Heirloom cocktail ring search and partial recovery
I was contacted by Mary concerning a ring lost three days prior. 
Mary’s great grandmother purchased this ring in 1967 for her daughter [Mary’s grandmother who had recently passed away]. Mary’s daughter is getting married the end of July and this ring was going to be her « something old » in the wedding. The ladies in preparing for the event were taking the ring to the jeweler for a cleaning.
In a rush to get out of the house, the ring in its original ring box, complete with original bill of sale and payment records, was placed on the hood of the car. The box was the color of the car and also exactly the color of road asphalt. They drove approximately five miles on one of the busiest roads in our area before realizing the ring was missing. Immediately turning around they searched the route.. finding nothing. They searched the road sides for probably a quarter mile to no avail.
Day three, I entered the picture. I questioned them endlessly about the event, specifically that they were sure the ring was on the hood of that car. They had found another ring box and taken it for a ride, however, it was leather instead of felt and did not come off in the distance they drove. My wife volunteered a felt ring box
The next day, I met up with Mary and her daughter [whose car they were driving the day the ring was lost] and we took it for a ride. As I mentioned before, this road is extremely busy. I told the daughter that we would drive until the box comes off and then stop immediately before it gets hammered. Well, it came off in a quarter mile and was run over in the blink of an eye. Still good information as to the way it rolled, how far it rolled and the fact it stayed in the middle of the road. The area where the box came off had already been covered by me. I had also previously metal detected the road Mary lives on as well as her ditch area and a short distance on the main road. I had visually searched over a mile on this main highway in both directions.
I made the decision to give up the search and recommended they put this out on face book and hope for the best. I left them disappointed I’m sure and headed home with my wife’s flatten ring box beside me. Mary stated several times how her ring box was the same color as the asphalt and about 1\4 mile beyond the area of my ring box demise I noticed a little flat trash in the middle of the road. It was the same color as the asphalt! I thought..no way… yet I pulled over and walked back. I almost didn’t venture out to get it because it looked rusted and flat but just to be sure I did. When I touched it I felt cloth. This had to be it. I rushed back to Mary’s and showed her. It’s the right color, she said, yet how could it get that rusty? We pried it open with a craftsman screw driver and inside was the bill of sale with her grandmother’s name!
All that was missing was the ring!!
With this find, I said, we now have a definite starting point and your ring can’t be far. Luckily, the area was in front of a small business with a fair sized mowed lawn. After, two hours of detecting the road side and ditch I finally had a small success. I found the band part of the ring with clear markings on the inside indicating the jeweler.
Now all I need to find was the diamond cluster!!
For another two days, I detected both sides of the road and as far as I could figure the cluster had been thrown onto the lawn… No Luck… I called it. Not the end results I [or Mary] had hoped. However, Mary now had the information as to where the ring went and what happened to it. Perhaps the cluster got caught up in a truck tire tread, or perhaps thrown into the woods …who knows. Mary has filed this with the police and perhaps someone, someday, will find it.
Last week I received a text from Jacob asking if I would look for his fiancé‘s lost Engagement ring. He stated she lost it while watering her flowers. He purchased a Metal detector specifically to search for the ring, but was unable to find it. He felt after searching that he lacked expertise to find the ring. A plan was made to meet the following afternoon after his fiancé got out of work. I arrived a little early before she got home and spoke with Jacob on the phone confirming the search areas. I started with the easy areas first around the flowerbeds. at the end of the second flower bed loop I hit the first good repeatable signal. I had the ring and had only been detecting for 10 to 15 minutes.
Last evening I was contacted concerning two lost rings. I met with Katie this morning at the site where she believed her rings were lost. It was a grass parking area. She had placed her rings in her pocket with her car keys and believed she lost the rings when she removed the keys. She was unsure exactly where that happened. We started where the car was parked. I double covered that area with my metal detector with no luck. The grass was patchy in that area but it was a parking area with the possibility that a tire had pushed them down. Next I started on the path she had taken to get to the parking area.. Which had more grass. I moved along,slowing down only when the grass was thick enough to hide a ring..In just a few minutes I got a good yet faint signal.It was the first of the two rings .. It was standing on edge! The very next swing got a second good signal … The second ring!
