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Local Man Hunts Your Lost Treasures in Newark, OH.

  • from Newark (Ohio, United States)
Contact:

Newark man searches for treasures

Baughman uses metal detecting to reunite people with lost jewelry

NEWARK — Jon Baughman could be considered a modern-day treasure hunter.

But he isn’t in it for fame or fortune. He’s most interested in reuniting people with lost jewelry that is important to them.

For several years, Baughman has spent his spare time using metal detectors and other gear to search for rings in Licking and Franklin counties.

“They are a person’s most precious item, especially when they are passed down from generation to generation,” he said.

“I enjoy giving peoples’ lost treasures back to them.”

A Utica resident, Baughman was inspired to learn about metal detecting from his wife’s grandfather, Ed Collins, and his father-in-law, Jim Jolliff.

Whenever the three men get together, they enjoy going out to parks with their metal detectors and seeing what they find. Baughman has also participated in several seeded hunts, where participants compete to see who can find the most items buried in the ground.

When he discovered the website, theringfinders.com, Baughman found a way to turn his interest into a business.

Theringfinders.com is a large database of metal detecting specialists so clients around the country can search for a ring finder in their area.

“The main thing is they are willing to help you out,” he said.

He joined the site in February 2012. Last year he got about 20 calls. So far this year he’s gotten six.

A calibration tech at Abbott Laboratories, Baughman keeps his gear in his truck so he can respond to a call as soon as possible. He travels with several metal detectors, including one that’s hand held, shovels, and scoops to search in sand and water.

Although he doesn’t search for lost jewelry in people’s homes, he’ll search any outdoor space, including beaches, parks, lakes and yards.

When customers call, Baughman tries to get as much information about the ring or piece of jewelry as possible. He needs to know where they lost it and how long it has been missing.

If it’s in a public place, such as a parking lot or a park, he has to move quickly. If it’s on private property, he has to get permission to search the area.

When he’s searching for a ring he uses his metal detectors, putting small flags into the ground behind him so he knows were he’s been.

If the jewelry is buried, he has to dig for it, using his hand held detector.

“I’m there to help them and search everywhere I can,” he said. “I keep talking to them and get some more details and some new (information) pops up.”

Baughman works on a reward basis but charges a $30 call out fee to every customer to cover his travel expenses. If he finds the ring, it’s up to the client to decide how much he gets as a reward, he said.

Some of his customers have thrown their rings after a fight with their fiance or spouse. Others have lost it swimming or had it fall out of their pocket.

One woman called him to help her find her husband’s wedding band, which fell off his finger when he was pulling leaves off a rake. She was thrilled when he was able to find it.

He also was able to help a man in Gahanna who lost his ring playing football with his sons and a woman in Mount Sterling who lost two rings in a barn.

Although he’s had many successful finds, there have also been times he couldn’t find the ring.

Some have sunk to the bottom of the lake and others have been picked up by someone else. But he never gives up the search until the customer tells him its over.

“At least they have closure,” he said. “When you have something that’s lost, you want to know if it’s there or not.”

While he’s hunting, Baughman often comes across lots of metal objects, from cans and pop tabs to horseshoes and bottle caps. He picks up what he finds and stores it in a bucket in his garage.

“I was in Scouting, and we leave it better than how you find it, so I always pick it up,” he said.

When it comes to ring hunting, it’s important to be patient and thorough, Baughman said.

“Practice is the biggest thing and knowing your equipment,” he said. “There is a lot of detective work.”

His favorite moment is being able to tell someone he’s found their ring.

Once he returned a class ring to a woman who hadn’t seen it in 29 years. She was so happy she cried.

“You always get that rush when you find one,” he said. “I always get a big smile on my face because I know I made them happy.”

ajeffries@newarkadvocate.com

740-328-8544

Twitter: @amsjeffries

October 07, 2013

http://www.newarkadvocate.com/article/20131006/NEWS01/310060029/Newark-man-searches-for-treasures

About this series

“Aces of Trades” is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs — whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at advocate@newarkadvocate.com or 740-328-8821.

Looking for something?

