Pacific Beach Tag | The Ring Finders

Lost ring at Mission Beach found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Nathan was body surfing at Mission beach when he realized that he was wearing his wedding ring, not something he normally does. In checking the ring to see how tight it was fitting, it came right off and dropped into waist deep surf. With our surf, it will disappear in a second, so, no way to spot it. A sad Nathan now had to go confess to the wife that his wedding band is gone.  His wife wasn’t satisfied with accepting that fate, so, she found TheRingFinders.com on a search and contacted me for help. The ring was lost at a +4 foot tide, so, a minus .7 tide at 5:14 am was just the ticket for this search. Nathan met me at 3:15 am and showed me the search area. He even came out in the surf and helped me keep on my grid pattern. This section of beach was real clean. An hour and half later, I had only found 3 non-ferrous targets, 2 pull tabs and a junk ring. At that point I had changed direction on my grid and now went north-south instead of my earlier east-west. Second pass doing this in ankle deep or less water, and another 16 pull tab reading on my Equinox. Only this time, it looked this was going to be Nathan’s ring. I called him over, and by the light of his flashlight, he saw it was indeed his ring. He now would have a much happier conversation with his wife when he got home. Next month is their 2nd wedding anniversary, so, this recovery will help the ring story continue into chapter 3. A pleasure to meet you Nathan, and thank you for the reward.

Ring lost at Cardiff State Beach found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

I was out detecting with a buddy, when a guy named Ian rides his bike up to me and asks if I could possibly search for his wife’s lost wedding band at Cardiff State Beach. I said I’d be happy to do it and that to let me know when we could meet there and conduct the search. He said it would take him a bit to bike there and would text me when he was available. I got the text, actually found a parking spot, and met him at the location out on a busy beach. Ian and his wife were here visiting from a sweltering Tucson, AZ and were enjoying the beach yesterday, when while applying skin lotion. the ring slipped off into the dry sand and vanished. They sifted with fingers for several hours, but, no luck. Looking for a small gold ring, the signal can be pretty low on the scale and weak as well. I figured I’d be digging foil for a while, but, actually didn’t get many signals and ended up expanding the search area a bit more than we thought we would have to. I finally got a weak, but, repeatable 7 on my Equinox and after a couple of scoops, had the ring in my hand. A happy Ian can now go back and surprise his wife of 15 years with her ring….oh, and it’s her birthday today! Happy Birthday and ring reunion! A pleasure to meet you Ian and thank you for the reward.

Ring Lost at Pacific Beach found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Jordan was visiting here from out of town and went to the beach with a friend. They were throwing the football around a bit when disaster struck. One of Jordan’s throws was more than just the football. His special ring went with the ball and ended up in waist deep water. Jordan had already left town and returned home when I got a call from his mother Silvia asking if I could help recover it. Surf losses are never a sure thing, but, this sounded fairly straight forward even though it had been a couple of days. At the time of the call, the tide was not in my favor, so, I decided to search a bit after midnight to take advantage of a nice low tide at 2:30 am. The water level at that point should be about 4 feet shallower that when it was lost, so, I was hoping for a wet sand hunt. In getting the details about the ring, I found it certainly was a special ring! It was purchased by Jordan’s grandmother as a wedding gift to Jordan’s father on his wedding day. Not an actual wedding ring, but, a wonderful gift none the less. It’s an 18K, custom, one-of-a-kind beauty that was made in Bolivia and eventually was passed down to Jordan who was devastated that it was lost. This just had to be found! With just a map with an X on it to go by, I started my grid at the south end of the search area. After about an hour and a half of mid-slope to knee deep surf I got my umpteenth pull tab signal (16 on the Equinox) in ankle deep water, but, was happy to see Jordan’s ring in the bottom instead. I texted Silvia that the lost had been found, and that I’d contact her later in the morning after I got some sleep. Jordan’s sister Nicolette lives close by and was able to come by yesterday, pick up the ring, and pose for the photo with Jordan’s football friend. I’m happy everything worked out well, and thank you for the reward.

