Long lost ring, Secrete Lake Park, Casselberry, Fl….Found 19 years later!
Here is a text I received from Gissele on February 21st at 9:55pm.
“Hi Mike, I found your info on theringfinders.com. This is a complete long shot but I lost my promise ring at Secrete Lake Park in Casselberry. Back then there was a little Karate studio in the back of the park. I left my son while he was practicing and took my young daughter to go to the playground. We were crossing through the field/baseball field when my ring slipped off my finger and I can only describe it as being swallowed up by the grass. It is not expensive and has a small diamond mounted on it. I mean I lost this years ago….like in 2002! I just recently moved away, to El Paso, Texas, but have always wondered about my ring. I even tried using a metal detector and was not able to find anything. Thank you for your help. Gissele”
I answered her email right away and agreed whole heartedly that it would be a long shot but not totally impossible. I asked allot of questions like, What was the ring made of? Was it a small, medium or thick band? Were there any markings on the inside?, etc. I then sent Gissele an aerial screen shot of the baseball field and asked her to put a line where she walked and an X over the area where she lost her ring. She assured me that her ring was made of 14k gold and was a thin band. The fact that it was a smaller ring gave me hope that it was very likely still there, in the ground, waiting to be found.
You see most people who metal detect parks and school yards rarely dig those low numbers. Many times the smaller rings will sound and read the same as a pull tab or even lower, like that of a small piece of aluminum which we call “can slaw”. (Can slaw are the small pieces of aluminum that get spread all over as a result of a lawn mower hitting a can and shredding it into small pieces).
Armed with that encouraging information I headed to the park and set out my corner flags and began my tight grid search. For 3 hours I dug everything that sounded close to what a small gold ring would sound like. Rain drove me to take shelter for 20 minutes and then I continued my search. It was getting on to sunset and I was thinking of calling it a night when all of a sudden the complex turned on all the lights and it was like daylight again. With renewed energy I decided to give it another hour and moved my flags closer towards 3rd base and the short stop area. I was using my Garrett ATMax metal detector in the ZERO MODE and had blocked out all signals from 65 and up and had set my IRON DISCRIMINATION to ignore anything below 25. My final signal registered 47 on my display and showed the target to be four inches deep. I thought, Wow, that sounds really good and I carefully dug a neat plug. It was a wet muddy clump of dirt and I used my pin pointer to narrow down the targets hiding place. As the ring revealed itself I was in a great position, on my knees, to thank God for helping me to uncover Gissele’s precious lost promise ring!! The thrill, the joy and relief of being able to have actually found her ring was something that I will never forget!
I sent Gissele a quick text and explained that I had gotten out to do a search and had found a few things. Then I waited a few minutes and then sent her two photos!! Oh, and did I mention that Gissele now lives in El Paso, Texas and lost her ring 19 years ago?!!!
Have you lost something recently or maybe years ago and need my help? Call, text or email me ASAP!!
Mike McInroe….very proud member of theringfinders.com
Gabby called me yesterday and asked for help finding her husbands lost wedding ring on a full size soccer field. I told her I was up for the challenge and little did I know how tough it would actually be. Her husband, Christian, was not able to join us but he had explained what position he plays and where he spent most of the time during his practice. The first day I set up flags and cones and covered over half of the field carefully grid searching each area. Five and a half hours worth and the temperatures were in the mid 90’s and although I was taking care to stay hydrated the humidity did wear me down.
Sunday afternoon David gave me a call and asked if I could possibly help him find a very special lost diamond stud earring! Two days earlier, David’s mother in law, Mrs Susan, was getting out of her car and a small low hanging tree branch got tangled in her hair and she felt a slight tug at her ear and in the next moment her earring was gone! They immediately searched the thick low ivy bushes, along the concrete and even in the car thinking maybe it could have fallen in there as well. After an hour of frantic searching they could not find the lost diamond stud earring and decided to try again later. 
Nathan emailed me late Friday night and asked if there was any chance I could help him look for his lost tungsten wedding ring at the beach. He explained that they had spent part of the afternoon on the sand and in the water and only realized his ring was missing later while eating dinner. Nathan was not real used to wearing his wedding ring because he and his lovely wife had just gotten married four days earlier and they were on their honeymoon the day he lost his ring. Bummer, hey?! And to make matters worse they were going to be returning home to Missouri in just two days. I assured Nathan that his lost wedding ring was not going to be washed away and if he could remember exactly where they entered the water and about how far out they went…then there was a very good chance of finding his lost ring.
Erick had just bought his daughter a new fishing pole and they were on the end of his parents dock trying it out for the very first time when disaster struck! Erick said that after putting a nice juicy worm on the hook, he went to wash the goo from his hands and as he shook the excess water off, his heavy gold wedding ring went “plunk” right into the dark lake water! Erick was stunned as he watched it hit the water and disappear out of sight. Right away he tried to figure out how he could retrieve his ring so he checked the depth of the water and determined it to be around 11 feet deep. Too deep for him to jump in and attempt any sort of search himself. And the more he thought about his situation he felt there just had to be some way or someone who could help him retrieve his lost ring. So he went online and soon came across theringfinders.com and one of my successful recovery stories.
Chantal and her younger sister were enjoying a hot summer day by the cool dark waters of the Wekiva River. Wekiva Island is a unique place to swim and relax and spend time getting away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Earlier Chantal had laid out her towel at the waters edge and now as she was getting ready to gather up her belongings, she completely forgot that she had placed her Apple Watch on the edge of her towel and as she lifted her towel….the watch did a nose dive into the dark water and disappeared! Stunned she could not believe what had just happened! It was only 6 feet deep with a sort of sandy bottom mixed with leaves and other decaying debris, so how hard could it be to find it, right? For over an hour she dove and tried her very best to feel around with her feet, hoping to find her lost watch…but all to no avail!