return Tag | The Ring Finders

Class ring missing more than 50 years returned to owner! TRF Celinà, Ohio

  • from Celina (Ohio, United States)

After missing for more than 50 years this 1966 class ring is returned to the owner!

Dave graduated from Memorial high School in Saint Mary’s Ohio with the class of 1966. He lost his class ring shortly after. Today, Dave (age 74) is the class historian and had not seen his class ring in more than 50 years. He had long ago given up hope of seeing it again and had forgotten about it. Today, through teamwork, Dave has been reunited with his lost class ring. Today the class historian was surprised with a piece of his own history! Another happy ending!

This 1966 class ring was missing for more than 50 years.

Lost 14k white gold heirloom ring returned! TRF Celina, Ohio

  • from Celina (Ohio, United States)

Andrew’s mother was very happy to receive this lost 14k white gold heirloom ring on behalf of her son who was beside himself when he lost it.

Andrew’s mother (Ann) contacted me recently in the hopes that a lost 14k white gold heirloom ring could be found. Andrew had lost the ring during an outside gym class session on some practice fields that amounted to the area of about 1-1/2 football fields.

That’s a lot of area to cover when you’re looking for an item about the size of a nickel. Obviously, an area like this is easier to cover and able to be covered very methodically if you can get a couple of people working a grid pattern. I contacted a friend (Travis) and we headed out to try and locate the ring. After about 4-1/2 hours of searching with no ring to show and a storm blowing in we made plans to come back another day to finish covering the area in hopes of being able to reunite the owner with their lost ring.

Andrew was very close with his grandmother and the ring had been passed down to him when his grandmother passed away in December. He wore the ring on his pinky finger to feel close to his grandmother. We knew he was very sad to have lost the ring and that it was such a sentimental item that we were trying to do everything we could to cover the area and locate his missing ring.

We made a return trip to finish covering the area and hopefully recover his missing ring for him. After a little over an hour of searching, we (Travis and I) were able to locate the ring!

 

We messaged Andrew right away! Unfortunately, Andrew was out of town and was unable to be there for a photo and to take possession of his ring. He did however call his mother, who was more than happy to come down and accept the ring on his behalf! Knowing that there had been more than two dozen people walking around trying to locate the item prior to us searching, and numerous sports practice sessions, Andrew’s mother thought that it was a miracle that we were even able to locate his ring. She had warned him that wearing his grandmother’s ring could result in it being lost, as was the case, but it has now been located and returned to it’s rightful owner! It has been put up so that this sentimental family heirloom will not be lost again. A needle in a haystack really can be found! Another ring returned, another successful search thanks to teamwork, and another happy ending! We were very glad to see the ring turn up and to see it returned!

On a side note Andrew was very glad to have found TheRingFinders service online and says he would recommend the service to anyone!

Lost keys on beach.. returned! TRF Celina, Ohio

  • from Celina (Ohio, United States)

Another successful return and another happy person!

I Was contacted this afternoon because Elaina could not find her keys that someone had buried on the beach. After arriving at the location and beginning to search she had her keys back in just a few minutes! Also got to clean up the environment a bit. First Target was a fork. Ouch! Glad someone did not step on it. Be careful out there..

 

Diamond and Gold Ring Returned TRF Celina, Ohio

  • from Celina (Ohio, United States)

This time of year in Ohio as the seasons change and the leaves start to turn, people are doing last minute tree trimming, yard work and clearing of brush. Sometimes with the cooler temperatures the rings fit a little looser.

