Soldered Engagement & Wedding Rings Lost While Pulling Weeds in Huntsville, AL… FOUND!

This past week I had a total of 6 calls for lost items, which is a higher-than-normal call volume for my area.  I conducted a search for 4 of the items (the other 2 were too far or needed a diver).  I’m happy to report that all 4 items were found!  All praise and glory to God!  He is so good!!!  Here’s the write-up of the first recovery.  Please be on the lookout for the others.

I received a text message on Monday morning (August 25^th, 2025) from Ellen stating she had lost her soldered engagement & wedding rings over the weekend while pulling weeds at her mother-in-law’s (Judy) house in Huntsville, Alabama.  Ellen had taken off her rings (including a ring she wears on a finger on her right hand) and put them in her pocket.  She put her phone in the same pocket and pulled it out periodically to change songs.  When Ellen was done with the yard work, there was only 1 ring left in her pocket — the soldered engagement & wedding rings were gone.  I told Ellen I would be more than happy to help search.  We scheduled a hunt for Tuesday after I got off from work.

Ellen and her husband, Brad live in Birmingham, AL.  Ellen had to be in Birmingham on Tuesday, but Brad was back in Huntsville for the day, so I met Brad at his mother’s (Judy) house around 4:30 pm on Tuesday.  Brad and Judy showed me where Ellen had been working in the flowerbeds and another area around a tree.  They were very kind providing some bug spray and a cold glass of ice water when I asked.  Once I had my search area, I got to work with my Minelab Equinox 900.

I searched two piles of weeds, but didn’t get any signals.  I moved to the grass area in front of the flower beds and had a good hit within a few minutes of searching.  I looked down and saw that unmistakable glimmer of gold!  It was Ellen’s rings!!  I took a few pictures of what the rings looked like as is (pictures at the end).  Prior to calling me for help, Ellen and Brad had bought a metal detector and tried searching.  They had a few hits, but everything was below the surface.  They were surprised that they missed the rings, but they were fixated on another target nearby, and the detector they bought was not the best for finding rings.  Once you know the ring is there, then you think how could I miss it, but grass will easily swallow up a ring and it’s really hard or near impossible to spot with eyesight alone.

I went and got Brad and Judy and gave them the good news!  They were both so happy and gave me a big hug. Brad Facetimed Ellen and I got to surprise her with the rings and show her in real time.  Ellen was so happy, relieved, and thankful!  She told me this was a huge answered prayer.  I told her that I had been praying as well.  What an awesome feeling!  Brad and Ellen have been married for 26 years!  Thank God for another successful recovery!

As I was getting ready to leave, my truck wouldn’t start – my battery was dead!  Brad thankfully had some jumper cables and helped me get my truck started (I now have a pair of jumper cables in my truck, lol).  Huge thank you to Brad for saving me there!  I was able to get a new battery on Friday morning – just in time for a few more searches, lol…