Tungsten Wedding Ring Lost In The Sand At Scarborough Beach State Park, Maine, Found With A Metal Detector

Just before 2:30pm, I received a call from Greg, the Park Manager, at Scarborough Beach State Park, in The Town of Scarborough, Maine. Greg told me that a gentleman had lost his wedding ring, earlier in the day. The person who had lost the wedding ring would be calling me and giving me the location, he thinks the ring was lost in. Greg had an idea and told me that the ring was lost just before the high tide line. With it now being 2:30pm, and high tide around 5:00pm, there wasn’t much time to waste. I told Greg I would leave my house, in Saco, Maine right now and be there very shortly, depending on the traffic. If I arrived at 3:00pm, that would give me approximately 1 1/2 hours to search, without having to worry about the waves and incoming tide.

Once I loaded my equipment in my vehicle, The Ring Finders Mobile, I left for Scarborough Beach State Park . As I was driving in, my phone went off, notifying me that I had a voicemail. At the next red light, I read the voicemail and it was from Ryan and he is the person that had lost the wedding ring. Here is the transcript of the voicemail,

“Hi, My name is Ryan and I was at Scarborough Beach State Park and they had given me your information. I lost my Wedding Ring on the beach today and they tell me you have incredible luck finding rings, so I was hoping to touch base. If you have a second and I’d like to let you know it’s a Tungsten Ring. I think it was Lost around the high tide line maybe a little bit more toward the waterside between the two of the lifeguard stands, um around that area. I can give you more information, if you can call me back at 207- ***-****, Thank you very much. …”

I immediately called Ryan back and told him I was on my way and I was just coming up on Funtown Splashtown USA, on Rt 1, in Saco. My estimated time of arrival was about 20 minutes. Ryan told me he was on his way home but would turn around and meet me there. Ryan told me that he went to SBST, to go surfing, for the day and had taken his wedding ring off and placed it in the beach bag. He didn’t want to lose his ring, out in the ocean, as he surfed. Ryan told me he believes he lost his ring, when after finishing up surfing, for the day, he was walking on the wet sand, to leave the State Park. As he was walking, he stopped to get his sunglasses, out of the bag. As he pulled the towel out, to get the sunglasses, he believes his ring fell out of the bag. Unfortunately, Ryan didn’t realize he had lost his ring, until he got home. He immediately drove back to SBSP and notified the lifeguards and Greg. That is when Greg called me.
Once I arrived at SBSP, the Lifeguards called Greg. Greg had me walk down towards the further lifeguard stand and he would meet me, between the two stands. Once I met up with Greg, he told me the ring should be in the area from where we were, to just past the lifeguard stand. As we were talking, Ryan approached us and Ryan confirmed the location to search. The tide was coming in fast and the waves were rushing up over the search area. We didn’t have long to search and I was already thinking of returning, tonight, to search as the tide was receding, around 6:00pm. I told Ryan to walk out as far out towards the incoming water and walk to where he thinks he took the towel and sunglasses, out of the bag. I would follow his path and then turn around and head back in the other direction, if I didn’t find the ring.
As Ryan started walking, I was right behind him. The waves were rushing up over the detectors coil and I knew we didn’t have much time. About a minute into the search, I received a target. The target was showing up on my screen as a ferrous target, so I didn’t dig it. Most likely a piece of a lobster trap or a bottle cap. We started back up searching and 3-4 minutes later, I received another target. This time it was a non ferrous target but it didn’t seem right. My detectors screen was telling me it was 7-9 inches deep and for being long for just 2 or 3 hours, the ring should not be that deep. The 38 on my screen was definitely in the tungsten range, so I dug the target. I always dig non ferrous targets, because you just never know. After a scoop of sand didn’t contain the target,bI dug another scoop of sand and dumped it to the side. Still no target. A third scoop and the target was out of the hole. I ran my fingers through the pile of wet sand and felt a ring. As I was pulling it out, Ryan saw it and said, “That’s it. That’s the Ring. You’re a lifesaver, you are incredible. Thank you “ No problem, I love doing this.
Thankfully Ryan knew where he had pulled the contents, out of his beach bag and he was pretty spot on. This is why it’s important to meet the client, at the location, whenever possible. Trying to describe an area, over the phone makes it just a little more difficult because what the client described, may not be what I see. Another advantage is the time factor. As soon as Greg called, I left to go search. Being retired allows me to just get up and leave. This is a major reason why I didn’t become The Ring Finders of Maine while still working. I would not be able to just up and leave work, unless I was looking to be fired. As I always say Time Is Of The Essence and this search was no exception. The longer an item is missing, in a public location, the ocean, etc, the more difficult it will be to recover the ring. Thankfully Greg and Ryan contacted me extremely quickly and everything worked out.
I am so thankful and happy that Ryan has his Wedding Ring back on his finger. Seeing the smile on Ryan’s face is such a great feeling. I have the best job in the world ❤️🙏