ring figuring when one of them grabbed their keys from the bowl they accidently grabbed the ring too…or possibly the ring was stuck on one of the keys. After hours searching the kitchen, cars, stairs, outside steps, driveway and garage…No luck. So she calls me….I’m happy to talk to her and give her advice but I’m really thinking my metal detector really won’t help much because if the ring fell….it would most likely be on the floor, driveway, stairs or someplace that she would see without the aid of a metal detector. I always like to manage expectations and I do not like to ask someone for a call-out fee when it’s unlikely I’m going to be successful. She does mention this narrow garden bed that runs downward along their front stairs to the driveway. She tells me its a very small area with not a lot of plants/shrubs. I recommended that she thoroughly search the entire area again…including that garden bed just with her eyes and maybe a flashlight. I told her if she still wants me to come out she can call me back. 3 weeks later!!!!!….she calls me and says she would like me to come and search with my metal detector. I admire her refusal to give up!!!!
I got there today and met both Kathleen and Eric. As I arrived and was walking up the steps I saw the little garden bed she was talking about…a small area jammed solid with low junipers. No way I’m able to sweep my detector in that bed….happy I brought my 6-inch coil! I met them in the kitchen and she went through again the details of how the ring came up missing. I’m still thinking based on everything she tells me it’s either in one of the cars or on the driveway or stairs. We go outside and I quickly scan the driveway and garage area…no luck. I then start working my metal detector down the stairs in and out of the garden bed with the juniper shrubs. I’m pushing junipers up while shoving my detector underneath and sweeping my detector the best I can in the tight space. I was getting some signals on and off again from a cable that was running through the bed….but no signals suggestive of a gold ring. Eric and Kathleen were looking down on me from the top of the stairs. I found out later Eric had just suggested to his wife that they may have to accept the fact the ring is gone forever when I got an amazing signal from my machine…I was under a juniper shrub 3/4 of the way down the steps. I pushed the shrub out of the way…and was crazy surprised to see this beautiful white gold diamond ring sitting there amongst the leaves and roots. I took a closer look to make sure what I was seeing….when I was sure it was, in fact, a diamond ring I looked upward to Kathleen and Eric with a big smile and nodded my head yes. I think they were stunned and confused….So I nodded my head again indicating yes…I think I heard “no way…you found it?”. I then reached under the shrub picked up the ring and handed it to Kathleen. She screamed and ran into the house with it to share the news! I found out soon after that the ring was custom made with diamonds that were from generations past and the sentimental value of the ring was close to priceless to them. As a Ring FInder sometimes you go on a job and you expect a good result and recovery…I had my doubts about this one. Have to give Kathleen credit for never giving up! I was very happy over being able to reunite this nice couple with their beautiful ring!!!



September 24th, 2022
The exchange of vows, barefoot in the sand, had taken place on a Cape Cod beach just hours before I was called. All the guests had made their way to the toasting venue. When I arrived to search for a lost set of rings the wedding reception was in full swing and the toasting to the Bride and Groom had just begun. It was not Brigid or Sean’s ring but one of the guest’s, a set of engagement, wedding and anniversary rings that had been soldered together. Linda had participated in a “barefoot walk in the sand” and was putting her shoes back on when her ring set took flight and buried itself in the sand. The reception venue nor the local police department had a contact number for TheRingFinders.com. But one of the guests had met Eleanor of J&E Enterprise, Yarmouth’s metal detecting sales and called her for help. I, in turn, received a call from Eleanor for help as she was unable to aid in a search for the rings.
With the information I was given I was on my way to keep the enjoyment of a wedding in the correct spirit. I initially stopped at the Cafe’s main building only to find it closed for the day. I had been told the ring had been lost behind the Cafe, so I drove down the road to the beach. It also was vacant. I had no return call that I had made for further information when I remembered that there was a main outdoor dining area beyond the Cafe’s adjacent marina. I drove past several boat that had been pulled for the year and were ready to be racked. Then under a large tent I saw the reception celebration and the “Toasting” was being recited.
The DJ, at the tent’s entrance, knew I was coming and that everyone was waiting for me to show up and find the ring. He escorted me through the center of the tent with great fanfare. Then out of the tent to a sandy area ribbon-ed off so the ring would not be stepped upon. Linda was there and went through the antics of putting her shoes back on and how the rings were lost. Three passes with my detector and nothing. As it usually happened the lost object is not in the exact spot it is thought to be. I moved the search area from the initial area to about 8 feet away and my detector gave me the sweet tone in my ears, signaling the location of the ring. I carefully made a very shallow scoop and just missed the rings. I then saw the shine and picked the family of rings up and gave them to Linda.
Cameras started clicking, cheers from inside the tent took over the music that had been playing. What a joy and pleasure to be part of such a vibrant group that were gathered for a very special occasion.
Congratulations to Brigid and Sean and to Linda. And a Thank You to all those in attendance for making the night very special for each other. I have never seen so many smiles at any ring return I have been a part of. I must wish Brigid and Sean, Linda and Stephen and all other couples to have a long and happy marriage as I have for 55 years.
I had to add this to the posting: The next day, September 25th, Sean lost his wedding band on Corporation Beach. It was the same Dennis Beach where he had exchanged the wedding vows the day before. See the next posting for the full story.

I traveled to Boothbay, Maine this morning to reunite John with his 1968 class ring from Kansas State University, a reminder for over 50 years of the efforts put forth in earning a degree in physics. The ring was lost as he worked to free his boat from a ledge she had become fetched up on after dropping some friends off at the dock in front of their home a few weeks prior. The search commencing at low tide, took about an hour and half being far from graceful as I sloshed and slipped while scouring the seaweed covered ledge and surrounding mud flats with John anxiously watching from the red Adirondack chair on his friends front lawn. When the cherished ring had been recovered and safely returned to his finger, we chatted for a while about our military service having noted each other’s veteran license plates and I enjoyed hearing about his time as a Air Force pilot during the Vietnam war. To honor his service and that of all our fellow veterans, I will be directing a portion of John’s generous reward to the American Legion Post in Camden, ME.


It was on Day 10 of me having Covid that I received a call to help this couple find the husband’s wedding ring. Despite having cabin fever, I tried passing the call off to my buddy Brendon, but he was at a friend’s BBQ so I took a home Covid test, saw that I was FINALLY testing negative, and decided to take a shot at finding this ring.
The owner had been out on the beach with his dog and the ring slipped off as he tried to distract the dog from the washed-up dead bird just a few feet away.
I found the ring pretty quickly, which is good because I was still fighting the Covid-related exhaustion. It felt great to be out of the house, in the fresh air, and to be able to return the ring to it’s owner. His wife was definitely happy. He was one of those guys that doesn’t show a lot of emotion, though he was surprised at where I found it and how deep.
