Another publication in a local paper, the Watertown Daily Times. They wrote up a nice article about our Devil’s Lake Search. Click on the link below for the complete article.
http://www.wdtimes.com/news/article_68b09792-3551-11e4-986a-001a4bcf887a.html
Another publication in a local paper, the Burnett County Sentinel. They wrote up a nice article about our Webb Lake lost ring find. Click on the link below for the complete article.
http://www.presspubs.com/burnett/news/article_4346a47e-338a-11e4-8715-0019bb2963f4.html
I got a call from Mark and Rachel, owners of the All Star Value Inn in the Wisconsin Dells. Rachel said that her husband had been playing volleyball the night before with friends. The court was recently redone and was part of their property in the Wisconsin Dells. He did not remember it specifically flying off, but does remember having it on throughout the match. Rachel said that he even thought to himself, « I should probably take off my ring so that I don’t lose it ». Famous last words, right? Seconds later, while about to serve, Mark felt two of his fingers rug together and there was no ring on his finger.
The good news is that they were the owners of the court, but how would they find it? Mark had plans to rent a metal detector and find it himself. However, he would have found out that operating a metal detector isn’t as easy as it might seem. The average person wouldn’t believe how much junk is located in the ground, even in a freshly redone volleyball court. Rachel went on Google and searched for « Rent a Metal Detector ». One of the pages she found was www.TheRingFinders.com, and there just happen to be someone specifically located in the Wisconsin Dells area. She sent a quick email to me, and I immediately responded. I set up an appointment the next day to take a look.
When I arrived, Mark and Rachel were having a friends and family picnic right next to the volleyball court. My son and daughter were along for the hunt. I started the hobby of metal detecting and ring finding as a way to spend time outdoors with my kids. They love the hobby, and love helping others find what was lost. My daughter was first on the metal detector. We found 4-5 pieces of trash: a pop top, a Matchbox Car, some small metal objects, and a nail. The mosquitoes were pretty bad that night, but we kept on hunting.
All of a sudden we got a pretty strong signal from the metal detector, which is usually a good sign. My daughter reached down, grab a fist full of sand and pulled out Mark’s ring! We walked over to the picnic table and handed the lost ring back to Mark. Everyone was surprised that we had found the lost ring, and so quickly. Mark’s ring had a unique inscription on the inside, « P.S. I Love You », so there was no question it was his. My daughter was probably the most excited, as it was her first lost wedding ring recovery all by herself.
Mark and Rachel were generous with their reward for finding the lost ring. They then asked if we had eaten anything that night. I responded no, and that we had to head back home as my kids had started school already. She asked if we had ever eaten at the Top of the Rock on the strip in Wisconsin Dells, which was their favorite place to eat. We had never been there, so she called the restaurant and opened a tab with our name on it. She said, « Order whatever you guys want and put it on our tab ». What a cool reward. We felt like celebrities when we walked in. The manager of the restaurant practically greeted us at the door, « You must be the people who found that lost ring ». We responded yes, and he showed us to our seats. After a nice dinner, the kids and I headed back home.
So remember, don’t waste your time figuring out how to rent a metal detector, just rent a Ring Finder!
We have a cabin on Webb Lake in northwestern Wisconsin. On August 3rd I was in shallow (about 4 ft deep) water, throwing toys around between my sons and a friend. After returning to the cabin, I discovered that my wedding ring was not on my finger. I was gripped with an awful feeling of loss. Beside the fact that it was a symbol of love and marriage for 27 years, it was unique… could never be duplicated. That ring was designed by my wife, Peggy, and was hand crafted by an elderly Latvian artist friend (no longer alive), Mike Geistauts. Mike, a sculptor artist, used the ancient “lost wax” investment casting method to create our gold wedding rings according to Peg’s design.
Family and friends hunted for many hours without success that weekend. Then a co-worker alerted us to www.TheRingFinders.com website and I got in touch with Dan Roekle. Dan and his son, Carter, loaded up their search equipment and made the very long drive from their home near Madison to Webb Lake (a 5+ hour drive). They arrived on the morning of August 16th. By lunchtime, they had searched the entire identified area and had pulled up a lot of odd metal objects including, incredibly, someone else’s wedding ring. For a moment, my wife thought they had found my lost ring, but quickly determined it was not it. Dan said he had never been so disappointed to find a ring before in his life. They resumed the search after lunch and Carter, swimming with goggles spotted my ring and retrieved it. Dan and Carter think that it was probably next to another piece of junk that they dug up earlier in the day … which stirred up the sand and uncovered it.
Peg and I were elated and so very grateful. It was so amazing to get that precious ring back on my finger. At this time, the ring is off my finger again for resizing. Thank you so very much, Dan and Carter, for being willing to come so far and search until you succeeded.
