Wisconsin Tag | The Ring Finders

Lost Ring Recovered Western Wisconsin.

  • from Chisago City (Minnesota, United States)
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I received an email wondering if I could go up to a western Wisconsin lake and see if I could recover a lost ring. It was about 14o miles away. Wanting to ensure a successful recovery on the first trip we waited until both could meet on site to confirm the location of where it was lost.  The water in the lake is getting very cold around 36 degrees F. so waders were going to have to be used.  I was told that the ring came off while uncovering a boat. The ring slipped off and went into the lake near the end of the dock in about 4 feet of water. The lake levels can be lowered for the winter by conservation officials and was down about a foot from summer levels. This putting the search area in around 3 -4 feet of water.   This was about the maximum depth  that I could go before water would come over the waders and my hand would be submerged holding on to the metal detector.  I also use an aluminum scoop to recover targets to prevent from having to get wet this time of year. The search area was about a 15′ x 10′ area. Several attempts were made at finding the ring by the owner and friends and neighbor. They tried snorkeling, raking and tried a metal detector with no luck. I have in the past had searchers looking for lost items using rakes end up moving the rings to a new location, which expands the search area.   I started out with my primary search. A primary search is an initial search in the area of the highest degree of likelihood. It is usually just seeing how many targets are out in the location and if anything just screams hear I am.  The lost ring was platinum with some diamonds.  So you look for somewhat shallow targets, anything deeper then 4″ is kind of ruled out.  The bottom of lakes if real sandy might get pushed down by searchers stepping on it but in this case there was a hardpan layer about 2″ below the bottom sand so it was going to be shallow. I did pick up several targets that were in the range of the ring but turned out to be pop tops/ pull tabs, bottle caps and other misc. junk targets. After searching for 15 – 20 minutes I got a hit on pretty good signal but not jumping out, I had set my scoop down on the dock which was about 6-8′ away. When hitting that target I did not want to take my eye off the target location but I needed to go grab the scoop. Its not hard to loose the target by waves pushing you or currents in rivers. I identified a small white pebble on the bottom that I could come back to. I grabbed the scoop and found the white stone. took a scoop and missed the target, took and second scoop and I had whatever it was in my scoop. BAM there it was… The ring,  what a great feeling seeing the ring in your scoop.  It never gets old.  Now to reunite the owner to the ring.  When I walked back up the hill to the cabin, I mentioned to owner that was standing out on the deck – “boy a lot of junk targets out there”. He said yes he was afraid of that. When I extended my hand out with the ring, it took him by surprise. You found it. You could just see the emotion run across his face. The ring had such deep sentimental value that when reunited you can feel that everything is back in it place and the relief that you are complete again.  It’s so great to see that relief happen right before your eyes.

Never gets old.   

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Lady’s white gold 3-ring set lost in Hudson, WI while kayaking – Now found!

  • from Saint Paul (Minnesota, United States)
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Marie and her husband Zack were on a guided kayaking trip down a small river in WI when Marie got swept into a swift and deep part of the river that had low-hanging branches blocking the way.  She had no choice but to go through and duck as best she could to avoid getting hurt by the branches.

As Marie was doing her best to get herself and her kayak out of trouble, the kayak tipped over and she went sprawling into the river.  She made it to shore, dumped the water out of her kayak and started again on her journey down the river.

A few hundred yards past the spot where she went in, Marie discovered that her 3 rings welded together were missing and let Zack know the bad news.  She was certain that the most likely spot the rings were lost was back up stream where she went in.

Zack call me 6 days later and told me the story.  I knew that the hunt wasn’t going to be an easy one and Zack said it was a bit of a hike to get to the site, so I contacted two buddies who also have a lot of experience searching for rings.  The more people searching, the better the chances a ring will be found – especially in a river.

Zack met us in town near the river and we followed him to the a parking spot about 3/4 mile away from the search site.  We got on our waders, got our gear together and walked through some little-used trails and across the river to the spot where Marie’s kayak tipped over.  I was surprised how fast and how deep the water was at this particular spot. We knew some of the water was too deep to search, but we covered every bit we could.

