Dave Milsted, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 2 of 10

Yardwork Causes Lost Ring in Howell Twp NJ, Found by Dave Milsted

  • from South Jersey (New Jersey, United States)
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In late April, Roy left a message on my phone asking if I could help him locate his lost wedding ring. I called him back about an hour later. He explained that while cleaning up his yard he was throwing sticks into the woods. At some point, his ring must have flown off. I told him I would be there within the hour, hopefully getting there before the sunset.
I got there with a few minutes to spare as there was still some daylight. He showed me the area he thinks he lost his ring. He explained that he has recently lost a lot of weight and his ring was loose. He said after he called he went out with a leaf blower and tried to find it, creating a large pile of leaves.
I told him if it is here I will find it. I started searching and got a signal almost immediately. It was deeper than a surface find so I continued. Roy and his wife started walking back to the house. Within the next 2 minutes, I got a very strong signal in the pile of leaves. I kicked them to the side and there was Roy’s wedding ring.
As I was taking a picture they noticed me on the ground and started to walk back. I picked it up and showed them what I found. They were stunned that I found it so quickly. Roy explained that it has a lot of sentimental value and that his 14th anniversary is in 2 days.
I handed the ring to his wife, so she could put it back on his finger! The smiles on their faces were well worth the long drive to get there. Roy said he was going to get a ring guard so he wouldn’t have to call me again!
I love my hobby!
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A Leprechaun Was Hiding a Gold Ring in the Clover Patch, In Collingswood NJ! Found by Dave Milsted

  • from South Jersey (New Jersey, United States)
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Michael called me during my Sunday morning run. He was outside yesterday doing yardwork, mulching, and playing with his 2 young daughters. When he finally went inside, Michael noticed his rose gold wedding ring was missing. He said he found my website and read the tip about searching at night with a flashlight. He gave that a try but didn’t have any success. I told him that I was halfway through my 6-mile run and would come over when I was finished. 

I met Michael and he showed me the different areas he did work and played with his daughters. It was pretty much the whole yard. I started in the areas he mulched. He had removed the mulch and put it in a bag. In the 2 areas I searched, I found a couple of nails and a few other unknown metal objects. 

Michael went to get the bag of mulch he removed. As he was in the garage I got a great signal in a thick patch of clover. I parted the clover and there it was a very nice rose gold ring. I believe the local leprechaun was trying to keep the gold ring, as it was well concealed. It would have been found without a metal detector  He could believe that I found it in 10 minutes. The look on his face was priceless. He also couldn’t believe that he has so much emotion over a ring. Sentimental feelings are a very powerful thing. 

Michael found me through Facebook, from a successful recovery a few blocks away in Collingswood, a month or so ago. That was also a rose gold ring. 

I Love My Hobby!

 

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Making Snow Angels = Lost Ring in Collingswood NJ Found by Dave Milsted

  • from South Jersey (New Jersey, United States)
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I received a call from Katelyn. She told me that her husband lost his rose gold wedding ring in their yard yesterday after we received 8 inches of new snow. They have been trying to melt some of the snow after having someone with a metal detector out yesterday with no luck. 

I was at their house about 20 minutes later. Mike & Katelyn came out and showed me what happened. He had just got done making a snow angel and was flicking his hands trying to get the snow off, and away went his ring. 

I turned on my machine and there was a ton of interference. A neighbor must be sending out radio waves to aliens. I tried everything to make the interference stop, no luck. I had MIke place a coin on the ground to make sure I would be able to hear the signal through the noise, and it works. 

I started searching the area. I found the gas line and the waterline. I had a few other signals that were under the frozen ground. Then I got a signal that moved when I tried to clear away the snow. SUCCESS! What a beautiful rose-colored gold ring it was! It took about 15 minutes to find. Both Mike & Katelyn were so happy. They thought that they might have to wait until spring to find it. 

Thank you to Karen & Lynda for recommending me on Facebook!

I Love My Hobby!

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Early Christmas Gift, Lost Wedding Ring in Barrington NJ Found by Dave Milsted

  • from South Jersey (New Jersey, United States)
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My wife got a request for my services from a friend of hers from the gym. It seems that George takes care of several feral cat colonies. On Tuesday when he got home he noticed his wedding ring of 49 years was missing. He checked his gloves, car & trunk. No luck.

We made arrangements to meet Thursday, in the afternoon to start the search, We met and he showed me his routine. We emptied food bowls to make sure it was not mixed in with the chow. We checked the water bowls and supply box. Next, I used one of my detectors, a Minelab Equinox with a very small coil. There are a lot of metal items in the area. The ring was not found, off to stop 2. 

At the 2nd stop, George again showed me his routine. We checked the bowls and the supply box, nothing. He said he did throw some trash in the nearby dumpster. My heart sank. We opened the dumpster lid and it had been emptied. As I was searching the area with my detector, I questioned George about the check of his car and the gloves he wore that day. He said I could check his car if I wanted to. He is currently wearing the gloves he used on Tuesday, and there is no ring in them. 

I finished searching the area with the metal detector with no luck. I moved to George’s car. I looked in the back seat, nothing. I then went to look under the driver’s seat, and there was his white gold wedding ring. He couldn’t believe it was there after he had looked. 