For more info about Jon Baughman, call 740-334-7293 or go to theringfinders.com/Jon.Baughman/#us-oh-newark

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Jon Baughman, an experienced metal detecting specialist and member of The Ring Finders Metal Detecting Service, demonstrates how he uses different metal detectors and equipment to find customers’ lost rings and other objects. / Michael Lehmkuhle/The Advocate

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Jon Baughman, an experienced metal detecting specialist and member of The Ring Finders Metal Detecting Service, demonstrates how he uses different metal detectors and equipment to find customers’ lost rings and other objects. / Michael Lehmkuhle/The Advocate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jon Baughman, an experienced metal detecting specialist and member of The Ring Finders Metal Detecting Service, demonstrates how he uses different metal detectors and equipment to find customers' lost rings and other objects. / Michael Lehmkuhle/The Advocate

Jon Baughman, an experienced metal detecting specialist and member of The Ring Finders Metal Detecting Service, demonstrates how he uses different metal detectors and equipment to find customers’ lost rings and other objects. / Michael Lehmkuhle/The Advocate

 

Jon Baughman often finds himself digging up trash instead of precious rings and notes the variety of objects he finds from old horseshoes and bent spoons to beverage can pull tabs. Baughman pockets all trash he finds and disposes of it later. / Michael Lehmkuhle/The Advocate

Jon Baughman often finds himself digging up trash instead of precious rings and notes the variety of objects he finds from old horseshoes and bent spoons to beverage can pull tabs. Baughman pockets all trash he finds and disposes of it later. / Michael Lehmkuhle/The Advocate

 

Jon Baughman, an experienced metal detecting specialist and member of The Ring Finders Metal Detecting Service, demonstrates how he uses different metal detectors and equipment to find customers' lost rings and other objects. / Michael Lehmkuhle/The Advocate

Jon Baughman, an experienced metal detecting specialist and member of The Ring Finders Metal Detecting Service, demonstrates how he uses different metal detectors and equipment to find customers’ lost rings and other objects. / Michael Lehmkuhle/The Advocate

Lost Wedding Band while Tube Fishing at Lake Lavon,Tx

  • from Dallas (Texas, United States)
Contact:

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We received an email from Crystal after she did a exhaustive google search to find someone to help her husband find his wedding ring.  Her  husband Aaron had been tube fishing on Lake Lavon in Texas all day long.  He had no idea where he lost the ring and I think really did not expect us to find it.

Trying to coordinate schedules for us to make the hour drive out to the lake took several days, so today when we all arrived at the lake the ring had been lost for 9 days.  We arrived about 9am and met Aaron & Crystal,  remember he was very unsure where he lost the ring, in fact he thought it was probably out in 20-25 ft deep water where he had been tube fishing.

Aaron showed us the area where he and his buddy cleaned the fish in a picnic area.  Ellen & I got out both of our Garrett ATPro’s and began the search.  Aaron and Crystal took a walk down the beach while we were detecting.  We had only been there 20 minutes when we spotted the Silver Carbonite Wedding Band.  We could not believe we found it, this was one of those searches you go on almost knowing its going to be a long shot at best.

BUT, it turned into a awesome day.  Ellen & I walked down the beach and Aaron & his wife spotted us and began walking back our way.  As we got close to them I said “Boy the lake is really low” instantly you could see their faces get a little sad thinking we had not  found the ring and already given up.

THEN, I said, “Aaron let me ask you a question, would you like to have this back” and I held up his ring.  As you can see in the pictures, they were ecstatic and could not thank us enough.

What a wonderful hobby we have and the joy we get to bring to people when we find their lost item.

Another successful hunt for “The Dallas Ring Finders”

Don & Ellen

Found Wedding Ring in Trophy Club,Texas

  • from Dallas (Texas, United States)
Contact:

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We received a call from a lady who said “thank God I reached you”I have a lost ring for you to find.  I said OK and ask for the details.  She described it as a Men’s gold wedding ban.  I ask her where is was lost and she said in her backyard.  I ask as I always do, “are you sure that’s where you lost it” and she said she was positive.

I said OK then we can find it, then I asked the most important question.  How was the ring lost, what was he doing when he lost it……. there was a long silence and she said “I know it’s there because I threw it there”.  I said that was no problem and we would drive the 28 miles to Trophy Club,Tx around 7pm to let the heat go down, it was 101 degrees warm.