It was Mike who eventually found the rings by taking off his waders and going deeper into the river.  He found it right where the kayak likely tipped over: immediately after the low-hanging branches.  Zack was thrilled and gave us a generous reward.

I was really impressed by Zack’s effort to get his wife’s rings back.  He was very determined and really thought things through.  Below are pictures of Zack and the rings.

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Lost Tungsten-Carbide Wedding Ring Found in Racine, Wisconsin

  • from Menomonee Falls (Wisconsin, United States)
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John Schwartz, of Racine, Wisconsin, was throwing a football in the backyard of his house when disaster struck. He felt his heavy Tungsten-Carbide wedding ring leave his finger. It seemed to vanish into the evening dusk. Despite frantic efforts on his hands and knees, groping through the grass, the ring eluded his touch. In the days to follow he continued to systematically comb the turf, carefully separating the foliage in hopes of glimpsing the missing token of his marriage. Neighbors wondered about the sudden and strange behavior of the young husband next door. A friend even loaned him a metal detector. But it only yielded a confusing cacophony of audio signals–the ground was full of metallic objects. It was futile.

That’s when a search on the internet raised his hopes. At theringfinders.com he was surprised to learn about people like us, people who happily apply many years of metal-detecting expertise to help locate and return sentimental and valuable jewelery items to their owners. A quick phone was all it required. The next afternoon, the elusive wedding band surrendered its hiding place to a Minelab Excalibur. The ring had traveled some 40′ away, almost out of the confines of John’s backyard. He wasted no time planting it firmly on his finger once again. And the smile on his face, well, it just oozed gratitude.

We sure loved helping to recover your ring, John!

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Lost Diamond Ring Lake Okauchee Wisconsin

  • from Twin Cities Metro (Minnesota, United States)
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This was an exciting hunt! MaryRose contacted us about a 4 karat diamond ring that had been kicked off her hand accidently at a local gathering point on the lake. As with many rings that are lost in a lake, precise pinpointing of where the ring came off is key. A local news outfit actually took an airial photo of  the boat gathering that day out on the lake. (there must have been a hundered boats all hooked together). We took this photo and did some handy overlay work with different computer programs and  added GPS cordinates right where we believed to be the spot. Now comes the hard part; the ring would be lost in a section of the lake that is pure muck, approximately 3 -4 feet deep of muck and 6 -7 feet deep in water. As soon as we starting diving we could see beer & pop cans everywhere. We spent a total of 9 hours just removing cans, glasses and trash. Now we had the areas clean enough to do some serious detecting. We changed air tanks, dropped a PVC 10 X 10 grid we had made into the water and startted scanning. 10 minutes later we found it!!! What a beautiful ring. 18K that must have weighed close to 2 ounces and that incredible rock in the center. So glad we found it MaryRose, and thanks so much to your brother who helped out in this hunt and made this a smooth recovery!!!

 

Take Care – The Ring Finders

Darrin & Marc

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Lost Platinum Ring Found! — Castle Rock Lake, Wisconsin

  • from Menomonee Falls (Wisconsin, United States)
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Metal detecting is a skill involving inches. I’ll explain.

Castle Rock Lake is the 4nd largest body of water in the State of Wisconsin. It boasts some 13,955 acres and 60 miles of shoreline. By comparison, Mike Ruetz, of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, lost his platinum wedding ring in its waters. The ring does not cover 1 square inch. And if positioned vertically, it covers even less area.

But Mike knew approximately where his ring went missing, within a few hundred square feet that is. So it was a matter of eliminating inches, of ruling out where his ring did not exist.

My son, Scott, joined me as we systematically searched the island sandbar where Mike’s ring went missing. Holiday boaters love to anchor and hang out at this spot. How do I know this? Well, Mike told me so. But the metal-detecting evidence speaks with even more authority. Between us, we extracted and properly disposed of 69 beer caps and 59 aluminum pull-tabs from the sandbar—sad evidence of disregard by some for our precious Wisconsin lakes.

