underwater metal detecting Tag | The Ring Finders

August 2022: Found and returned two phones lost kayaking in Occoquan River.

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)
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I’m a Search and Recovery expert with the knowledge, skill, and experience to recover your lost items on land and underwater. Please text or call as soon as possible: (703) 598-1435

Click Here for the Video Link!

Patrick and Kelly were regular renters of kayaks from Penguin Paddling, in Occoquan Virginia. Even though they were familiar with the river, disaster struck when there was an unexpected current. The kayak flipped and their phones sank. Patrick called and told me how one of the phones contained

The Dive Site

their wedding planning information. The wedding was only weeks away, and the information was irreplaceable.

Dive 1: Mrs. Ellis (my safety diver) and I met Patrick and as there was no shore entry, we canoed to the area where the phones were lost. Visibility in the water was about four feet, and the depth was about ten feet. There were large boulders and that meant I had to slowly search in every crevice. Fortunately, I only needed a light, and not my metal detector. There were eels, crawdads, fishing lures, and boat anchors wedged between the boulders. When you watch the video, you can see a barbell someone used as an anchor.

 

Entry Area

 

 

 

First Phone

I searched the drop area and found Patrick’s phone in about twenty minutes. Kelly’s phone had the wedding information. We spent the rest of the afternoon searching for her phone, but to no avail.

 

 

 

Ring Finder Ray Jones

Dive 2: Two days later, Patrick again met to continue the search and help with all the equipment and the canoe. I expanded the search area but did not locate the phone.

Dives 3 & 4: It wasn’t until five days later that I was able to make another search. This time my friend and fellow Ring Finder Ray Jones came to help. Ray also searched the area and did not find the phone. I modified my search with ropes using a modified jackstay to search further downriver. I finally found Kelly’s phone about 130 feet from the initial drop area.

Kelly’s Phone Found!

 

Smiles!

I removed the SIM card and put the phone into a bag of rice. The happy couple met with me the next day so I could return the phone. Despite being underwater for nine days, Kelly’s iPhone was able to charge her phone and she retrieved their wedding plans!

Happy Wedding Day!

My thanks to Mike from Penguin Paddling (Home Page Penguin Paddling LLC), who referred me to Patrick and Kelly. Patrick was a great beach watch and provided an excellent account of the incident which greatly aided in the search. Most of all thank you to my wife for her safety and Dive Master support and expert bubble watching for many hours.

 

Rob Ellis: Search and Recovery Expert… Call/text ASAP, (703)-598-1435

 

(20+) Robert Ellis | Facebook

 

Don’t give up. Many of my clients have bought, borrowed, or rented a metal detector before calling me. Just because someone has a tool, it doesn’t mean they know how to use it. I use state of the art equipment, and I have thousands of hours of experience searching on land and underwater. If you have tried using a detector without success, please call to see if I can help.

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iPhone 13 Lost and Found Under Water, Occoquan River, Virginia

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)
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August 7th: Found and returned an iPhone 13 Pro Max lost from a dock.

I’m a Search and Recovery expert with the knowledge, skill, and experience to recover your lost items on land and underwater. Please text or call as soon as possible: (703) 598-1435

Ash was working hard at his job with the Carefree Boat Club when his phone slipped out of his pocket and fell into the water. His brother, Time, met me in Woodbridge after I’d recovered a ring and asked me for a business card. Ash called me using Times phone and asked for my help. I agreed to meet Ash at the dock the next morning.

Search Area

Mrs. Ellis (my safety diver) and I arrived around 11am. As always, we checked the conditions before unpacking the equipment. While on the dock, we met Time who showed us where the phone was lost. When Ash arrived, he provided a detailed description of the incident and location. Visibility in the water was about two feet, and the water was about nine feet deep.

Water View

When the phone landed in the water, it planed, much like a paper airplane does when it’s thrown. It ended up under the dock. Nevertheless, I recovered the phone in a record breaking 6 minutes! As I touched the phone, I was surprised to see the screen light up. However, I should not have been surprised, as the newer iPhones are quite water resistant.

Ash, Rob, and Time

Ash’s iPhone 13

 

 

 

Thank you to Mike from Penguin Paddling (Home Page Penguin Paddling LLC), who rearranged the Kayak rental fleet for our dive! And thanks to Ash’s brother Time, who remembered me from a previous ring search!

Rob Ellis: Search and Recovery Expert… Call/text ASAP, (703)-598-1435

 

 

 

 

Don’t give up. Many of my clients have bought, borrowed, or rented a metal detector before calling me. Just because someone has a tool, it doesn’t mean they know how to use it. I use state of the art equipment, and I have thousands of hours of experience searching on land and underwater. If you have tried using a detector without success, please call to see if I can help.