Received a call from Warren who found me through Ringfinders concerning a lost phone. He stated he placed an ipad and phone on his car roof top then left before retrieving them. He realized it a mile or so down the camp road. The ipad was still there but no phone. He immediately started searching.A short time later received a notice on the ipad that his phone had triggered a 911 call. The sheriff dept checked the area out and no accident.The phone tower triangulation address did not exist and was accurate only within hundreds of yards. After two days calling the phone day and night (driving the camp road with no lights) He and his neighbor still had not found it. When I arrived I started at the beginning where the phone was placed on the roof and began a slow search in my truck. The leaves are hard this time of years and a cell phone won’t bury itself under them . I focused on any object or terrain feature that could hide a phone. They had already walked the whole route twice. After 20 or so stops and investigations, brush piles ,culverts, fallen evergreen branches, I found an area with 6 to 8 inch shrubs that the leaves were leaning against. Sweep them with the metal detector and found the phone. It was 3/4 buried under the leaves but not visible from the road. It was also well short of the 911 search area. Warren and I were both happy for sure. The phone still had 41 percent battery after 50 plus missed calls!
One week ago a lady reached out to me for help finding her husband’s ring. Prior to calling me, she had posted on Facebook requesting help and had a map of where she thought it might have been lost. She sent me the Facebook link that included three streets highlighted. I replied that I would be glad to help, however, more information would be helpful. What was happening on that day? Riding a bike? jogging? driving? While waiting for her reply, I walked the sidewalks of the highlighted streets. The next day the husband called. He stated he had been moving from one house to another 1.7 miles away. He had removed his ring and placed it on the right fender of his truck. I went to the house and there was a small loam area that had been raked and searched as well as a circular stone drive way. I detected all of that and then went onto the street. I covered the area on the right shoulder of the ‘highlighted streets ». I estimated it to be half a mile. The next day I searched the yard for a second time. I called the husband and went over the time line again. I learned the truck was at the second house. This is where he first noticed he was missing the ring was . I also walked the shoulder of the street about a mile . On the third day I went to the second house and searched the truck with no luck. Finally, I said I am going to walk back so I have at least covered the whole route. Just a little distance from the second house there was the ring sitting real close to a storm drain. It had traveled 1.6 mile on the fender of the truck!!!! A few days later I was able to drop it off at their office. I never got to meet them but I am sure they were happy to get the ring back. It did suffer some damage while in the wild. I think it must have been run over at least twice. Bill
.This afternoon a gentleman called about a ring he lost four days ago. He lost it in a really huge field on his daily walk after work. He had placed his ring in his pocket and later on the walk placed his shirt in the same pocket. He was pretty sure the ring came out when he removed his shirt. The story sounded logical . We walked about a mile out into this field to an area where he usually puts his shirt back on. He was uncertain exactly where but somewhere within 50 square yards!! I detected and keep talking to him about that day . He seemed more uncertain as time went by. I told him that was normal . He wasn’t expecting someone to grill him over all the details of his relaxing walk. We moved on back out to another area he frequently replaced his shirt, again no ring. He thought it was useless being such a huge area and I said lets just work our way out kinda slow . At one spot he starts to go through a real wet area. I said wouldn’t you have gone up around the corner. He said maybe and headed for the corner. I keep right behind him swinging like crazy. thirty yards further and I see the circle of gold. I placed my foot over it and said « Hey come back here for a sec. » He came back and I said this this what a gold ring sounds like as I swung the coil over my foot. I don’t think he realized what was happening as I moved my foot and passed the coil over the ring. He just stared at his ring .It seemed like a long time but I am sure it was just a few seconds before he finally he picked it up. He was just speechless. I’m smiling like crazy and he gives me a bear hug!!!!!All the way back he kept saying he just couldn’t believe it. I am a little surprised as well .I guess the ring must have been caught in the shirt somehow. Lady luck was with me for certain tonight.. Bill
After seeing a facebook article about a ring return I did, a man contacted me about a ring lost in the woods. On youth day last year a father and son were at his camp hunting. The young man was successful .They dragged the deer to a four wheeler trail. the father removed his ring giving it to the young man so the father could dress the deer. They placed the deer on the four wheeler and returned to camp.When the father asked for his ring they realized it was last seen on the fender of the four wheeler. The camp owner rented a metal detector but it just keep beeping at him!!! I made my way to the camp and to where the deer had been loaded on to the four wheeler. Working on one side of the road I started recovering surface targets. I expected to find it within a few feet but it managed to stay on the fender for about 70 yards.I recovered it next to three shell casings. I happen to pick the correct side of the road . Today I returned the ring to the camp owner who had contacted me. I understand a father is in for quite a surprise tonight. Bill