But at last, Mike’s ring found itself cradled in Scott’s stainless-steel sieve. A date, clearly inscribed on the ring’s inside band, 5-29-2010, confirmed one very happy owner’s wedding day!

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Missing Wedding Band at Egg Harbor, Wisconsin—FOUND!

  • from Menomonee Falls (Wisconsin, United States)
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July 4th weekend was supposed to be a family holiday, a fun time.  But for Phil & Becky Saubetin of Madison, Wisconsin, the day ended on a sad note.  Missing, was Phil’s wedding band.  It went astray at Egg Harbor Beach on the Door County peninsula.

Becky wrote, “No matter how much I tried to tell myself that it was just a token of our marriage…a thing…it’s not.”  She remembered the gold-band’s inscription, “FOR MY PRINCE CHARMING LOVE B.”  Adding to the frustration was the fact that they had glimpsed the ring momentarily in the water.  But as they tried to reach it, the currents of Lake Michigan pushed it out of sight into the sandy silt. Despite their best search efforts and those of strangers who came to their rescue, including one with SCUBA gear, the ring seemed destined to be lost forever, as if swallowed by a sinister monster.

A search on the internet raised the Saubetin’s hopes when they discovered TheRingFinders.com and Metal Detecting Specialist, Paul Humphreys. He lived 3 ½ hours away in Waukesha, WI. Would he even consider helping them?  Yes, he would.  But on the day he and his wife, Kathleen met with Phil and Becky on location at Egg Harbor, the waves were unusually high, whipping the lake’s bottom into a swirl.  The water quickly washed over Paul’s equipment and despite protective measures, the moisture silenced his machine. But Paul was more determined than ever.  He promised to continue the hunt another day armed with underwater equipment.  And he did  just that, returning in the wee small hours of August 4th, exactly one month later.

After nearly two hours, a “loud and proud” bark from his Minelab Excalibur detector was like a trumpet blast announcing an important event.  As sand filtered out from Paul’s stainless-steel scoop, early morning rays reflected off a gold wedding band.  Was it Phil’s?  This question was answered immediately when Paul caught sight of one of the words inscribed inside the band, “CHARMING.”

That night, Phil received an email from Paul.  Its subject line read, “Prince Charming Rides Again!”  And the photos attached bore tangible evidence of what Phil and Becky thought was lost forever.

Early this morning the Saubetin’s arrived at our home to collect their precious token. Phil placed it on his finger amidst family smiles that made the whole room sparkle.  Then their youngest daughter put her arms around her Daddy’s neck, squeezed tightly and asked, “Do you feel married again, Daddy?”  His answer; a mile-wide grin!

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Lost Sentimental Ring – Pike Lake, Wisconsin – Recovered!

  • from Menomonee Falls (Wisconsin, United States)
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A sentimental and heavy custom-made gold ring originating from India seemed to be lost forever in Pike Lake near Hartford, Wisconsin, USA.  The beautifully sculpted and cherished heirloom went missing on July 10th while its owner, Anurag Thakur, was swimming with his youngest son.

The loss was made more difficult by the fact that metal detecting in any body of water or river in Wisconsin is strictly prohibited by the State’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR). These laws discourage would-be metal detectorists from taking up the hobby, a recreational activity enjoyed by families elsewhere across the country and around the world.

But when Anurag contacted Paul Humphreys at TheRingFinders.com, Paul made arrangements with DNR Head Ranger, Joe Sieweger, to receive a special Metal Detecting User Permit. The cooperation, understanding and support of Ranger Sieweger made it legal for Paul to enter the hallowed State waters with a Minelab Excalibur ll detector.

It took four searches before Paul’s detector barked out a ring-type signal in chest-deep water.  Amidst the gravelly contents of the first scoop, Anurag’s ring glinted brightly as though happy to see sunshine once again.  The ring was easily identified by its owner and upon permission from the DNR, Paul was authorized to return the lost personal property to its rightful and delighted owner.

Thanks, Wisconsin DNR, for the help and cooperation received and that helped to make this happy return happen!

 

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