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Lost Military Knife in Columbus, OH “FOUND”.

  • from Newark (Ohio, United States)
Contact:

I received a call that a guy had lost a friends Military knife. The knife was lost after it was thrown and he missed the target he was aiming for. He did not think that he would miss, but he did and that is where the fun begins. Him and his friend looked, racked, moved brush in the trashy metal, weeds, trees, sticks area with no luck. After I got there, I searched for about half an hour through the trees, weeds, dirt, and a lot of trash metal everywhere. There is was underneath the sticks and dirt. He was very happy to see the knife again and so was his friend to have the knife back.

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Lost Military Knife in Columbus, OH “FOUND”.

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Lost Military Knife in Columbus, OH “FOUND”.

 

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

Lost Wedding Ring Edmonton

  • from Edmonton (Alberta, Canada)
Contact:

I phone pics 206

Received a call from Shaun to see if I could locate his lost wedding ring that he had lost three weeks prior in his back yard while he was raking leaves and cleaning out his flower pots. I phone pics 205After about 1 1/2 hours of searching I found his ring in the flower pot.

Lost Wedding Band on Cypress Mountain, West Vancouver…Found!

  • from Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its been a slow start to spring and summer this year as we haven’t had a spring or summer yet…Heck we didn’t even have a winter! That being said the snow stayed on the mountains and that’s where I went for a few hours, a couple of weekends ago.

I found the usual change ($30.00) and a few silver pieces and lots of crapy metal things. I was packing it up for the day and as I was driving away the parking lot grabbed my attention as I started to wonder what could’ve  been plower to the side with all the snow. I drove about a 100 yards and stopped my car and got out to walk alongside the road to see if I could spot anything.

Well I walked no further the 10 feet past my car and looked down a spotted a gold wedding band in the dirt and gravel…

 

I didn’t even have my detector, talk about when its meant to be! The great thing about this ring was that there was a name and the wedding date inscribed on the inside of the band.

I left the mountain and when I got home I posted the find on the craigslist in hopes that maybe the person would find me. The hardest thing is finding the owner if they haven’t contacted me to do the search. Most people just give up!  I was at work and it hit me…Call the Ski Resort and see if anyone has reported it lost. This was a great idea as someone had, well we met today and he has his lost ring of nearly 4 months back on his finger.

I love my job!

Lost something? Call me ASAP!

Thanks for reading my story.

Watch the video below…

Lost Diamond Ring in South West Vancouver… Blog & Video

  • from Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada)

Tonight I received a call from a young lady who lost a very special ring, it was her diamond ring and she was heart broken that it was lost.

I was told by Jen that the ring came off when she was feeding crows from her patio, on the 4th floor of their apartment.  When she was throwing the food to the crows her ring came off,  she feared it may have landed on the apartment roof  next door.

We did a few test throws with a ring I gave her,  this  gives me the general direction and I started my search. Within 15 minutes I got a great signal that fell into the gold reading on my Whites XLT metal detector.

I moved some leafs and snow and saw the glint of white gold, I bent down to take a closer look and I could see the ring that was stuck into the ground, as it was walked on for sure by Jen and her boyfriend who had spent many hours with a rented metal detector, but had no luck finding the ring.

I was very happy to have found the ring for Jen, Its nice to know its back where it belongs.  It was nice meeting you Jen & Ryan! Thank you for generous reward Jen!

I love my job!

Thanks for reading my story!

Best,
Chris Turner

Lost Keys Found Yakima Washington

  • from Yakima (Washington, United States)
Contact:

Good things can happen in 10 seconds if you know the right questions to ask. This search was what I would call perfect. It began when I was asked by a friend of mine to keep a look out for a large set of keys he lost the week before.

We had both been working on a “Journey to Bethlehem” live production here in Yakima Washington. We had around 3700 people go through the village over four nights. His part of the production was to plan and build the sets. After the weekend was over, we received seven inches of heavy wet snow which stressed our buildings.

My friend had been using a rake to pull the snow off the roof, and when he went to go home he realized the keys he had in his pocket had fallen out. Due to the new snow he was unable to locate the keys.

I had been searching for a large silver earring that had been lost around the village, and he knew this, so he asked me to keep an eye out.

Well, I had searched the village 5 different times with my metal detector and was able to tell the nice lady who lost it “somewhere” between her home and the event, that it was not lost on the path.

My friend was there as well, working on taking the buildings down, so I decided to search for his keys next.

I asked him more questions about what he had been doing the day he lost the keys and what areas he had been working in. I thought it was logical that he must have lost it when pulling snow off the roofs and did not find it because it had been hidden by the snow.

I decided to start the search behind the buildings snow piles. I went to the first building and had been searching the piles for about three steps, when I noticed the keys laying in the melted snow pile.

It was over almost before it started. That is my fastest search to date and I will take a little luck anytime. It also helped to ask the right questions, and it was good he remembered where and what he had been doing that day.

He was glad to get the keys back, and I was glad to be a part of the search.

I usually ask so many questions before I take on a search the people must think I am crazy, but it really helps narrow the search down, and also gives me an idea if they really know with certainty in what general area they lost it. Doing a grid search takes time, and the more focused it can be, the more likely I will find it.