 
This was the case with a gentleman from Allen County. He contacted me Saturday night (10/17/20) to tell me that while he was cutting some limbs out of some pine trees and pulling saplings the night before,he and a friend were feeling rushed as darkness approached. Apparently with the cooler temperatures his ring had slipped off. They looked for it for a short time and the gentleman returned the next day with two friends to continue the search. By that point the yard had been mowed and even with the freshly cut grass they could not find the ring .  after dropping another ring in the grass to see if he could find that ring he noticed how quickly it was covered. He quickly picked the second ring back up but this also concerned him. If the grass is hiding the ring how do I find it?  He and his friends checked the limbs that they had cut out of the pine tree as well as the brush they had picked up before cutting it down into smaller pieces and putting it in a dumpster. They then headed back to the respective homes while the gentleman reviewed his possible options.  Do I give up on the ring?… Do I try to purchase a metal detector and see if I can find it myself?  He started to check Google and that’s when he ran across me on TheRingfinders.com which is also about the same time his friend contacted him with the same information. He grabbed his phone and gave me a call to see if I could possibly help him with his dilemma.

Hunting was tough in the area but we still got it done.

When I answered the phone he had explained to me what the situation was, what had happened and what he had lost. Normally, he removes his rings when he does this sort of work but he did not on this occasion and was not very happy with himself that such a thing had been allowed to happen. He mentioned that he was a big believer in karma and thought that since he as well as his friend had found my information at basically the same time that it was karma telling him to give me a try.
 
After many questions for him about the area it was lost in, the conditions it was lost under, what the ring looked like including the composition of the Ring and any other identifying marks I told him I thought I could help. He was of course very happy to hear this. He was very accommodating to make his schedule meet up with mine and we made plans to meet up the next afternoon at a restaurant in his area to follow him to the location where the ring had been lost.
 
My wife and I made the trip the next afternoon to meet up with the gentleman who was an absolute pleasure to meet. He had been very thoughtful in writing down directions to the location even though we were going to follow him just in case we got lost. He had even called me when we were on our way to let us know it was raining in the area we were traveling to period he was concerned that that may affect my equipment and if we needed to we could back it up an hour or so for the rain to pass. I had told him we were on the road and would see him soon. The rain was no worry since I was bringing a waterproof machine.

Hunting was tough in the area but we still got it done.

After meeting at the restaurant and following him to the location where the ring was lost I had him explain the conditions again in which the ring was lost under and show me the area that he believed it to be in.  As I grabbed my detector I dumped my pouch into a bucket to show him there was nothing in the pouch. I have recently begun doing this as much for my protection as the person I am searching for their lost item. After showing the pouch was empty I told him that once I was done I would again empty the pouch so that he could see anything that was in it.
Turning on the detector I headed for the trees. I felt I should clear that area first and then start covering the grass between the trees and the pavement where they had been working. Just a few short feet into the trees the brush became fairly thick. I explained to him I was going to remove any surface signals that may mask the item. Next thing you know the brush is thick enough I am on my hands and knees and a detector is almost useless at this point. I’m crawling around on twigs, pine needles and pine cones picking up surface trash and other metal targets on the surface with a pin pointer to clear the area. I found many trash targets as well as some glass bottles. I also found a Lincoln penny while crawling around on the ground . Then I got a signal and brushed the pine cones out of the way and saw the bottom of a gold band. I knew right away this must be the ring . As I rolled it over in my hand to see the stone there was no doubt it was the item I was looking for. The item I had been looking for was a gold band with a 1.25 to 1.5 carat diamond.
 
