Dave Boyer, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 4 of 7

Gregg Larabel, my fellow ringfinder, got a call from Tina telling him that her daughter, Brianna, had lost her engagement ring a few weeks ago.  Brianna and her fiance live on a secluded 10 acre parcel in the beautiful west Michigan countryside.  Because varmints had been going after their chickens, Brianna carried a shotgun as she walked around the yard and driveway checking on them and their beef cattle.  But her ring was interfering with her hold on the shotgun, so she took it off and put it in the pocket of her hoodie sweatshirt.  As she put the shotgun away later she discovered the ring was missing from her pocket.  After a lot of fruitless searching they decided the ring must be out in the yard or driveway somewhere.  It was obviously a big area to search, but Tina gave us a map showing where Brianna walked after putting the ring in her pocket.  We started with the driveway, and after finishing that I started searching the steps up the hill to the front door.  At the top of the steps, just before the front door I got a good hit in the leaves next to the steps, and when I parted the leaves, there was her ring.  I had just called Gregg over to look at it when Tina came out the front door expecting we were about ready to give up.  We held the ring out for her and her eyes lit up.  Brianna, at work, answered the « found it! » text with « are you kidding me? »   Picture is of Brianna back with her ring.

Received a call from Leah at about 3:30 this afternoon saying that her husband, Dan, had just dropped his wedding band in the sand and they could not find it.  Today  was a beautiful fall day in west Michigan, sunny with the temperature in the 70s (rare in November) so a good day for a road trip to Lake Michigan.  But with Daylight Savings Time over, we knew it would be dark by 6:00 and we didn’t have time to waste.  With my wife and the dog I jumped in the car and we headed out for the one hour trip to a nature preserve I hadn’t known existed.  Arriving around 4:30 we met Leah at the trail head and she guided us on the 1/4 mile trail through the woods to the beach where Dan was guarding the area where the ring disappeared.  I had Dan mark off the area where he thought his ring was lost, and I was impressed that he identified an area of only about 6 feet by 6 feet.  He then specified « about in this spot right here. »  I dropped the coil on that spot and hit the target immediately.  Immediately!  I set the detector down and gently started to brush the sand away with the palm of my hand until the outline of the ring came into view.  Dan stood there in amazement until he reached down and retrieved his ring.  They had searched carefully, but sand has a sneaky way about it.  This may have been my quickest search time ever for me to find a ring, but it was still very satisfying to make two nice people so happy.  

Santosh, a computer programmer originally from Nepal, and his wife Ericka, originally from Spain, have been married for about 10 years and live in the Chicago area.  They were spending a few days in Saugatuck and Santosh lost his wedding band on the beach in yesterday’s gorgeous weather.  He had the ring in his pocket and when they were leaving the ring was missing.   I received his email late last night and I called him this morning.  We agreed to meet at the beach in an hour so they could show me the specific area in which to look.  I arrived a bit before they did and just randomly started searching the beach with my metal detector.  When I saw them drive in I headed toward them swinging the detector in front of me.  But halfway to their car I got a good signal that I had to check out.  One dig and I had a ring in the scoop.  Santosh and Erika came over, and we talked for awhile about what they were doing in Saugatuck and how he lost his ring.  When I asked him if he could show me where he thought he lost it, he said it was not far from where we are standing now.  So I reached into my pouch and asked him if this ring I had just dug up looked like his ring.  I only wish I had their reactions on video-you could see the anxiety melt from them.  They were heading home today with good memories of this vacation.

I received a call this late afternoon from my hunting friend Gregg Larabel.  He had just received a lost ring call and they wanted to look for it tonight.  But since Gregg was busy I would have to go on this one by myself.  Phil and some family members rented a cottage for a few days at the beach.  Phil is originally from Lansing but now lives in Baton Rogue and now spending some time with his family on vacation.  They were playing catch in about chest-deep water when he caught the football with his left hand, and somehow his wedding ring went flying off his finger.  He(very cleverly) left his brother to mark the spot while he went to call for help.  I arrived about 7 PM and met his father and mother on the beach.  They pointed out Phil, who was in the water guarding the spot where the ring was lost.  After wading out and meeting Phil, he said his ring shouldn’t be more than 10 to 15ft from him, so he stayed in that spot and I hunted the area around him.  After about 20 minutes I got a good(GOLD)signal and called Phil over, telling him this should be it.  After a couple of scoops we had his beautiful 14K gold ring.  In checking it, I see their wedding date engraved inside the ring and guess what: their 1st wedding anniversary is coming up in a few weeks.  His smart moves in calling right away and carefully marking the spot made all the difference.  We not only saved good vacation memories but added a good note to their upcoming wedding anniversary.                                                                          