If you have lost an item of value, give one of The Ring Finders a call, we might just be able to help you out. Of course you will have to put up with a million questions :), but it just might be worth it.

Lost platinum wedding band in the snow… B.C.I.T, Burnaby

  • from Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada)

Wedding band lost in the snow

It snowed pretty hard today and I was running around with my wife getting some stuff read for work next week,  I got a call from a young man that had lost his  platinum wedding band in the snow at B.C.I.T (British Columbia Institute of Technology)

He told me that he had a good area were he believed his ring came off,  also that 5  people had  stopped to help him search for his lost ring for close to one hour, with no luck.

We made plans to meet and search for the ring and we met an hour later.  I started the grid search and 10 minutes into the search I asked him if he could get a ring out of my truck so we could do a test with it.

Just as he was going to the truck I received a good signal and kicked the snow to see his wedding band looking back up at me!

Thick Platinum Ring Lost in Snow

Needles to say he was very happy to see his ring,  it only took 10 minutes  to find it and he was in a bit of a rush to pick up his daughter from school, so it worked out well.

He was a very nice young man and I was very happy to help him find his wedding band of 6 years…

I love my Job!

Lost something in the snow?

Call me ASAP

Video of the search below…

Lost Gold Wedding Band Found Yakima Washington

  • from Yakima (Washington, United States)
Contact:

Another great smile

When you are a Ring Finder, you never know when your next search will be. I had a feeling that I might get a search this week because here in Yakima we had a very cold and snowy spell.This can often mean valuables such as keys and rings can get lost.

When the call came asking if I was willing to help find a lost gold wedding band I was not surprised. After speaking with the wife of the man who lost his ring I was ready to start the hunt.

The ring had fallen off while the husband was cleaning the snow off the car, and then brushed his arms and hands off. He told me that he heard a metal “clank” but did not put it together that it was his ring that made the noise. When he arrived at home, he realized that his ring was gone and was sure that it was his ring that must have come off back in the parking lot. Well he returned to the site, but there was two inches of fresh snow in the lot and he could not find the ring. I was called the next day after they found my listing on The Ring Finders Metal Detecting Service on the internet.

I agreed to meet them after work to look for the ring. Now I said earlier that it was cold and snowy, and it was. Although the snow had mostly stopped it was still only around 18 F outside and by the time the search was called off for the night it was well on the way to -5 F.

Unfortunately when we arrived at the search location the parking lot had already been plowed. There was only a 1/4 of packed snow on the parking lot, with two large piles of snow off in the corners. The man was able to put me exactly where the ring came off so I searched that area first. I then expanded the search grid to include the most likely route the scraper would have taken to move the snow into the piles. Still no ring. So after looking at the two piles of snow we decided to search the most likely one, which of course was the larger of the two.

I began to shovel layers of snow off the pile and search the remaining snow. After about two hours I had searched about half of the pile, and called it quits for the night.

The next day was even colder, but the sun was out and I was again eager to continue the hunt. My oldest son was home from school, so I asked if he would like to help me search for the ring, and fortunately he did. So off we went. It took about another hour of digging each layer of snow, and then searching it to come up with the ring. It was sitting just hidden in a clump of snow. About the time I swung the metal detector over the ring, I heard the beep and there was the ring. I could not believe we found it. I thought for sure that I would have to just wait for the pile to melt before the ring would be found.

Now I wanted to surprise the husband with the ring and capture that on video, so I called his wife and told her that I had found the ring but wanted to surprise him. So I asked her if she could get him down to the search area to give me some more details about losing the ring, and she agreed.

When they arrived I asked him if he could tell me about what significance the ring was to him and to go over how he lost it again. Then I asked him to describe the ring and after he was done I pulled out the ring and asked if it looked like this one! He was very surprised and happy to get the ring back.

I was pretty happy to have found it for him with the help of my son. It was a great moment I will not soon forget.

They were very kind in giving me a nice reward, which was much appreciated. I do accept rewards as it helps me cover costs and keep my equipment up to date, but for me the true reward is the great smile and joy that I get to witness and be a part of.

Thanks guys for giving me a call and letting me be a part of your wedding ring story.

Lost gold ring in Enebakk, Norway

  • from Follo (Norway)
Contact:

Yesterday I received a phone call from a woman.  She told me that the day before her husband had lost his wedding band when he had been working on their farm.  It was a really big ring , 25 gram, in white, yellow and red gold. They had been looking for it the whole evening,  but could not  find the ring in the snow.  And it was still snowing…. They were pretty sure that it was lost outside the house.  Could I give it a try she asked?

Of course I could,  I put my gear in the car and drove over to their home.  It started to get dark and snowing heavy when I got to the farm.  I started to search the garden,  outside the house,  where they were sure they had lost it.

After a hour and a half I still no ring,  I ask the owner if he was sure he had not been anywhere  else.  Well, he said,  I was over to the parking lot a couple of hundred meters away,  but I’m pretty sure i did not loose it there.  At this time I was cold and wet, but I really wanted to find the ring,  so I told him that I wanted to try the parking lot.

We went over there and after 15 minutes a got a nice signal.  And there it was.  A massive beautiful gold ring. Oh boy, was he a happy man when I gave him the ring! I just love this job!

Norwegian reader can find the whole story in Norwegian at my private blog, Metallsøkerposten