Marty and Peg C.
Marty’s lost ring, along with Peg’s matching ring Junk that was dug up before the ring
Mandy and I were looking forward to a long weekend to celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary. After enjoying a night at Madison’s Concert on the Square, a round of golf another day and exploring some of Wisconsin’s hidden gems we decided to meet family at Devil’s Lake State Park for a pleasant Saturday afternoon.
The sun was shining and Max (our beagle) was by our side. After a full day of activities, including Wollersheim Wine, New Glarus Beer and of course cheese curds in hand, we decided to hop in the lake. Although the water was chilly, the volleyball was flying and we were having a great time. Not even five minutes in the water, the weekend became ever so memorable. I turned to Mandy and calmly told her my wedding ring had just flung off my finger. She thought it was a joke until she glanced down at my hand.
I was able to see exactly where my ring hit the glossy water but the vision didn’t last long as it disappeared into the cloudy lake water. Everyone froze … not a movement was made. A friendly family on the beach offered their snorkeling gear to us to aid in the search. I stayed put while Mandy and family member Cody swam in circles, periodically coming up for air while trying not to stir up the mucky sand on the lake floor.
We thought it would be easy to spot a shiny ring sitting atop the muck but we were sorely mistaken. After the remaining afternoon and the entire evening (over 5 hours in total) was spent searching, daylight was gone and we called it quits. Needless to say the ride home was quiet.
We threw around ideas: « Should we go back and search the next day? », « Do we call the jewelers right away? », « Call the insurance company? ». Late Sunday night as we were getting ready for the week ahead it dawned on us, maybe there are such people as treasure hunters? It was worth a Google search at least.
Sure enough, the first website that popped up was www.TheRingFinders.com. We entered Wisconsin Dells as the location and a man by the name of Dan Roekle was revealed. I got on the phone right away and explained exactly what happened. His response, « We’ll find it, guarantee it. » While we knew nothing is ever 100%, his statement was enough to bring a huge smile to Mandy’s face.
The very next day, Dan and I coordinated our schedules and decided to meet at Devil’s Lake in the evening. Cody and I headed up to the State Park and after securing the proper paperwork from the Park Warden to use a metal detector in the park, we headed to the infamous spot where my ring was lost. Dan often takes his two children with him on treasure hunts, teaching them patience while having fun at the same time. I stayed back as to not stir up the sand. After only five minutes, Dan came back with his son by his side and sadly told us the conditions just weren’t ideal that evening to search for the ring.
My heart sank.
Mandy was going to be so disappointed? The ring itself wasn’t important but the sentiment and memories behind it were invaluable.
Not even 10 seconds later with a huge smile on his face, Dan’s son pulled his hand out of the water and revealed my ring!!! I couldn’t believe it. After spending our entire Saturday afternoon in the water, it took them only five minutes to locate and dig up my ring, which had sunk about 3 inches below the mucky sand. I got Mandy on the phone and tried to tell her the conditions just weren’t right. Of course, she could tell by the tone of my voice that wasn’t the case. When I told her, she was overjoyed and couldn’t believe how quick the ring was retrieved! The ring is now safely back on my finger and after four years I finally got it re-sized as to avoid anything like this in the future.
Thank you Dan and family for your enthusiasm and confidence. Although it’s just a ring, it means a lot to us and we are incredibly grateful for your assistance. One thing is for certain, we will probably never forget our four year wedding anniversary!
Best,
Allan and Mandy G.
Alan’s Text to His Wife Right After Finding the Ring The Lost Ring
We were recently featured in a local paper, the Juneau County Star Times. They wrote up a nice article about our Castle Rock Lake recovery. Click on the link below for the complete article.
I am a Newlywed of last August, so my husband and I have been married roughly 11 months. We have been together for over seven years and are best friends. We relocated to the New Lisbon, WI area three years ago and are lucky to live on beautiful Castle Rock Lake. Over The Fourth of July weekend, we had our family visiting from out of town and went over to a little island in the middle of the lake; better known as « Alcatraz ». We were having a blast and hanging out in the water near the north side of the island. We were playing catch and I threw the ball to my sister. Little did I know that I had just flung my diamond ring into the water filled with tons of people and boats! A friend had said, » I think you just lost your ring » and we all wondered who he was speaking to; until I realized it was me. I went from laughing to frantic as we all searched around the area. Fortunately, he had seen me do it and we knew the area to look around, but to my despair we came up with nothing after an hour. I felt so horrible that I had lost my ring that my husband worked hard for and that we didn’t have insurance. We talked about insuring it for a while and never seemed to get around to it. We ended up packing it up and heading to dinner. I felt like a part of me was missing! It wasn’t the materialism of the ring, but the symbol and thought behind the ring. My husband, Rich, also lost his ring at work a couple weeks before. I just keep thinking, now neither one of us has the ring we were actually married with. The next day I decided I was going to rent a metal detector and go back out there to see if I could retrieve it. As I searched the sites, I saw that it was roughly $40 a day to rent or around $600 for a decent one, but then it hit me…I had no idea what to do even if I did get one.