Rob Ellis: Search and Recovery Expert… Call/text ASAP, (703)-598-1435    (20+) Robert Ellis | Facebook

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Aggie Ring and Wedding Ring Lost in MUCK in Ennis, Texas Lake

  • from Dallas (Texas, United States)
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We got a call from a young man who had been riding a horse with his wife and decided to cross the lake to the island in the center.  As they entered the MUCKed Up section the young man’s horse sank up to his belly in the MUCK.  He crawled off his horse and crawled through the MUCK to the shore.  Concerned that they would need a tractor to get his horse out he sent his wife to get a ranch hand to assist.  But the horse was able to break free and get himself out.  Then he realized that both his Aggie Ring and his Cobalt Ring were gone.  He looked over at the MUCK and thought the worst.  He may never see his rings again.

Then he checked the all knowing “Google” to rent a metal detector and during his search the Dallas Ring Finders listing came up.  We scheduled to come in the next day.  We were able to locate both rings in under a minute, see the full video on our channel “Dallas Ring Finders”, another happy customer  for the Dallas Ring Finders.

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Gold Ring, Lost and Found Under Water, Woodbridge, Virginia

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)
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June 28th: Underwater Metal Detecting, Ring Returned.

I am an expert metal detectorist with the knowledge, skill, and experience to recover your lost items on land and underwater. Please text or call as soon as possible: (703) 598-1435

EZ Cruz Marina

John was enjoying an afternoon of boating with his father and rest of the family on Father’s Day. They stopped at EZ Cruz Marina to fuel up, and John jumped into the water. His beautiful ring decorated with diamonds and Claddagh symbols slipped off his finger. John called and we arranged to meet at the marina.

Search Area

 

 

 

 

 

Mrs. Ellis (my safety diver) and I arrived around 10am, we introduced ourselves to the EZ Cruz staff, and started to prepare. We evaluated the conditions. Water visibility was poor, and the water was about seven feet deep. When John arrived, he showed us exactly where and how he jumped in.

FOUND!

Ladder Entry

Circular Search Device

 

I decided to use my circular search pattern device I made just for these types of situations. Entering the water around noon, I worked through various trash targets including weights, glasses, and fishing rods. After about an hour I was able to find John’s beautiful ring!

Ring

 

 

Smile!

For my detecting friends, my Equinox 800 with a Coiltek 10×5 had a VDI of 22-24 for ring of un-known gold content.

Rob Ellis: Metal Detector Expert… Call/text ASAP, (703)-598-1435

Don’t give up. Many of my clients have bought, borrowed, or rented a metal detector before calling me. Just because someone has a tool, it doesn’t mean they know how to use it. I use state of the art equipment, and I have thousands of hours of experience searching on land and underwater. If you have tried using a detector without success, please call to see if I can help.

 

 

 

(20+) Robert Ellis | Facebook

 

 

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Lost and Found Ring, Underwater, Port Royal, Va

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)
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June 2nd, 2022: Rob and Ray Recovered a Tantalum Wedding Ring lost in the Rappahannock River

I am an expert metal detectorist with the knowledge, skill, and experience to recover your lost items on land and underwater. Please text or call as soon as possible: (703)-598-1435

 

Ray with stick showing depth

On the last day of April, Scotty was fishing off the end of a pier when his new wedding band slipped into the water. He quickly noted where the ring had dropped in relation to the wooden structure. Because I was not available to search, I asked my friend Ray Jones to help. The depth off the fishing platform is about neck deep, depending on the tide. In spite of a current and low visibility, Ray was able to remove many misleading targets consisting of lead weights, fishing lures, coins, and other items. Even though he was wearing a wetsuit, Ray was unable to remain in the cold water and called off the search for that day.

 

 

 

Ray

I joined Ray for the next search. Because of conflicting schedules and storms, we were not able

Rob and Ray

to meet until June 2nd. I was the lucky one to find the ring, but it was truly a team effort.

 

 

 

Scotty Smile

Scotty’s Tantalum Ring

 

Ring Underwater

Crawdad Helping Me Search

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For my detecting friends, the Tantalum ring had a 23 VDI on my Equinox with a Coiltek 10X5.

 

 

Don’t give up. Many of my clients have bought, borrowed, or rented a metal detector before calling me. Just because someone has a tool, it doesn’t mean they know how to use it. I use state of the art equipment, and I have thousands of hours of experience searching on land and underwater. If you have tried using a detector without success, please call to see if I can help

Rob Ellis: Metal Detector Expert… Call/text ASAP, (703) 598-1435

(20+) Robert Ellis | Facebook

 

 

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Smartwatch found underwater, Pleasants Landing Marina, Lake Anna, VA

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)
Contact:

November 9th: Found and returned a Samsung smartwatch lost in October.