After about 30 minutes, my pouch was full. I started out of the trees to try and get rid of some of the trash. I handed him two bottles that he promptly took over to the dumpster to dispose of while I started dumping my pouch into the bucket. Showing him all the trash that had been found he walked over to his truck to get a trash bag to put it in to properly dispose of it. When he returned from his truck I held out my hand to show him the Lincoln penny that I had found in the trees. He glanced at it and said that it was just a penny and I could keep it if I wanted. I told him I had ran across the penny and stuck it in my pocket because that’s not what I was there to find. I was there to find a ring
  He agreed that yes, he was hoping I could return his ring to him. I sat the penny down on the back of the truck and as he started to pick up the trash again, I mentioned to him that I had also found this laying on the ground in the trees and held out my hand to present him with his lost ring. He was both very surprised and very happy! He then asked me if he could possibly have the penny that I had showed him due to the fact that it could be a Good luck Penny, since I found his ring right after that . I of course promptly complied and told him with a smile yes! You can have the penny as well.
I asked him to tell me a bit about the ring, if he would. He mentioned that he had bought the diamond around 40 years ago and shortly after that bought the setting and band for it. He had managed to keep it all these years until that cool October Friday night and less than 48 hours after being lost we were able to return it promptly back to its rightful owner.
I can understand why he was hoping to get his ring returned. It is definitely a very nice looking ring and one to be proud of for a return . As a side note, due to the situation that we are in currently with Covid-19 even though the picture does not show it due to the masks we were both smiling and very happy in this picture. I was happy to be a part of this great return and the gentleman was certainly very thankful and happy to have his ring back in such a short amount of time.

A happy return. (10/18/20)

Covid-19 couldn’t kill this great return!  Good people do good things to help others… Karma does shine through!
After getting some photos we said our goodbyes and wished each other the best. Once I got home I received this message from him.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dennis, Cape Cod, MA – Colby a 14 year old detectorist did the right thing!

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

The plaque sent to Colby for his honesty and “doing the right thing”.

This is what my idea of metal detecting is all about: Doing the right thing, obeying the rules and comradeship. Here is a story of a return that took many turns to a fabulous end. In chronological order this is what transpired, to the best of my recollection. Sunday afternoon Bennet was enjoying the thrills on a Cape Cod beach and took his necklace and wedding band off an put them into a beach chair’s pocket for safe keeping. Sometime later while packing up to leave the beach the chair was folded and carried to the parking lot. During the movement the jewelry fell from the pocket and was buried in the soft sand. The missing items were not noticed until Bennet went to retrieve them from the pocket. They were not there, gone!

Bennet knew about metal detectors, found J&E Enterprise of South Yarmouth, and rented a detector. To no avail Bennet searched the beach area and returned the rental. At this point he was told about TheRingFinders.com and was suggested he contact a Ring Finder that could help. The first to respond was Leighton who made arrangements to meet up with Bennet and search early on Tuesday morning. Leighton also had no luck in locating the missing items.

Leighton called me and explained the situation. I then called Bennet and set up a search time of 5pm. I left my cell phone and Bennet’s phone number at home, a big mistake. Oh, well…I started to search, found a very good large target area and knew immediately that the detector I was using was too sensitive for the iron in the dry sand. I returned to the car, changed detectors and headed back to find a 5 coin spill which I retrieved. As I moved on I was asked if I had found some coins, yes I had, but I was looking for a gold chain and wedding band. A few more words were passed when Anya piped up with “I saw them Sunday evening, a boy had found them with his detector” AND…the boy is right over there…

I knew what I had to do and hoped what I was going to do did not backfire and cause a problem. I went to the group of people around the boy who was pointed out to me. I introduced myself and said I heard that some jewelry was found Sunday. I was so pleased with what came next. Complete agreement that the right thing to do was to return the items to the rightful owner. And this was from a 14 year old boy named Colby! I know how hard it was for him to give up his Best Find EVER in his two years of detecting. I have been there as others I know have been in the same situation.

Now to get Bennet to the beach…I called my wife from Colby’s father’s cell phone. My wife then call Bennet and he showed up about 20 minutes later, alone. Colby’s prize find was returned to its owner who left and promised to return with a gift for Colby and he did along with many family members. What a sight, all the people mingling, thanking Colby and congratulating Bennet…unbelievable to say the least. Even Anya and her family were in on the act.

This has to be one of my favorite returns. No I did not physically find the lost jewelry, but I did coordinate its return by “finding” the means to get things right. I really do admire Colby and wish him the best with his future detecting adventures.

Colby: May the ring of gold be in your ears and its glitter in your scoop! – Rick (WaterWalker)