Lost Gold Heirloom Ring Found & Returned – South Lake Tahoe
Tahoe Keys, Lake Tahoe, California, September 8, 2026: Lost Gold Heirloom Ring Found Underwater & Returned to Owner by Metal Detector Specialist — Trevor Oxborrow.
Yesterday, Gina jumped into the Tahoe Keys Lagoon from a private-residence-dock & within moments felt her irreplaceable gold heirloom ring slip off her finger disappearing into the black abyss.
After my last phone recovery—at the Keys—I swore I’d never dive there again. And a theoretical idea of a ring recovery in the lagoon seemed impossible. So what’s the big deal with recovering a ring in the Tahoe Keys Lagoon? It’s only 11 feet deep immediately off the dock. The fingered peninsula designed neighborhood canals—or more aptly called the Black Lagoon—are infested with dense invasive aquatic weeds. 6 to 8 feet tall and as thick as you can imagine. Swimming in the lagoon is akin to swimming in molasses, additionally the aquatic weeds entangle your arms, legs, blu3 Nemo air hose & my XP metal detector. On the bottom is 6 inches of silty mud.
So, this morning I got a call for a lost-gold-heirloom-ring search at the Tahoe Keys. Well heirloom always motivates me, and maybe the search conditions aren’t as bad as I remember.
At about 12:20pm I met with Gina at the location. She described the circumstances and exactly where she jumped into the water. Good news! The search box was only 6 feet by 6 feet. I started with the full sized metal detector, next the Nokta Pulse Dive & finally ended up with the Garrett Carrot (pinpointer). Incidental finds were a 1st generation iPhone, forceps, & a copper bracelet. After 1 hour and 4 minutes of underwater searching I felt the beautiful shape of a ring in my fingers.
Obviously, Gina was very happy to have the ring back and I was happy to get out of the Black Lagoon.