#metal detector Orange Beach Tag | The Ring Finders

Saving Mother’s Day – 2 rings FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

I got a call from Alan this past Sunday that started out with “we need you to save Mother’s Day.”  Needless to say he had my attention. It turns out that Alan and his family had taken his Mother to the beach to celebrate the day and had a wonderful time until it was time to go. Alan’s mom had wisely taken off both of her rings and put them in the small zippered compartment on her beach chair. When it came time to put them back on, something had happened. These are beautiful rings. One was a present for a previous Mother’s Day and the other had been an anniversary present. These rings were honoring her as a Mom and it just wouldn’t be right to lose them on that day. Alan and his Mom called and explained what happened and where they thought the rings were and I asked my wife if it was ok to go. She has a soft spot for anything to do with rings for marriage and family so not only did she say yes but she joined me on the trip. I always say that Jeannie is my lucky charm on these hunts. She has a great track record. When we got to Orange Beach and met Alan the first thing you notice is that he is really tall. He is a basketball player and makes me feel short. 😃. The second thing that you quickly find out is that Alan has to be one of the nicest people I have ever met while doing this. He showed me where they were and we made our way over. I was just about to introduce myself to the family next to us and apologize for being so close when she said “I recognize you from Facebook and the Ringfinders.”  That made me smile and I took it as a good sign. I started gridding out the area and Alan stayed right with me. He wanted to know all about the machine and how it worked, he asked about the coolest things I’d found while diving and we talked about what it looked like for him to go to Europe to continue his basketball career. He also uses his degree to help people write books and gave me the nicest compliment when he suggested that I should take my stories and write one myself. Meanwhile my wife had an idea and asked Alan if he had any pictures from earlier. He handed her his phone and it wasn’t long until Jeannie found a selfie and triangulated where she thought the chair was. Being a wise man and always listening to my wife, I walked over to the spot she was standing and immediately heard a gold tone. I scooped it up and held it out to Alan and as he started to freak out on the first ring, I could already hear the second one in the sand. When I got it out, Alan was already FaceTiming his Momma. When she saw them she was absolutely beside herself and I came over to wave hello. She was crying happy tears and Alan was ecstatic. Jeannie came over to wave hi and Alan said sorry, she ran off for just a second. When Jeannie looked puzzled, Alan said that she was so happy that she had to run around the house and take a victory lap. Haha, now that is the reaction I want every time!  Alan, it was an absolute pleasure to spend some time with you and I am so glad we got to “Save Mother’s Day!”  ❤️😃 God Bless!

P.S.- my favorite picture is the one he is FaceTimeing his Mom in. 😃

Lost Wedding Ring in the Gulf, Orange Beach-FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

Doug and Kristen have been married for 27 years. They have raised a family together and been through good times and bad. One of the tough times is watching Doug battle cancer. Thank goodness he is currently stable and they were able to get away to Orange Beach for a vacation. One constant these 27 years has been Doug’s gold wedding band on his hand. That is until this week when he was throwing football with his son in the Gulf of Mexico and it went flying. They tried searching all around for the rest of the day and they even used a mask and snorkel since they knew roughly where it had landed. Unfortunately the ring had already buried deep in the sand and they were unable to find it. The next morning Kristen went online and luckily was able to find me through the Ringfinders and a referral or two from some very thoughtful people. Doug called and after just a few minutes I knew we had to find that ring!  I made plans to come that afternoon since I already had work scheduled for the day but I assured them that the ring would still be there when I got there. When I got to their condo I spoke with the ladies in the front office and they were kind enough to give me a parking pass. I grabbed my gear and headed down to the beach and met Doug and Kristen and their family. Doug immediately walked me out in the water where he thought he had been standing the day before. It was just less than waist deep and he explained how the ring had come off when he went for a football. I asked him if it went deeper or shallower and as he re-enacted the scene I got him to point exactly where he thought it might be. Doug wished me luck as he walked back to his family to sit and watch and I turned on my machine and got the settings tweaked for the saltwater. I started my search and took one swing to the right, one swing to the left and a small step forward. As I was swinging the coil back to the right I immediately heard a beautiful gold tone. I took a really deep scoop since I didn’t want to nick it. They had searched for over a day and it was already about 5” deep. On the first try I looked in the scoop and there was the ring that had been with Doug through so many memories. I indicated that I had it and started walking in. Nobody really reacted and Kristen told me later that they thought I was joking that I had found it so quickly. 😃 When reality hit they all got so excited and justifiably a little shaken up. I’m so glad that I could be part of the continuation of your story. Doug and Kristen, I wish you health and happiness for many, many more years. God Bless!

Orange Beach, AL – Lost Ring in the surf – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

I really hope Lisa and her husband take the time to tell their story when they read this because this is one of those occasions where there was some serious skepticism going on. 😁 I don’t blame them a bit, it takes a serious leap of faith to call someone and explain where your wedding rings are and not worry. Luckily, they decided to trust me and gave me a call. Lisa had been boogie boarding the day before and when she came in all the way to shore a wave crashed over her and took her wedding ring with it. When I got there the next day it was noticeably rougher and we were worried that the ring had been pulled out to sea or buried so deep it would be hard to find. Nevertheless I started searching the area that Lisa pointed out to me. I spent a few hours searching back and forth doing my best to hold steady in the current until I was starting to worry. About that time a sweet little red headed young lady on the beach yelled out, “excuse me sir, are you looking for my Mommy’s ring?”  I asked her if her Mom was Lisa and she said yes. She went on to say that she thought the ring was down the beach a bit. I asked her if she was sure because her Mom had pointed out this area. With the confidence of a child she walked me down the beach a little farther and said she was sure it was in here. After only two passes I heard a gold tone and I was quickly on my way to tell Lisa that she owed her daughter a new toy or present. 😃 I was so happy to find this ring and it made it even better to show the whole family that they could trust their new friend in Orange Beach if they ever needed me again. 👍

Lost Ring Orange Beach, AL – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

The first ring recovery of the year is always special but this one was awesome for multiple reasons!  Not only did I get to put a wedding band back on someone’s hand where it belongs but I also got to take a picture without worrying about a mask in over a year. This first call of the season happened to be the exact day that I could consider myself vaccinated from COVID after getting my second shot 2 weeks earlier. Yesterday evening, my new friend Mary called and said that she and her husband had come down from Birmingham with the family to enjoy Spring Break. Her husband had been playing beach volleyball the afternoon before when he noticed his Wedding band was no longer on his hand. He wasn’t 100% sure that it had come off then but after having it on for 14 years he was pretty sure he felt it go flying in the sand. They quickly realized that a metal detector was a good idea and they went and purchased one. Unfortunately, they ran into the two problems that often occur with this solution. #1)- the detectors designed to be used on our saltwater beaches are very expensive and unfortunately the cheaper ones can be almost useless. #2)- when the machine starts beeping a lot, without years of practice it can be hard to decipher what you are listening to. They then proceeded to plan B where they dug in the sand for hours hoping to find it. This also usually ends up being a bad idea because that will actually just make the ring drop deeper into the sand and harder to find. Luckily a friend suggested me and Mary gave me a call. After talking for a bit, my wife and I headed that way and made it to Orange Beach before the sun set. It made for some great, happy pictures when less than 10 minutes later I was able to gently scoop up her husbands wedding band and return it to her. Mary FaceTime’d her husband and we all celebrated. I am so very glad that they reached out to me and I’m so glad that I was able to start out the 2021 ring return season with a huge smile. Thank you Mary for trusting me to find your husband’s ring.