We arrived at a beautiful home, got our equipment out, the lady kindly showed us where she was when she threw the ring and then my wife her re-inact the event (this is a must we have learned).  We spent maybe 20 minutes detecting the yard and there was a lot of underground trash.  We knew the ring would “Hit Hard” on our detectors because it had only been 3 days since it was lost and men’s wedding bands are typically large in size.

We were correct in our assumptions and the Ring was returned for another happy customer for “The Ring Finders”.

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Don & Ellen – The Dallas Ring Finders”

PS…. the husband was in counseling while we were looking for the ring.

 

Fireman Looses Grandfathers Wedding Band while Fighting Brush Fire, Fort Worth,Texas – Found!

  • from Dallas (Texas, United States)
Contact:

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Fort Worth,Texas Fire Fighter Looses Grandfathers Wedding Ring in while Fighting Brush Fire!

On Friday afternoon we received a call from a Fort Worth fire fighter.  He said that he and his crew had been fighting a brush/fence fire behind a home where a woman had thrown out some 2-day old fireplace coals.  The coals had set the compost pile and fence and part of the yards of 2 homes on fire.  He said his buddy had lost his Grandfathers ring which he now wears as a Wedding Ring.  It was 3pm on Friday afternoon, they were 52 miles away across Dallas & Fort Worth and 5pm Friday afternoon traffic was a major contention.  I knew it would take a minimum of 2 hours to drive there so I asked if we could come on Saturday due to traffic, but the young firefighter had panic in voice and ask us to please come.

How can you say ‘no’ to a Fire Fighter?  It took us nearly 3 hours to get there due to the heavy traffic.

He was waiting for us when we arrived and explained that he had been inside the backyard of the home and was knocking out the burning fence slats with the palm of his hand while fighting the fire.   He knew exactly where he was standing (in the wet, smelly compost pile) when it came off, and it was lightly raining… Get the picture?, pretty much a yuck site.

With a desperate customer, our Garrett equipment and rubber boots we went to work.  Thinking the ring flew off some distance into the field behind the home, we searched everywhere.  Eliminating nails, iron, junk, etc. doing everything we could to find the ring.   After an hour it was starting to get dark and everyone was loosing hope my wife went back into the backyard and began slowly going through the compost pile with her detector and pinpointer.  Understand this compost pile was about 18-inches thick and 5-ft by 5-ft  in size.  It was soaking wet from the fire being put out, burnt from catching on fire and wet burned trash just really stinks. But this is what the fireman was standing on when he was knocking out the burning fence slats.  I was coming into the backyard to help her when I heard her yell out “I Found It”, the fireman was standing right there when she found his ring, he was so excited.  He kept saying “you guys are awesome, you guys are awesome, unbelievable!, wait till I tell the guys back at the station!”.

This was by far our dirtiest  hunt, but one of our most rewarding.

Our Firefighters across this country will run into a burning home or building for us without thinking twice about it, the least we can do is work through muck to find a wedding ring for them.

This was a very emotional find for us and we are so glad to be part of “The Ring Finders”.

Till next time, detectors ON!

Don & Ellen

Palladium Wedding Found in Double Oak, Texas

  • from Dallas (Texas, United States)
Contact:

 

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We got a call from a wonderful lady that said her husband (a pilot) had lost his ring while working in their front yard.  He was standing in a culvert ditch tossing some large rocks from one side of the driveway to the other and felt his ring slid off; he said he heard it “tink” twice but never saw it land.  He and his family searched for months looking for the ring without luck. He bought a cheap metal detector himself  but without success, his father-in-law came over with another detector but had no luck either.  Months past and his wife was playing around on the internet and found “The Ring Finders” website and called us.

We arrived and met with the couple, I truly think the husband felt is was a lost cause.  The ring had be lost for over 6 months. With the snowy/wet weather we have had this year he felt it was lost forever.