Ring lost in Coronado found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Anna contacted me about 8:30am saying that her husband of 5 days lost his wedding ring when he shook water off his hand, and the ring went flying off. They’re honeymooning here from Boston and would be leaving the next day, so, they were hoping I could find his ring before they left. Being July 3rd, Coronado has a big parade starting at 10am and would be very crowded soon , so, I had to get on my horse and ride! The trip over wasn’t too bad until I got into town where the parade was to take place. I eventually got over to the beach about an hour later, and tried to find a parking spot. None to be had anywhere close, so, I ended up parking a bit over a mile away. I finally get to the meeting spot in the dry sand where the ring was lost and got the low down on how it was lost and about where it should be. Sure enough, after a couple of scrap aluminum targets in 2-3 minutes, I got a nice solid 11 on my Equinox and pulled the ring out of it’s sandy resting spot. Now the happy newlyweds can head out and continue their life together with the rings they came with. A pleasure to meet you both and thank you for the reward.

Ring lost in Clairmont back yard found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Jay was working at cutting down a tree in his back yard. The tree in question is in the back corner of his yard, where he shares a fence with neighbors. In the process of chain sawing, trimming, and raking, wood chips, branches, and debris ended up on both sides of the fence. Jay gathered the debris in his neighbor’s yard and tossed everything back over a short chain link fence to his own yard for removal. Well, you guessed it, one of his tosses included his wedding band. After discovering his ring was missing, he searched both yards to no avail. Some of the debris was already loaded onto a truck, so, he (and I) hoped that it didn’t end up there. In searching his options, including renting a metal detector, Jay came across TheRingFinders. com website and my contact info. He called me yesterday evening and we arranged to meet at his house early this morning for the search. Jay showed me the search area and re-enacted his actions that most likely caused his ring to come off. With a good idea of location, I started my grid search. Quite a few targets to sift through, but I knew approximately what I should be hearing and seeing on my detector display. Found a sprinkler head blasting my ears and knew that wasn’t going to be it. The next good signal was a solid 18 on my Equinox….hmmm, a bit of a  high reading, but, still in the “possible” range. It read shallow, so, I just pushed some surface material to the side with my shoe. The signal moved, so, I moved the small pile just a little more and could see the outline of a ring. Sure enough, we had a match! As you can see in the photo, the ring color blends in perfectly with the ground cover, so, even sitting on top of the ground, it wasn’t easy to spot. A happy Jay went inside to give his wife the good news. A pleasure to meet you and thank you for the reward.

Ring lost at Pacific Beach found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Glynis was visiting San Diego with her boyfriend and while spending a day at Pacific Beach she lost her ring in the ocean. Out in the water, her hands got wet and cold causing her finger with the ring to shrink a bit and make it fit rather loose. She decided to change her ring to another finger so it would fit tighter. A simple fumble of the ring, and it was in the surf and gone from view. They both searched for the ring in the 2 foot deep water to no avail. They also returned the next morning at low tide hoping to spot it, but, as we all know, that just doesn’t happen. The ring is a family heirloom passed down from her grandmother (recently deceased) to her mother and then to her, so, Glynis was totally heartbroken thinking it was lost forever. She decided to run a lost ring ad on Craigslist where I spotted it and contacted her with the option of having a Ring Finder search for it. She agreed and was cautiously hopeful.  She and her boyfriend had already gone home to Washington state, so, we had to do this by descriptions and directions. I arrived before low tide and scoped out the search area. Not terribly large, but, when you’re talking about a water search on a gently sloping beach at low tide, it gets big in a hurry. With a photo of the ring, and a search area defined, I started on the south end of it and worked my way north in a wet sand to waist deep surf grid pattern. It was an hour before I got my first signal of any kind. Rats, just a scrap piece of copper. Another half hour later and I got my second signal…..a brass grommet…..double rats, or words to that effect! Another half hour later, I was approaching the north end of the search area and was getting cold, tired, and discouraged by the lack of targets. There were lots of holes, troughs, and sand bars forming and disappearing in the mounting surf, so, there was a lot of sand shifting. I was hoping that in the 4 days the ring was there that it didn’t get buried too deep, or, I started thinking that maybe someone else had found it in the interim. At that moment, I got a weak, but, solid 9 on my Equinox in about a foot of water. 2 scoops down and I pulled out her ring! Glad to get out of the water, I gave Glynis a text with a photo of her ring. She was overjoyed to see it was recovered and that she will be able to wear it again. We made arrangements later that day to ship the ring to her, so, the story continues…….I’m glad I was able to find it and thank you Glynis for your generous reward.

