Sunset Beach NC Metal Detecting Tag | The Ring Finders

Lady’s 14K White Gold Engagement Ring Lost in the Sand, Found and Returned Sunset Beach, NC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

This adventure started with a Sunset Beach NC Face Book post saying in part, “on vacation and a friend had lost an important piece of jewelry, and we’re looking for someone that has a metal detector.” Someone responded to her post with my information. So, about 8:30 Friday night, I received a call from Victoria.  She started with telling me about the Face Book posts and was calling to see if I could help. I was ready! She also said the ring was lost in the dry sand, on the right side of the pier. She added that it was very unlikely the high tide would not reach the ring. I suggested we meet in about 30 minutes. I think Victoria was a little apprehensive about meeting a strange man, at night, on a dark beach, which I totally understood. She wanted to meet at noon the next day, which I had concerns with. Knowing that Sunset Beach is a big tourist destination in the summer, parking would be an issue. There would also be shoulder to shoulder people on the beach, at noon, on a Saturday. I also know that Sunset Beach is heavily detected by both locals and tourist. She understood, but noon it was.

I arrived about 10:30 a.m., figuring I’d be lucky to find a parking spot. Surprise, I got the last ‘free’ parking space on the Island, I think.  Since I had an hour and half to burn, I started detecting the beach. About 11:30 a.m. I text Victoria telling her ‘I was there,” and She immediately responded saying, “we are parking now.” We met up on the beach and Victoria introduced me to Jennifer, the young lady that lost her engagement ring. Victoria led the way across the top of the beach until we reached the area. Victoria had the presents of mine to tie one of her hair bows to a tiny bush growing up through the sand at the bottom of a sand dune. Jennifer wasn’t sure how far her ring may have flown off her finger when she had turned around while they were packing up to leave. I confirmed with Jennifer that I was looking for a white gold ring as I turned on my Equinox. On my second line, I got a solid 6 on my VDI, meaning ‘white gold.’ I looked over at Jennifer as I scooped up the sand. I gently shook the scoop to empty the sand out and saw some shells and Jennifer’s beautiful engagement ring at the bottom of the scoop. I walked over to Jennifer, held out the scoop, and let her remove her ring. She got a big smile on her face when she saw her ring.

Victoria – Thank you for contacting me.

Jennifer – Thank you for trusting me to help find your lost treasure. Enjoy the rest of your vacation.

Jim

Man’s Silver Maggie Lee Pendant and Chain Necklace Found and Returned Sunset Beach NC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

I was on a ring search on Sunset Beach when a young man, Arkhum, came up to me and asked if I would mind looking for his Silver Pendant and Chain Necklace. He told me he’d lost it the day before and knew the area where it was lost. I followed him up the beach to the dry sand area where he pointed out the area. About 3 steps, I had a strong signal, dug a scoop of sand and had it. I handed him back his necklace that his wife had bought him. He was very happy to get it back.

Jim

   

Newlywed’s Honeymoon Happily Continues at Sunset Beach, NC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

Howard called me around 11 a.m. saying he had lost his wedding band, and asked if I could help find it. He continued by saying he had lost it in a big clump of grass and hadn’t been able to locate it. He further told me he was at the Sandpiper Bay Golf and Country Club at Sunset Beach, NC. I told him I’d be there in about 30 minutes.

On my drive up there, I’m thinking he may have lost it on the golf course and was hoping he had a good idea of exactly where it came off his finger. I ended up at the community club house instead of the golf course club house and asked a lady where the course club house was. She asked if I was the ring guy, after replying in the affirmative, she said that her husband was the one that lost his ring. Luckily, he had lost his ring in the landscaping Saw grass around the pool area in about a 5 ft square area. Rachelle and I introduced ourselves, and as we’re walking to the area she said that they had gotten married 2 weeks ago and that he’s had his ring for 2 days. We met up with Howard and he said that the ring was a little tight. He also said that he’s not use to wearing jewelry, so he had the ring about half way on his finger when it fell off. He heard the ring hit the cement, saw it bounce, and then disappear in the grass. I grabbed my AT PRO and started running it over the top of the grass where he thought it was. He told me it was a 14K gold wedding band, so I knew I’d be looking for a VDI (visual display indicator) number in the high 50s. After going over his suspected area a couple of times, I moved down the sidewalk, and about a yard or so I got a solid 57 on the detector. Visually, I couldn’t see anything so I used my pin pointer and BANG, found it buried deep in the grass. I pulled it out, wiped it off, and stuck it up for him to grab. He was flabbergasted that he had it back, he told me he had just about given up on finding it. Rachelle gave out a woo hoo shout. Honeymoon was saved.

Howard and Rachelle, thank you for trusting in me to help find your lost treasure. Enjoy the rest of your honeymoon and have a safe trip back home to Denver, CO.
Jim

  

Their Ring Story Continues on Sunset Beach NC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

This lost ring story started about 3 p.m. when Patrick, who was on vacation from Raleigh, NC with his family, was in the surf throwing one of those balls that skip across the water. Just after 6 p.m. he called me asking if I could help find his wedding ring. He said he had googled lost ring in the ocean and my blogs popped up. I asked him a couple of questions, what time he lost it, and how deep he was when it happened. He told me he lost it about 3 and he was about hip deep. Knowing what the tides were for the day, 3 p.m. was right at mid-tide and hip deep meant he was probably out a little further than the low tide line. Time was of the essence because by the time I’d get there, the tide will have turned around and was now coming back in. I got a few more details, including the address, and told him I’d be there in 30-45 minutes. At the time, my wife and I were leaving our neighborhood on our way over to see our granddaughters. My wife has heard these type of conversations before and instantly knew what was going on, she made a U-turn to get me back home. I grabbed my gear and headed to Sunset Beach.

When I got to the rental house, I met Patrick and his wife Colleen, their son, and other family members. On the way out to the beach, I asked Patrick if he was throwing the ball when it came off, and thank goodness, he said the ball hit his finger when it came off. He and his brother-in-law gave me a general location and I started an east/west (sand to ocean) grid line. I think I was on my ninth line, and maybe ankle deep in the surf, when I got a strong hit. I dug a scoop of wet compounded sand, checked the hole, and was pretty positive I had Patrick’s Platinum Wedding Band in my scoop. I shook the scoop out in the surf and heard the loud clanging of the ring. I walked back up to where Patrick was standing, shaking the scoop as I walked so he could hear the clanging. I don’t think he was believing what he was hearing until I held the scoop out for him to retrieve his ring. He was beyond excited and I got some great bear hugs. On our way back up to the house, I asked him if he thought his ring was gone for good. His response was something like, “I didn’t think I’d ever get it back.” We also worked out a plan to surprise Colleen by saying the surf was getting to rough and that Patrick really appreciated me coming out and trying. Colleen was on the back deck as we walked up the steps. We played the surprise though and as I’m telling her that I tried, but the surf was getting big, I kept glancing at Patrick’s finger trying to get her to look. At one point she looked behind her to see what I was looking at, then BAM!!, she saw the ring on his finger and her eyes started watering up, which made mine water up. I got a big hug from her and she was so excited. Great ending to an otherwise trying time.

Patrick and Colleen, thank you so much for calling me and I’m so happy we were able to get Patrick’s ring back on his finger where it belongs! Have a great rest of your vacation and a safe return home.

Jim