I am expert metal detectorist with the knowledge, skill, and experience to recover your lost items on land and underwater. Please text or call as soon as possible: (703)-598-1435

 

It was a warm October 21st, so I decided to do some underwater detecting at Pleasant’s Landing on Lake Anna, Virginia.

Pleasants landing serves as a park and a marina. Shaped like Florida with over 2,600 feet of Lake Frontage, there is lots of room for all lake activities. Pleasants Landing is one of two public beaches on Lake Anna with the other being at Lake Anna State Park.

Upon arrival, I met Mike and Esmond and asked if I could do some shallow diving. They gave me permission and pointed out that it was good timing due to less boat traffic around the docks. Just off the beach, I found modern coins, sunglasses, and fishing weights. I found nothing of value, but it’s still a fun way to keep up my skills.

 

Before my second tank, I met and spoke with the marina service manager, Vincent. He told me there were a couple of boat gas caps right off the fueling dock. I did a quick exploration around the dock area and picked up some fishing rods, sunglasses, two gas caps, and a large watch. After the dive, I showed the staff my finds and gave Vincent the gas caps to be reused if at all possible. It wasn’t until I got home and washed the layer of muck off the watch that I discovered a Samsung smartwatch.

Unfortunately, the battery had run out and I had no way to trace the owner. I took me a while, but I finally figured out how to use reverse wireless charging with my phone to charge the watch. After a few phone calls, I was able to contact Joey, the owner of the watch. He couldn’t believe someone found his watch and had given up on ever seeing it again. We were able to meet up at Pleasant’s Landing where I was able to return the watch.

Esmond, Joey, and Rob

Don’t give up. Many of my clients have bought, borrowed, or rented a metal detector and then called me. Just because you have a tool, doesn’t mean you know how to use it. I have thousands of hours detecting on land and underwater. If you have tried using a detector without success, please call to see if I can help.

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Plumber Looses Ring While Digging Ditch in Dallas

  • from Dallas (Texas, United States)
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We got a call from a local team of plumbers who were digging a ditch in the cold December Texas weather and one of the men lost his wedding ring.  He was frantic, fortunately, we were available and went quickly to the site.  The hole was 4ft deep and full of horrible muddy water and muck.  After several passes with our large Metal Dectortors, we switched to our handheld detectors and checked all the walls by nearly standing on our heads reaching into the mucky muddy water hole.  But luck & skill were with us and we FOUND the man’s ring.  He was so excited, it was so funny watching 4 big plumbers jumping up and down and dancing in the front yard of the home.

Another successful Find for the Dallas Ring Finders

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Wallet lost underwater in Annapolis, Maryland, found and returned!

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)
Contact:

Rob Ellis: Metal Detecting Expert… Call/text/email, (703)-598-1435, Rob.Ellis@TheRingFinders.com

July 7th, 2021: Recovered wallet underwater in Annapolis, Md

Here it is!

Bill’s wallet was missing. He deduced it must have slipped out of his pocket while stepping out of his boat to the dock. Though he searched in the murky water, it was too deep and muddy for him to search effectively. Since Bill kept two metal keys in his wallet, he thought it might help while searching with a metal detector. He was correct. Modern credit card chips are detectable, but they are weak targets. Without the keys, a search next to his dock would be by touch alone.

After an internet search, Bill found my information and called me to arrange a search. Upon my arrival, we walked down to the dock so I could observe the area and plan my underwater recovery. Bill had really thought through the most likely location of the wallet.  Because he didn’t see or hear it drop, I thought it was possible the wallet could be somewhere else, and a dive would unnecessary. It turned out the one place Bill didn’t look was in the family cars. I asked if I could search his vehicles, and Bill was happy to oblige. The searches turned up two very neat and clean cars, but no wallet.

I got my SCUBA gear loaded on Bill’s garden cart and we went down the large hill to the dock. I did a quick reconnaissance with snorkel gear and determined the water was about eight feet deep. Visibility was very poor and the bottom was covered by a deep layer of silt. I donned my SCUBA gear and began my search. As anyone who detects next to mature docks can verify, there are usually many metal targets. When I heard a probable hit, I used my fingers and raked through the muck. On the seventh target, I reached out and felt the shape of a wallet! I carefully closed it and placed it in my finds bag. I immediately surfaced and waved to Bill and his mother who had joined him on the dock.

I know how devastating it feels to lose a wallet. A modern man has a lot of important things he depends on in that piece of leather. I felt a great deal of joy when I handed that wallet to Bill. Afterward he looked at me and said, “Now I don’t have to go back to the Motor Vehicle Administration!”. That I could help him avoid a trip there, made me even happier!!

 

Bill Smile!