Ring lost at Mission Bay found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Brendan and his family were visiting here in San Diego. On their last night here, they had a bonfire on the beach. While opening a plastic bag, it popped loose suddenly, and Brendan’s wedding ring went flying into the dry sand and disappeared. Not knowing exactly where, or, even which direction it went, it was impossible to find without a metal detector. An online search for help resulted, and I got a call the next morning. As luck would have it, I was only a couple of blocks away presiding over our local detecting club monthly meeting. Brendan explained the situation and that they were leaving town in the early afternoon, so, time was fairly important in getting his ring back before they headed to the airport. The meeting soon ended and I headed over to conduct the search. We met at the site and Brendan gave me a good idea as to where ground zero was. I started a spiral pattern out from that point. First “good” sounding target ended up being a pull tab. Second good sounding target read the same, and was Brendan’s ring. A relieved Brendan can now head home with his wedding band on his finger. A pleasure to meet you Brendan, and thank you for the reward.

Wedding rings lost at Silver Strand State Beach Found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Yuliia took a walk south from The main Silver Strand State Beach, and with a simple hand movement, her wedding ring (a combination of 3 separate interlocking rings) flew off her finger and into the sand. She found my name on The Ring Finders site and gave me a call a couple of days later. We arranged to meet at the parking lot the following morning. My wife and I arrived at the prescribed time, met Yuliia, and we all took the mile walk south to the search area. Much to Yuliia’s credit, she took GPS coordinates and also remembered a particular log that was near where she lost the ring(s). She found the spot and I started my search. One short pass and a half and my first signal was a nice strong 10-11 on my Equinox. Out came the pin pointer and just and inch or two under the sand was her rings. A pleasure to meet you Yuliia and thank you for the reward.

Lost ring at South Mission Beach found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Hailey was out on the beach one evening playing a game. When she was done, she realized the ring given to her by her boyfriend at Christmas was not on her finger anymore. Soft sand and a 30 X 40 foot area and there was no way she was going to find it without help. I got the call the next morning, grabbed my gear, and headed to meet her. On a public beach, you need to get on these things right away so someone else doesn’t find it first and not know who to return it to. On arrival, I noticed that some heavy equipment had gone through the area…..not a good sign. I looked down the beach and could see that equipment at work moving sand around. A skip loader and a rake machine. Okay, that’s better than a sifter, but, still the ring could have been scooped and dumped somewhere else, or, the rake could have drug the ring out of the search area. Not all of the search area had been disturbed, so, we were hopeful. After about 15-20 minutes of gridding, I got the sound I was “looking” for, and one scoop later, I had her ring. It was just a fraction outside the raked section of sand. Whew! I’m glad I could help you Hailey, and thank you for the reward.

 

Lost cross at Pacific Beach found.

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Reuben called me saying that he had just lost a cross off his necklace while running on the beach in the wet sand, on the slope and in the shallow water.  It was right around high tide when he called, and I was just about to eat some dinner, so, I asked Reuben if he could hang around down there a while so I could gulp down some groceries and let the tide go out a bit. He agreed, and we met at a spot at the north end of the search area around 9:45pm. He explained to me that he headed south from there and was running in a zigzag pattern from the water’s edge to the top of the slope, kind of dodging the surf as it surged in and out. I then asked how far he ran until he noticed it was gone. Well, he had a selfie that he took, at the spot we were standing, showing that he had the cross at that point. He then said that he started running from there and headed south for a good 5 minutes! Whoa, that was going to be a HUGE search area. After more Q&A we decided the most likely area was toward the other end of his run when he discovered it gone after he had jumped over a pile of kelp, but, frankly, it could be anywhere along the way. Ok, let’s start walking to that spot. I figured I’d go ahead and turn on my detector and sweep a bit while we went. I just picked a straight line on the slope about half way between the water and the top of the slope. We walked, and we walked, and we walked some more. Found a few piles of kelp, search all around them, and continued on. I hadn’t gotten one signal thus far. I asked how much further he ran, and he pointed down the beach some more. I was about to say that this was going to be a waste of time as this search area was now almost 1/4 mile long and approaching the edge of Mission Beach (the next beach south), and that I was going to have to get a lot more help to cover all this sand, when we approached another pile of kelp. Searched all around it and continued on a little ways more, when I got my first signal of the entire way. A nice solid 11 on my Equinox. One scoop and Reuben spotted his gold cross (a family heirloom that he got from his father) in the pile of wet sand I just dumped. Talk about dumb luck! We both should have bought lottery tickets right then and there. I’m not sure who was more amazed, but, we both counted our blessings on this one! That potential search area was the largest one I had ever had and would have taken me over a week to completely cover it by myself. We found it in an incredible 20-25 minutes. A pleasure to meet you Reuben and thank you for the reward.