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A perfect duo – ATPro and 4.5” Sniper coil – for an attic search

With out this duo Keith would more than likely still be without his father’s wedding band that he had worn for several years. In his original E-mail; Keith wrote “I am not 100% certain but I think the ring fell into about 2 feet of blown-in insulation in my attic. Back in February my roof was leaking, I went into the attic to investigate, and later that evening I realized my ring was gone. If the ring is in the attic it’s in a tight spot close to the eaves, it’s a difficult area to search. I borrowed a metal detector and spent some time searching without any luck. I had never used a metal detector before, and I don’t have a lot of confidence that I was using it efficiently.”

I agreed with his assessment plus it was now May and attic temperatures were on the rise. Also I did not have the best equipment that I thought would locate the ring. I had the ATPro, but not the Sniper coil. A request went out to two clubs and a dealer for help in locating one I could buy or beg, borrow, or steal for a day. No luck! Then in October a new coil came into the dealer and I bought it. Three days later I was in the attic, on a nice cool morning, poking around in the deep insulation. It took about 10 minutes to search the 14 inch space between each set of ceiling joists. In the third area I got a repeatable signal close to a wire loop. I moved the loop and the signal was still there and so was the ring. Seconds later an emotional Keith had the ring on his finger. As I left, Keith was on the way to his mother’s house to show her the ring had been found.

Rick,

Thanks again for finding my wedding ring, I couldn’t be happier to have it again, and I owe it all to you. At times in the past few months I felt devastated over having lost the ring, but you brought what was needed and I’m so glad to have found it. I’m attaching the photos I took with my phone from the attic. I’m not sure they completely do it justice as the insulation was at least 2-3 feet deep in spots. And here is a recap of the story of the ring, please feel free to post about it on your blog:

My father passed away when I was 5 years old, and 30 years later my mother gave me his wedding ring to me to wear as my own wedding ring. My wife Christine thought it was a great idea to use the ring. The ring is engraved with my parent’s initials and wedding date. I have little memory of my father, and the ring helped to create a connection that was very important to me. In February of this year, during a healthy snow storm, I noticed a water stain on the bedroom ceiling and realized there was some type of roof leak. As you know, the leak was in a far corner of the attic, and I had to investigate the leak on my hands and knees partially buried in insulation. A few hours later I realized the ring had slipped off my finger at some point during the day. The most likely place for the ring was in the attic, and I made several search attempts in the area. I borrowed a metal detector, but having no experience with one, this attempt and all my attempts were fruitless. I thought it was gone for good, and it was then that despair would set in when I thought about having lost it. As I mentioned, it was extremely painful for me to tell my mother that I had lost this ring. But then we waited out the summer, you got the coil, got down on your hands and knees into the corner of the attic and found it. I didn’t tell my mother that you were coming to look, I didn’t want to create any false hope if we couldn’t find it. I was able to surprise her later on Sunday with the ring. I really can’t thank you enough for finding it.

Keith