Car Keys Thrown from Apartment Balcony in Birmingham, AL... FOUND!

Christina McCree – Ring Finder/Metal Detectorist for northern Alabama and southern/middle Tennessee…call or text ASAP, anytime 24/7…610-504-6135

On Friday morning, November 24th, 2023, I received a call from Gary stating his adult son, Greg, had thrown both sets of his own car keys from his 3^rd story apartment balcony in Birmingham, Alabama.  Greg was going through some rough times in life, which eventually led to this outcome.  We’re all human and life happens.  Thrown items occur way more than people think.  The important thing was that I had an accurate account of what happened.  This can mean the difference between a find vs. no find.  At the time of Gary’s call, I was still in Tampa, FL on vacation, but I was about to head to the airport to fly back to Huntsville, AL.  I told Gary that I could conduct a search the following morning when I was back in town.

I met Gary and Greg in Birmingham at noon on Saturday.  I grabbed two rocks that were similar in size to a car key fob, and we headed up to Greg’s apartment balcony.  I had Greg re-enact the 2 throws using the rocks.  I took a photo and marked the location they landed at (photo below).  We headed down the stairs to the back of the apartment complex to start the search.  We had to hop the fence and slide down a bit of an incline to get to the location the rocks landed at.

I started a grid search with my Minelab Equinox 900 metal detector and shortly noticed that there were quite a few trash targets in the area.  The ground was covered with leaves, so I needed to check all targets with my pin pointer to make sure I didn’t miss the keys.  A few minutes into the search, Gary had visually found the first set of keys!  They were about 15 feet to the left of where the first rock landed.  I headed to the second location and began detecting there.  Soon after, I also visually spotted the second set of keys.  This set was about 10 feet from where the second rock landed.  Both sets of car keys were found!!  Gary and Greg were both very thankful and relieved.  We gave praise to God for the quick double recovery.

After we celebrated and took some photos (Gary and Greg politely declined to be in the photo), Gary and I headed to my favorite Birmingham seafood restaurant, The Fish Market, for lunch.  We enjoyed a nice meal and fellowship together.  Gary thanked me again and I was on the road headed back to Huntsville.  I thank the Lord for another successful recovery and safe trip home.  I also pray for Greg and his journey in life.  Until the next adventure, please take care and God bless!