I then thought…well Google, you basically have everything I ever would need to know; so maybe you can tell me if I can hire someone. Bingo. After I plugged in the question a website popped up called; www.TheRingFinders.com. It gave me different people I could contact to help me find my ring and narrow it down by region of the world! Since I am basically an hour from any large city; I figured I would need to look for someone far from me. But, when I looked up areas in Wisconsin; there was a man in the Dells. I clicked on the link and came to Dan Roekle. He had other great success stories and also seemed like a very genuine guy. He also had found a ring in Baraboo with pretty much the same scenario. I was looking for pricing for him to come out; but he only wanted $25 for his expenses and reward if I could spare anything. I was ecstatic. I contacted Dan and within hours had responded and was asking lots of beneficial and professional questions. We went back and forth pretty much all day when he then said I can come out tomorrow if you are available. I couldn’t believe this kind man was giving me his Sunday, willing to drive from the Madison area and seemed so confident we could find it. He basically stated, we do it for the adventure and love helping others out!
The next morning Dan drove up to our lake house with his son Carter, 11, who is his right hand man during these « treasure hunts ». Not only were they very nice, I felt like I had known them for years. We all got on the boat and headed out to the island. My brother in-law met us out there and had the coordinates from his boat GPS that was so helpful to narrow down the area of where we were. It still was an area roughly 100 ft by 70 ft of water that was 3ft to 4 ft in depth. Carter would shift through the sand when Dan would let him now that the metal detector had detected something. They also switched and took turns listening and retrieving during the search which was awesome to see their teamwork. While they searched; Dan taught me about metal detecting as well. Things I would have never known! 1. You need a permit from the DNR in Wisconsin to search any bodies of water and need to let them know specifically what you are looking for. 2. The metal detector has different sensitivity levels that can search for things that are a few inches deep to 6 ft. depending on the setting. 3. Also that as soon as my ring had fallen off, it probably sunk 2 inches right away.
I am glad I didn’t spend money on a metal detector! It wasn’t the sunniest day and the lake was kind of choppy. I felt so bad and asked if there was something I could do besides narrowing down the search area. Dan just replied no and kept looking. A little more time had passed and I was starting to think I wouldn’t see it again. Then Dan came walking back to me on the boat. I just thought to myself that he was coming to say he was cold and it was a lost cause. He said, « are you sure this is the area »? I said, yes and then he asked what it looked like again. As I started describing the ring…he said you mean like this? I saw my ring was on the tip of his pinky (I have tiny hands) and hugged him and smiled the largest I had in a long while! My husband, family and I were in complete awe! I had not only my ring back, but my faith in people and lost causes. I knew right then and there, this would be a story I tell for the rest of my life.
Dan and Carter were a God send to me. I still shake my head in disbelief at the miracle that they performed that day. They found a ring the size of a nickel in 14,000 acres of water, buried along with 20+ rusty bottle caps and pop tops! I am so glad that I found him on www.TheRingFinders.com website and that people like him, even exist! So, if you have ever lost something that has been as important to you, put your faith in Dan to find it and you will be amazed as well.
Laura H.
It was my 3 year anniversary, and my wife and I were celebrating at Devil’s Lake State Park in Baraboo, Wisconsin. We hit the beach, and I decided to play some catch with a football. I noticed that my tungsten carbide ring was a little loose on one of the throws, and I probably should have taken it off, but I didn’t. On the very next throw I looked down and my ring was gone. I wasn’t sure if it flew off on the throw, or fell off when I put my hand down. I was sick to my stomach. There were a number of people on the beach that day, so we rounded up 6-7 of them to help look for my ring. However, after a long search, nothing turned up. I thought for sure I would never see my ring again.
I called around trying to find a metal detector to rent that could be used in the water, but after calling a number of places … no luck. I turned to Google and found the www.TheRingFinders.com website. I contacted one of the members on the directory, but after a couple of emails back and forth, communication stopped and he didn’t seem interested in helping. I then reached out to Dan, and he responded almost immediately. Unfortunately, he was out of town on vacation, but he kept in touch and said he would help out if he could. He lives in the Madison area, so I was impressed he was willing to drive close to an hour just to help me out. On Father’s Day weekend, he made the trip up to Devil’s Lake to search for my ring.
