Clare Winslow III, Author at The Ring Finders

Lost engagement ring found in Arcadia Mi with a metal detector

I received a call from Ruth that her son Henry and future daughter-in-law Garrity were in the water in Lake Michigan. Garrity felt her engagement ring slip off her finger. She and Henry frantically looked for the ring. The correct was too strong, and waves from Lake Michigan crashed into shore.

Ruth found me on The Ring Finders site and gave me a call. I agreed to meet after I got out of work that afternoon.

Once on site, I met with Henry and Garrity. They walked me to where the ring fell off Garrity’s finger. I had Garrity put a marker in the ground to give me a reference point to work from. I started a grid pattern, walking 10 feet to the drop-off, then turning around. As I turned around, I got a very faint gold signal. I thought this could not be the ring down this deep in 5 hours. That target turned out to be the ring. It was already down 5-6 inches after being lost for 5 hours. This is why ou have to get on calls as fast as possible. A combination of the strong river current and the incoming waves rove the ring down. If we had waited a couple of days, the ring would have been too deep to get with a detector.

This was a fun, quick recovery after work.

Wedding ring lost in the water at a private residence on Lake Leelanau, Mi found with a metal detector!

I received a call from Micheal about him losing his wedding ring in front of their summer home on Lake Leelanau.

Micheal was throwing a football and saw the ring fly off his finger. I got in the water and found the ring in less than 10 minutes.

I snapped a beautiful sunset picture after finding the ring.

 

Wedding ring lost in a local Traverse City lake for 20 days found with a metal detector

I received a call from Jen about her husband losing his wedding ring in a local Traverse City lake.

The search area was a large sandbar area about waist-deep water. I had to use my boat to drive out to the area.

The first time I went to look for the ring, I had winds and big waves blowing across the area. I searched for about 3 hours without finding the ring.

I took my detecting buddy Dave the second time out because the search area was so large. Dave ended up finding the ring in the end of a log after about 2 hours of us searching.

 

 

 

Lost ring in Frankfort, Mi found with a metal detector

I received a text from Valerie saying her husband lost his wedding ring in a local river.

The ring was lost in the area of the SleepingBear Dunes Federal Park. Metal detectors are not allowed in the area. I work with the head ranger to get permission to use a metal detector in the area needed.

I went out the first time in the area Valerie highlighted without finding the ring. We talked and narrowed the search area down for the second trip to look for the ring. I was successful in finding the ring on the second trip to look for it.

Valerie and her husband were back home after vacation, so I ended up mailing the ring back to them.

 

 

 

Lost Gold ring found in Suttons Bay, Mi with a metal detector.

  • from Traverse City (Michigan, United States)

I received a text from Michael that he needed help finding the Gold wedding ring he had placed in the cup holder of a beach chair.

He and his wife packed up to go home, forgetting about the ring in the cup holder.

This beach gets hit by metal detectors almost daily. I told Michael I would leave immediately to get this ring before someone gets it tomorrow morning.

I got to the beach, found Michel, and set up a grid line. Walked about 10 feet and got a 12:23 signal on the ctx3030. I knew if this were the ring, it would be a wider, bigger ring.

I brushed the sand with my foot, exposing the ring. It was just what I thought it would be, a big old chunk of Gold. I always like finding Gold!

 

 

 

Lost ring in Long Lake Grand Traverse County, Mi found with a metal detector.

  • from Traverse City (Michigan, United States)

I received a call from Dave about a sentimental ring lost in Long Lake in Grand Traverse County, Mi.

I knew from the story this is one ring I had to find. They thought the ring had flown off a finger by a sweeping motion with her hand.

I told Dave the ring is there, I would find it. The only issues are all the stuff in the water over the years to sort through.

I told him this could take 10 seconds or 10 hours. I did find a lot of stuff in the water. Old coins, matchbox cars, screws, bolts from the dock, washers, nuts, and a shotgun shell casing.

I searched the primary area they set out and did not find the ring. I then decided to search under the dock; after 2 hours of searching, I finally found the ring at the edge of the dock, making everybody very happy.

 

 

Lost Gold Wedding ring found in Interlochen, Mi with a metal detector.

  • from Traverse City (Michigan, United States)

I received a call from Vivian today while I was at work. Vivian needed some help because her husband had lost his Gold Wedding ring for the second time.

It was lost in the water at a private house in 2 feet of water.

I met them after work the same night. I started with a grid search, then after being in the water for 20 minutes, I found the ring.

This was a nice little short search after work.

 

Lost wedding ring found in the garden in Traverse City Michigan with a metal detector

  • from Traverse City (Michigan, United States)

I received a call today from a very distraught Lisa. She was working outside today cleaning up leaves and also working in the garden. When she took a break, she noticed the wedding ring she inherited from her mother was missing from her finger. I arranged to meet her later in the day to search for the ring.

I met Lisa after work to do the search. She wanted me to start in the garden area surrounded by a metal fence. I got a lot of signals from the metal fence and metal stakes in the ground. I made one pass, turned to start my grid back the other way, and got the gold signal that I was looking for. I brushed the leaves away from the signal revealing the ring to Lisa. After Lisa said « no way » ten times, I told her these calls could take ten seconds or ten days. We got lucky with a short search. I had a fun time on this quick search and love the vintage looks of her ring.

Lost ring found at Sleeping Bear Dunes in Empire Michigan.

I received a call from Ali that she had lost her wedding ring on the beach at the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes. Ali and some friends had hiked 3 miles to the beach at Lake Michigan. That’s 6 miles round trip up and down the dunes. Also, a big issue is. Metal detectors are not allowed to be used in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. So the first order of business is getting permission to use a detector in the area. Getting the permission took a day by itself but was granted.

The next order of business was me thinking about carrying a detector 6 miles up and down the dunes. I took the best detector for the job, the one I’m most familiar with but not the lightest of the detectors I own, the Minelab CTX3030. The only other things I took were my car keys and Garrott pinpointer. I wanted to travel as light as possible. The hike to the area took me 2 1/2 hours. The search time for the ring was less than 10 minutes. Ali had sent me pictures from the spot they set up at. If your location is turned in your settings on your phone, it saves a GPS position. I had the exact GPS position Ali was at when she lost her ring. This had worked very well for me in locating the exact area someone was at when they lost their ring. I can take a search from 6 hours down to 10 minutes with the exact area the ring was lost. I texted Ali a picture of the ring to ensure it was the correct one before starting the hike back out. I needed to get the ring as fast as possible because Ali was moving back to Ireland in 4 days. I got the ring in the mail overnight, making sure Ali had her ring before her flight.

I’ll attach a bad video of this adventure. I was whooped after all the up and down the hills. The hike was 6.2 miles total. My figures were all over the place in the video. I’m waiting on a picture of Ali and will attach it when I get it.

Lost ring at the Torch lake Sandbar returned to owner

This call is different than what I normally do.

I was at the torch lake sandbar and found a men’s wedding ring. I didn’t have a call to look for it I just found it on my own.

The ring had GPS coordinates inside the band. I drove to the location that was about 4 miles from the lake. I was greeted with a locked gate saying, « welcome your on camera. »  Well, that didn’t work, so time to figure out a plan B. I use an app on my phone called ON X hunt. I found the name of the owner of the property and then searched but could not come up with a phone number just an address 2 1/2 hours away from my house. I actually had to drive by the address when traveling for a family function a couple of weeks later.

I stopped at the location, and a woman answered the door. I asked her, « did your husband lose a ring at the torch lake sandbar? » She said no, but my son Sam did!