Saturday afternoon, July 20th found teacher and Fond du Lac resident Amy Pickart, enjoying a refreshing lady’s weekend away on the picturesque Lake Winneconne in Wisconsin. It was a perfect getaway, a perfect setting, perfect weather and perfect company. 
A water-volleyball net invited playful competition, fun and exercise. But Amy was not aware that her wedding rings, welded together as one, quietly slipped off her hand during the activity. Later, as she climbed a ladder onto the boat dock, she was horrified to see the rings were gone. A frantic search ensued in the murky water but the rings could not be found. Amy was heartbroken.
I received a text message that evening from one of Amy’s colleagues. After getting details, I arranged to conduct a search first thing the following Monday.
Inland Wisconsin lakes have seen human occupation for well over a century. Lake Winneconne is no exception. The remains of half-century-old beer cans lay buried deep in the sand, making detection of a small ring challenging. Unbeknown to me, I found out later, other detectorists had tried to locate Amy’s rings the day before but were unsuccessful. Beer-can-sized craters on the lake bottom bore witness to their valiant and thorough attempts. I chose to expand the search area and use an approach that relies heavily on forensics.
Given the recent loss and the hard-packed sand conditions, I knew the rings would not be very deep in the sand; they would be shallow, close to the surface. Reducing my detector’s sensitivity and holding it higher up away from the lake bottom, provided the needed distance from the otherwise overwhelming beer-can signals. Additionally, I used a specially designed detection probe that helped further isolate the ring signal in an otherwise difficult detection environment.
About two hours passed when I received a signal in the volleyball area that was forensically appropriate for Amy’s rings. Sure enough, a shallow scoop brought her rings back up to the light of day! 
Tim, Amy’s husband of 23 years, met me on the dock as I emerged from the water. The smile on his face says it best, “It’s more than a ring!”
Amy’s ring marked my 121st successful recovery. That’s a lot of smiles!
If you or someone you know has lost a ring, even years ago, don’t let its story end. Contact a member of The Ring Finders near you @ theringfinders.com. We just might add your smile to the huge list of happy clients.