My wife & I got our Garrett Detectors and went to searching; we checked everywhere the husband said he thought is might be but had no luck.  So we went back over to where he stated he had been standing originally when he lost the ring.   The ditch was knee deep in leaves, trash, mud and an 18-inch metal pipe that went under their driveway.   After scanning over that area many times we decided everything had to come out of the ditch due to way too many hits on trash.  So on our hands and knees we began to pull out all the leaves and junk using our Garrett pinpointers to check every handful of trash for the ring.  After a short time I saw something shiny and I told my wife “I Got It”.  There stuck in the mud, 5-8 inches down in the muck, right where the husband had been standing throwing the rocks was his ring.  The “Tinking Sound” he heard must have been the ring hitting the metal culvert not the driveway as he thought.  The ring was in great shape.

And for the fun part, we went up to the door and rang the bell, the wife came to the door and she said “No Luck Huh” and we just smiled and I open my hand revealing her husbands “Palladium Wedding Ring”, she said “Oh my gosh, let me go get him”  he was thrilled and we had “Another Successful Hunt for the the Dallas Ring Finders”.

God I love this hobby!

Till next time, detectors ON!

Don & Ellen

Lost Knife in Dallas,Tx Found

  • from Dallas (Texas, United States)
Contact:

We received an email from a very nice lady stating that her husband’s small pocket knife was lost in their yard.   We thought it was a little unusual to get a call on a knife but we are always excited to help people .  As we talked further we found out that the family had gone out and cut down 2 Christmas Trees this year and had strapped them to the top of the family SUV.  Upon arriving at home the father had pulled out his very special 3″ knife that his wife had given to him as a gift on their wedding day.  He used it to cut the rope holding the Christmas Trees to the SUV and then gave it to his oldest 10yr old daughter Ally to cut the other side.  She cut the rope and put the knife in her top pocket of her jacket and helped her dad and sisters drag the 2 trees into the house.  After getting the trees inside, she realize the knife was no longer in her pocket.  After 3 days of searching the 3″ thick grass cover in large leaves they had nearly given up.  10yr old Ally was heart broken at losing her daddy’s special knife. 

Ally’s mom got on the internet and found our “The Ring Finders” website .  She called and my wife and I set a time come by.  Upon arriving at their home we had a roughly 80ft by 40ft area of thick grass and leaves.  We got out our equipment and I began the search.  My wife’s ACE250 was acting funny  and she decided to just let me hunt.  She had her pinpointer with her while talking to the customer.  As you can imagine at every beep our detectors or pinpointers made the 3 daughters were right their with us looking for the knife.  Finally I suggested to the mom that they go check the SUV one more time while we continued the search of the yard.  My wife just sat down in the beautiful yard and kinda of just moved her pinpointer around and it went off.  She said “Don, go get the girls, I GOT IT”.   Ally the daughter who lost the knife came running out and grabbed the knife out of the yard and held it to her chest, she was almost in tears.

Ally and her family thanked us and thank us and then even took pick pictures with us and our equipment so they could so their dad.  Just another happy customer for “The Ring Finders”.

This hobby is so much fun!

Don & Ellen Wilson

The Dallas Ring Finders!

Shannon’s Husband Wedding Ring Lost now Found!

  • from Dallas (Texas, United States)
Contact:

        

Ellen & I got a call from our “The Ring Finders” website.  It as about 8pm on Sunday evening.  Shannon said that she and her husband had been at the local recreation center playground.  Her husband took off his wedding ring and put it in his pocket so he would not scratch it while working out using the playground equipment as a gym.

Upon returning home he realized his ring was gone.  He and Shannon searched for 6 days looking for the ring.  She found us on the web and called. I told her I would come on on Monday morning after 9am, but after hearing her voice and talking to my wife.  My wife convinced me to go do our 1st night search. We had our headlamps and our flashlight and the playground was in a nice area of town, so we decided to give it a try.

After 20 minutes of searching in the dark I hit something strong and thought to myself, I got it… but no it was a child’s charm bracelet.  I stood up and got another hit just 2 feet from the bracelet.  I bent down using my pinpointer and light and there was the ring.  I had to use the flashlight to be sure I had Shannon’s husband’s ring.  It was.

I called Shannon at 9:30pm and she seemed concerned when she realized it was me,  I said hello and ask her if she would like to come up to the park playground and pick up her husband’s ring.  She was estastic.  She said she would be right down.   She arrived in 15 minutes and was extremely grateful.  This is my favorite part of this hobby, seeing the smiles, seeing the relief, it is a win, win moment for everyone.

