Bill McDougall, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 2 of 2

lost ring Brewer Maine found and returned

 

Early in February I was told that a woman posted on Craiglist that she had lost her wedding rings.  The ad stated she lost her rings of 44 years in an earlier snowstorm at one of five local store parking lots. I reached out to the woman through craiglist and said I was a ringfinder, she could check me out at ringfinders.com and if she could show me where she was parked on these five huge lots (one was a walmart and the others were grocery stores) perhaps in the spring I could find her ring. I needed this information to determine where the snow from these areas was plowed. She answered that she only remembered one store where she was parked.  I already knew where this store moved all their snow …across the street after every storm. Through the next four or five weeks I kinda kept a eye on the piles of snow as they grew larger and larger. We’ve had a lot of snow this year! Around the first week of march some of the snow melting started. Three times I drove to all five locations and walked around all the piles of snow. The wife and and doctor say walking is good for everything, so I walk. Now I find myself walking around parking lots. Near the first of April my wife and I were on a walk and going around one of the parking lots,  we made a competition out of it, to see who could find the most coins.   You can guess who always found the most. I am concentrating on finding pennies when …..    there was a ring!! I was real surprised. As soon as I got home I reached out to this lady through craiglist and received a message that the ad had expired! The next couple days I searched every lost and found I could imagine. I placed an ad in craiglist searching for the person who lost a ring this past winter. Another week goes by and nothing. I checked with the service desks in three of the stores, the police department in the town where four of the stores are located and nothing. Finally last Saturday I check  with the police department in the town  the last store was located in.  They were closed, only an emergency phone available. Monday, late in the afternoon, I stopped again . I repeated my story, for what seemed to be the tenth time, to two ladies behind the bullet proof window. One instantly lights up and started looking through index cards . She remembered the lady !!!!.  She found the card, took my information and said she would give it to the lady.  Finally yesterday I got the call! We meet in the lot where the ring was found and I returned it.  The woman and her husband had thought the rings were gone for good.  They had contacted all the stores and reported it lost, as well as filling out an incident report with two police departments. So, I guess so much time had passed that all their reports were lost except for one!  The couple were very happy for sure! Her smile says it all!!

Bill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Beach recovery two rings

  • from Brewer (Maine, United States)

Received a text from John regarding three rings lost on a beach one hour south of me.  Definitely out of my area but another ringfinder who was unable to do the search recommended me .My first thoughts were of a storm off shore which were going to give the coast some big wave action and if these rings were above the wave line or not. I called John immediately and He said he was on the beach searching . I said I would be an hour .   The area was above the usual tide /wave area and John had recovered one ring before I arrived.  First sweep produced a great signal that proved to be the second ring.  Fifth swing was another that was the third.  Less than two minutes.  John was surprised I think and very thankful.  Here are pics of the rings .       Bill

 

Giant silver ring

  • from Brewer (Maine, United States)

In February, I believe, a young man contacted me about a lost ring.  He found my information on ringfinders. He lost the ring shoveling snow.  I told him we would have to wait until snow melt this spring.  Today I traveled the 80 miles to him. Once there I was worried that I was too soon. He lived in an apartment complex with lots of parking and parking lot.  There were still snow piles of three feet or more. I thought I might as well do everything I could now and may have to come back later. The young man « Will » stayed with me the whole time moving trash and debris out of the way as I uncovered it.  Will stated that his ring was large like two ounces of silver.  I mentioned that was like eight quarters worth of silver and he said yes that big….  I took eight quarters and put then on the ground and the deus would overload passing over them, raising it showed a 98 on the screen.    Two and a half hours into the hunt with 95 percent of the available ground covered ,I was planning my next trip. One more spot behind a dumpster. On my final pass I saw the round outline just as the coil passed over it . It overloaded . I scoped it into my hand and stopped ..I said that ‘s it I ‘m done.  I knelt down and started shutting the machine down. I said « Know why I am stopping? »  Will said « because your batteries are dead? » and I said « No because of this, » as I opened my hand. The surprise look is always great . It is a huge ring .  Here are the pics .   Bill