Wallet

Rob & Bill Smiles

 

I am expert detectorist with the knowledge, skill, and experience to recover your lost items on land and underwater. Please text or call as soon as possible: (703)-598-1435

 

Note to other U/W Ring Finders:

6×8 finds bag with Velcro closure

My custom finds bag is designed by Instructor and master detectorist Ed Finck of Woodbridge SCUBA. It’s made of very durable mesh, with a brass snap clip.  I recommended it to all my underwater TheRingFinder friends. Please note I receive nothing in return for endorsing this bag. I just want to see more cool stuff for detecting!

 

 

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Lost diamond ring in yard, Ormond Beach, Florida…Found!

  • from Sanford (Florida, United States)
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I received a call from a lady in Miami who was anxious about finding someone to help her daughter find a lost ring. The mom went on to explain that her daughter lost her diamond engagement ring in the thick grass and was at the local Walmart looking to buy a cheap metal detector. Somehow the concerned mother had found theringfinders.com website and assured her daughter that there was hope of finding her lost diamond ring. A few minutes later I called Brittany and got a few more details about what happened and I assured her that I would pack up my equipment and come ASAP!

An hour later I pulled up in front of her house and could see Brittany walking thru the yard looking for her ring. It had just been raining quite hard and Brittany was afraid that her ring would wash down the ditch and disappear into the storm drain under the driveway. I tried to reassure her that rings dropped in grassy areas very seldom get moved around by rain and being as they are mostly made of gold, which is heavy, plus the opening in the center of the ring and too if there is a diamond sticking out the side….all these variables cause the ring to hang up and they just want to go down deeper into the grass. Brittany also felt very embarrassed about exactly how the ring ended up in the yard and again I assured her it happens all the time and the main objective now was to try and locate her lost ring and get it back on her finger where it has been for the last 8 years!

For these kinds of searches I carry a few inexpensive rings with a small piece of surveyors tape tied to it that I use for a test throw to help me mark the approximate location of where the actual ring may have landed. I encouraged Brittany to remember how she felt and to do exactly what she did the day before. Bless her heart–she even asked me to turn around and not to watch as she went into action. The test ring laded out in the yard some 40 to 45 feet away and I promptly set up my 4 small flags around the spot where the test ring landed and began my grid search. And sure enough not 8 feet away from the test ring I got a reading of 46 on my ATMax metal detector and it showed two inches deep. I pulled my pin pointer out to help locate the object and there it was…a beautiful white gold diamond ring…just waiting to be found! Brittany was so, so happy and I was almost as excited to be the one to find it for her.

May God bless you Brittany and may your marriage and your ring remain strong and in tact!

Lost something and need help? Call ASAP!

Mike McInroe…blessed to be a part of theringfinders.com

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Lost wedding ring in yard, Lakeland, Fl….Found with a metal detector!

  • from Sanford (Florida, United States)
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(That is me in the photo, filling in for Dave, as he was a bit shy!)

Dave was needing to get some brush cleared along the back side of his property and spent the good part of a day cutting and hauling branches out to the front of the house where the garbage truck could pick it all up. Every now and then he would remove his gloves and wipe the sweat from his brow or take a nice long drink of cold water, and then go back to work. On one occasion as he removed his gloves he felt his ring slip off of his finger and he quickly retrieved his ring and slid it back where it belonged. But as he was finishing up his work he looked at his left hand and saw that his ring had come off again so he tipped up his glove to shake out his ring but this time his glove was empty! He began looking the yard over, thinking he could easily find it but after an hour of combing thru every possible place he could think of—NO RING! The thought of finding it with a metal detector seemed like the most logical thing so he went out and bought a lower end model and started searching the yard from back to the front and along the sides. Dave was determined to find his ring and then it slowly began to dawn that maybe it had dropped into the canal at the back side of the property. A week went by and Dave realized he needed more help and that led him to one of my stories on theringfinders.com web site.

It was a two hour drive to Dave’s home and it was threatening to rain big time but after hearing his story I felt there was a good chance of being able to find his ring so off I went. After arriving and surveying the yard I set up my Garrett ATMax metal detector and went to work. (A few days earlier Dave had a chain link fence installed along the canal–so that was the most challenging part. With the metal fence and the drop off into the canal!). With the sun starting to set I turned my attention to the front of the house where Dave had hauled all the debris. I decided to start by the front door and follow the sidewalk down to the mailbox when I got a loud, sharp signal that showed two inches deep on my display and low and behold there was Dave’s lost wedding ring–just barely visible under the grass. Dave was putting his two little ones to bed at the time so I texted him a short “I found your ring!”

Whenever I am called to help someone look for a lost valuable I always ask my family and my parents, who are 88 and 87 years old, to pray for me. I assure people that God knows exactly where their item is hiding and He just needs to put my coil over the top of it. Again I thanked God for allowing me to find Dave’s lost wedding ring—just in time for their 7th year anniversary!

How can I help you? Call me ASAP at 321-363-6029. Or send me a text or shoot me an email!

Mike McInroe…always ready to search for your lost item!

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