No skill here, just plain luck!!  Received an email from Rachel late on Friday night saying her husband, Mike, lost his wedding ring in Lake Michigan.  They were smart to contact me so quickly.  The Big Lake was really churning yesterday and today was expected to be the same, so Gregg Larabel and I arrived this morning to meet Mike at the beach.  He showed us the area where he lost his ring–somewhere between the white and red buoys(see picture).   I have to admit our hearts sank after looking at the wave conditions and the area to cover.  Just standing in the waves was going to be a challenge.  We are well aware of the dangers in Lake Michigan.  Anything over waist deep in these conditions is a no-no for us because of the dangerous rip currents.  But we’re here; we’ll give it a try up to our limit.  Mike did say that midway between the buoys was probably the most likely spot to search.  In the picture you can see that’s where I headed–and that is about where I found his ring.  I received only one good target and assumed it would be a pull tab, but then, a pull tab way out here is unlikely.  After several waves pushed me off target I finally had the target in my scoop and to my surprise it was his ring.  We were out there less than ten minutes.  I still cannot believe it!  Mike is a music director for his church and his prayers were answered today.

Michael and Hailey got married yesterday and today they were spending some time on the beach.  Michael reached back to scratch his back and somehow his ring went flying behind him.

He called me at 3:30PM and within an hour Gregg Larabel and I met them at the beach.  Michael showed us where he was when it happened and after a couple of sweeps of the area I got a good signal.  I carefully brushed the sand away with my hand to reveal this beautiful yellow gold wedding band.

Hoots and hollers and the whole beach broke out in applause.  The honeymoon is back on!

Levi, Ian and friends headed north to spend some time in the paradise of West Michigan.  They were enjoying some beach time today when Ian put his cap on the sand, and his girlfriends ring on top of the cap for safe-keeping.  When they were getting ready to leave, the cap went back on Ian’s head, and oops, he remembered about the ring too late.  Thankfully Levi emailed me for help right away, and I was off for the hunt.

Levi, and Ian met me at the beach head and led me down the path to the right spot on the beach.  The beach was crowded, and I was worried I might have to ask some people to move, if they would, for a minute so I could search under their blankets and other beach equipment.

But I made one pass down the search area and was halfway back when I got the sweet sound of the ring.  The whole beach joined in the celebration of the find.  I love this hobby where you can save good memories for good people.

Beth call today, saying her husband, Ross, had lost his wedding ring on Sunday just days after they celebrated their 12th anniversary.  Ross and the kids had been swimming in the pond out back of his friends’ house when he noticed his ring was gone.  This 90 degree day was perfect for a hunt, so Gregg Larabel and I jumped into our cars and met Ross at the friends’ home.  We started where Ross said they had spent most of the time in the water.  Then his friend got home and told us he thought Ross might have lost it when he fell off the raft while playing with the kids.  That was in deeper water than where we had already searched, so we moved out to chin-deep water and searched some more.  We were just about ready to give up for the day when I made one last swing thru the deep water–and that’s when I got a good hard signal of 50 on my At-Pro.  It is not easy to scoop the bottom when you have to stretch to keep your chin out of the water, hoping not to drown!  So it took me a few tries, but the ring ended up in my scoop, leading to lots of smiles all around.  That warm feeling just never gets old.             

Received an email from Karen stating that her son’s girlfriend was standing on the dock and after a lovers’ spat she threw gifts from him into the lake — a small gold ring, a thin gold necklace and a pendant.  Her friend was taking a video at the time and recorded the whole thing.  Gregg Larabel, my fellow ringfinder and I jumped in the car and headed out for the search.  We met Karen at the lake and watched the video on her phone, but with the small screen and the distance from the camera we could not see any items flying thru the air.  After about an hour searching I did find the ring, but not the other two items.  As we left we asked Karen to email us that video so we could watch it on bigger screens.  When we did, we saw a small splash in the water and it appeared to be out further than we had searched.  We also got a better idea of the direction of that splash by pinpointing landmarks on the far shore.  Later this week we are going back with the new info to try to find the other two items.  The good news is the couple made up, and Karen would like to surprise them with all three items.   This is a picture of Karen.