Dan asked tons of good questions to get an idea on the location, what I was doing at the time, how deep in the water I was, where I was standing and what my ring looked like. He then performed the search on his own along with his 11 year old son, which I thought was cool. He said after 2 hours, a handful of bottle caps, pop tops, $0.39 cents in change … he was about to give up and then got a promising hit on his metal detector – my ring. Dan later called me and told me the entire story, I couldn’t believe it – he had found my ring. Later that day we met at the park and he handed the ring back to me. My wife and I both fought back tears, what am amazing feeling. My wife and I can’t thank you enough Dan and Carter for finding and returning my ring!
Jonathan P.
06-14-2014
Tungsten Carbide Ring Devil’s Lake State Park Beach
Date: May 26, 2013
I had taken a week of vacation in order to complete various projects around the house, as well as tend to my gardening. Midweek just as I was heading out the door to run some errands, I realized my wedding ring was not on my finger. I quickly checked my pockets and it was not there, however I proceeded to run my errands. Upon returning home, I looked in the two most likely places and unfortunately it was not in either spot. I am a creature of habit and will put my ring in my pocket if I am putting on hand lotion, etc. My husband quickly pointed out that the shorts I was wearing had a hole in one pocket. We scoured the house for days looking high and low. We even cleared out all of the closets to check the floors, but sadly we found nothing. I was convinced I had lost my ring inside the house, but my husband thought it had fallen out of my pocket while I was gardening on my day off. After a couple of days, we decided to post an ad in the “Lost and Found” section on www.Craigslist.com as a last resort. That’s how we found Dan. He quickly responded to the ad offering to help. Since we had already searched the entire inside of the house, we thought it was worth a shot for Dan to come over and search our backyard with his metal detector.
I met Dan at our home on Saturday morning along with his young son. He was very professional and it was clear that they had done this together many times. I was impressed with the way he was using this task to teach his son the skills of metal detecting, as well as the importance of helping out others. Together they swept the front yard and found quite a few coins, but no ring. They did a very thorough search of both the front and the back yard, but initially did not find the ring. The entire time they never gave up, and then suddenly Dan called me over … he had found my ring in the lawn along the side of the house. I don’t know how many times we might have walked past it in the days since it was lost, but it was found.
I am very cautious when responding to an ad from Craigslist, but through the back and forth email with Dan to setup the appointment, I felt comfortable meeting him at our home on my own. He was professional and very respectful of the fact that I had lost something very dear. I cannot thank him enough and can only give him a glowing reference.
Thanks again,
Jean K.
I often talk about my adventures as a Ring Finder with people at work. Like most people, they love hearing the stories of lost rings, both wedding rings and engagement rings, being found and returned to their owners. Every ring has a story and is so much more than just a piece of jewelry. One day, Jason stops over and tells me that a friend of his lost his ring in his backyard. He wanted to know if it was ok to give him my contact information. He also wanted to know what I charged. I explained that I ask for a small fee to cover gas and my time, and then a discretionary reward – whatever the person can afford and thinks is appropriate for the service we provide.
A couple of days had passed, and I hadn’t heard anything from Jason’s friend. I asked if he had found the lost ring. Jason said he had not, and would remind him to give me a call. Jason had heard all of my stories and knew that we could probably find the ring pretty easy. His friend Ryan was playing football with his kids in his backyard in Fitchburg. On one throw, he actually felt and saw his wedding ring fly off and land on the ground. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to find it. In my experience, what typically happens when someone begins to look for their lost ring, is that they inadvertently step on it – pushing it into the ground. No matter how hard you look with your eyes, you’ll never find it.
Another week passed, and I again asked Jason if Ryan had found his ring. He said that he had not, and this time just sent Ryan a text message and included me on it. I responded directly to Ryan that we could come out that night and take a look. He responded almost immediately and we agreed on a time to head over after work. As I typically do, I brought my kids along who love metal detecting and ring hunting. I talked with Ryan before beginning the hunt. He explained how he had lost the ring and that he was determined to find it himself. He had told his kids that if they found his ring, they could have ice cream as a reward. Funny, right? He also had thoughts of renting a metal detector, but wasn’t sure he would know how to operate it. I explained that he made a good decision to not rent a metal detector. I’ve heard countless stories of people renting a metal detector and getting excited the first time it goes off. However, a typical home owner would be shocked how much junk is hidden under your yard.
I will never forget this hunt, because it was, and still currently stands, as our fastest recovery to date. Ryan pointed to the area that he was standing when he threw the football, and literally within 3 mins we had a signal. We could not see the ring with our eyes, and had to use a small shovel to pry up the ground … out popped Ryan’s ring. He was in disbelief, as was his wife … Ryan said, « You’ve got to be kidding me » probably 4-5 times. It took longer to take our picture and post it to Facebook than it took for us to find his lost ring!
Remember, don’t rent a metal detector, rent a Ring Finder!