Now I thought this adventure was over, but on Monday I received a very special text message from Shannon.  I have pasted the text in below…

 “” Thank you again sooo much, Don!! I surprised Aaron with his ring when he got home from work last night…. I sat him down and proposed to him :).  Luckily he said yes 🙂 We are both so happy to have his ring back. You and your wife are so wonderful! It was an honor meeting you two! “”

Another successful NIGHT find for The Ring Finders”

Don & Ellen Wilson – Dallas,Tx

972-523-4447

 

Lost Man’s Silver Wedding Ring in Gahanna, OH. “FOUND”

  • from Newark (Ohio, United States)
Contact:

I received an email from a guy that lost his Silver Wedding Band while playing football with his two young boys. He was very distraught from the lost of his wedding ring. After about a hour of doing a grid search in the thick grass. The sliver wedding band was found just under the wide grass blades. He was very happy to have to ring back on his hand.

 

Lost Man’s Silver Wedding Ring in Gahanna, OH. “FOUND”

Lost gold wedding ring found, Big Turkey lake, Lagrange, Indiana

  • from Granger (Indiana, United States)

Last week I was contacted by Ringfinder, Greg Larabel from Michigan, in response to a craigslist ad that I had posted for SW Michigan lost/found rings/etc. After talking a bit, he asked if I could help with lost men’s wedding band in northern Indiana. I said sure thing, and was given the contact info for the party that lost his ring.

Barry, had lost his ring while working in the water, pulling out old wood pier posts at his lake house. The area was full of weeds and has a very mucky, marly bottom, a good 6 inches of muck. He had pulled out a lot of the weeds and actually took a heavy duty pump and attempted to pump out some of the muck in the area he had lost the gold ring that he has worn for 38 years now!

I was somewhat worried that with all the stepping around, pulling weeds and pumping out the muck that the ring may have been pushed down beyond the reach of my detector. Was also worried that the ring could have fallen down into the 3 ft deep holes left from when he pulled the old wood posts out of the lake bottom.

Well, I gave it a go this morning, set up my camera real quick, started out finding a few fishing sinkers, a couple ring looking pieces of cut-0ff aluminum pipe and an old beer can. After about 8 minutes, I had now covered about 85% of the search area and was thinking to myself “I need to hear something good here real soon….!”

Got a nice sounding tone, took a scoop of muck, broke it up with my fingers and gave it a good sloshing. Could hear something clunking around in the bottom of the scoop. Looked in the scoop and could see something nice and yellow in the bottom. There it was! Gave a quick thumbs up and headed to the pier to reunite the ring with it’s owner.

Thanks again Gregg,

Here is the email from Barry to Ringfinder Gregg:

Gregg,
As you may have heard through Ryan, he did find my ring. It took him less than 10-15 minutes. Unbelievable! He did a great job despite what he said were challenges with lead sinkers, a nearby metal dock, and miscellaneous metal parts from long ago. It was in the area I had already searched. I was absolutely ecstatic and couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know how to thank him. There are no words to convey my feelings. The ring had been on my finger for 38 years. When I lost it, it felt like a part of me was missing. I had trouble sleeping for two weeks.

I have not told my wife yet as I plan to take her out to a special dinner and surprise her with it.

Ryan, I cannot express my gratitude enough and I trust the compensation was just. I hope your feeling of helping people is truly rewarding.

Thank you! And thanks to TheRingFinders.com for leading me to both of you.
Barry Smith

 

Also got the hunt and find on video….

Lost gold ring found at Warren Dunes State Park, Berrien County, Michigan

  • from Granger (Indiana, United States)

Missy, friends and family were enjoying the nice day at the beach. When it was time to cool off in the water, she took her promise ring off and left it on her beach towel so she wouldn’t lose it in the water. Meanwhile, someone had lifted the towel to rid it of sand, sending the ring flying into the soft sand where it was quickly buried and lost.

As they were getting ready to leave, they noticed me out in the water with what they thought might be a metal detector. They asked if I could help them find the lost promise ring, missy described it in detail and I said I’d be happy to help. After a couple minutes searching, finding a few coins and bottle caps, I heard a very nice sounding target signal. I scooped up the target and there it was, the missing gold ring.  Big smiles all around!