#Ogunguit Tag | The Ring Finders

What a day July 11th turned out to be! I was already running on pure adrenaline after completing two successful ring rescues earlier in the day. Just as I was wrapping up, my phone buzzed with an urgent text from a local Old Orchard Beach resident named Brittany.

She was looking for her husband Trent’s lost wedding band, but she knew the odds were heavily stacked against them.

𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒆:

“𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒕! 𝑩𝒆𝒆𝒏 48 +𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔. 𝑴𝒚 𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒊𝒅𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒘𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑷𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒈𝒆. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 5:30 𝒑𝒎 𝑻𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆. 𝑾𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒅𝒖𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉. 𝑻𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒈𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒓𝒊𝒎. 6𝒎𝒎. 𝑰 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝑩𝑱𝑮. 𝑨𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑!”

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐫𝐲 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐝

While Brittany’s text mentioned swimming, it turned out Trent’s ring actually slipped off up in the dry sand right along their towel line. In many ways, this made the situation even more urgent.

This is a heavily used, packed summer beach. For over 48 hours, that heavy tungsten ring sat exposed to countless feet. Our biggest fears? A passerby spotting it, another metal detectorist scooping it up, or worse—the massive beach-cleaning rakes scooping it into the trash during a morning sweep.

Funny thing about this ring—it’s a bit of a traveler! Trent and Brittany have only been married for one year, but Trent had actually lost this exact same ring once before on a cruise earlier this year. They managed to find it themselves on the ship, but lightning had just struck twice in Ocean Park!

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 & 𝐀 𝐅𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐝

I headed straight out and immediately met Trent down at Ocean Park. Having him there was a massive help—he walked me right to the exact spot where he and Brittany had set up their towels and chairs.

As I started a meticulous grid search through the dry sand, we weren’t alone. A family was still enjoying the beach that night, including Kim, who happened to be a big fan of The Ring Finders of Maine! She was incredibly excited to watch the live search unfold right in front of her.

Suddenly, a beautiful, crisp signal hit my headphones. I moved the top layer of sand, and there it was—the heavy, 6mm tungsten ring with its distinct gold rim, completely safe from the rakes and crowds. I flipped it over, checked the inside, and confirmed the initials: BJG.

𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞!

The moment the ring was pulled from the sand, Trent raised his arms, victoriously, into the air. He then gave me a high five and a big hug . Kim and her family broke out into immediate applause ! It was such an awesome, high-energy moment on the beach.

Handing the ring right back to Trent on the spot was the perfect ending to an unbelievable day. This marked my third successful recovery and return in a single day! There is truly no better feeling than saving a piece of family history just in the nick of time and handing it back to grateful local residents.

A huge thank you to Kim for your wonderful support and for cheering us on! Welcome home, Trent’s ring (again)!

“𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫, 𝐈𝐟 𝐈𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐓𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮, 𝐈𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐓𝐨 𝐔𝐬!”