The smile on his face was awesome. He said that his wife told him that the ring wouldn’t be found. This upcoming year will be their 50th Anniversary. Christmas came a few days early for George!

I love my hobby!!

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2 Rings Lost While Playing Golf @ Yardley Country Club in PA, Found by Dave Milsted

  • from South Jersey (New Jersey, United States)
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Jordan called me a few weeks ago asking if I could help find 2 rings for him. They were lost on a golf course. Do you know how big a golf course is? He had a real good idea where they were. I was out of town for my Half Ironman race for the week. We agreed to meet today in the afternoon. 

Jordan made sure we had permission to search on the course. The Yardley Country Club is a really nice-looking club. Jordan went up to the pro and secured us a golf cart to take us out to the 14th tee box. Jordan Explained that if you walk with your clubs and use a hand cart, members will push their cart down the hill towards the 14th tee while they are putting on the 13th green. Most of the time the carts end up in the proper place. This time Jordon’s cart got to the 14th tee and flipped over. 

Jordan usually takes his rings off to play golf & puts them into his golf bag. Jordan didn’t realize they were missing until a few days later. He searched his bag & gloves with no luck. Then he remembered the mishap on the 14th tee. He went to the club a few times to look. One time he even took a rake. No luck. So he did an internet search on renting metal detectors and found me. 

The area was not that big. He believed that they can’t be too far from the cart path, one was a thin gold ring and the other is a larger platinum ring. I got started and got a signal right away, in the gold platinum range on my detector. Well, it wasn’t a ring, it was the top of a pencil, the part that holds an eraser. This club supports cheating by supplying an eraser (LOL). This little area was loaded with metal objects. I searched the area with no rings found. I told him I was going to expand the search area. 

About an hour into the search I got another good sound, it was a ring, I moved the ring and the other one was there also. The rings were thrown approximately 15 to 20 feet past the cart path. The amazing part is they stayed together. They were down in the dirt like someone stepped on them or a tire from a tractor ran over them. Jordan wasn’t looking so I put them in my hand and finished my current line. Jordan was talking to a foursome on the 13th green. I asked him if he thought that I was still in the area he thought they could be. He got out of the cart and came over to me saying yes. As he was talking I held out my hand, he didn’t see them, so I raised my hand a little higher. After about a minute he had a shocked look on his face, then a smile from ear to ear. He realized he was now out of the dog house.

I love my hobby!

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Yard-Work Gone Wrong in King of Prussia PA, Gold Ring Found by Dave Milsted

  • from South Jersey (New Jersey, United States)
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Justin called this week asking if I could help find a lost ring. He is pretty sure he lost in his yard while doing yard work. This isn’t the first time I have talked to Justin, he called last year when he lost the same ring, in his house. I told him that I couldn’t use my detector in the house but I will do a visual search. After giving him some tips for a house search he found the ring. 

Our calendars allowed a Halloween search. He showed me the primary area. He was wearing gloves at the time but took them off a few times. He threw stuff into a trash can, but the trash wasn’t taken yet, in case we need to search the debris. The ring is not in the gloves. I checked the bag of grass seed that he was using, no ring. 

I turned on my detector and immediately started getting severe electronic interference. I did a noise-canceling procedure, a few times, and even did ground balancing. No luck. This just made the search a lot more difficult. I searched the whole area with no luck. I went to my truck and retrieved another detector with a much smaller coil. Still receiving the same interference. Maybe this was a testing site for nuclear bombs, or his yard is on top of an iron mine. 

The smaller coil was successful. After about 15 minutes I got a really strong 9 on the detector, pushed back the grass and there was a beautiful family heirloom. No tricks here only treats! This yellow gold ring with 3 diamonds was his father’s ring. Justin was awestruck & speechless. After a few minutes, he said he just texted a good friend saying that he thinks he is not going to see his ring again. 

I gave him some advice, when doing yard work, leave the ring in the house. He told me he was going to clean out the garage after I left, But he will not be wearing his ring. 

I love my hobby!

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Yard-Work Claims Another Gold Wedding Ring, In Mt Laurel NJ (Temporally)

  • from South Jersey (New Jersey, United States)
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Cindy, a grade school classmate of mine, recommended me to a friend of hers. Cindy’s friend’s husband Bryan lost his white gold wedding ring while doing yard work last weekend. 

I was able to meet up with Nichole today to do a search. She showed me the areas he was working last weekend. I started in the small area in the front yard with no luck. I moved to the much larger area in the backyard. A lot of leaves and thick grass made a great hiding spot for a ring. 

I searched just about the whole backyard with no luck. I was going to get my machine with the smaller coil to search the areas closer to metal objects. While walking back to my truck I said to myself I should expand the search area in the front yard. 

3 feet from the area I searched I get a good hit on my detector. I bend down and spread the grass, and there is the missing ring. I was able to surprise Nichole when she answered the door. She was so happy, she said she was going to get the ring resized before Bryan can wear it again. He has lost it a few times recently.

I love my hobby!

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Pendant Lost A few Years Ago in Ocean City NJ, Found by Dave Milsted

  • from South Jersey (New Jersey, United States)
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*WARNING* Do not watch the video without tissues!

Mike sent me a message after finding my website by doing a Google search on lost jewelry in Ocean City. He said that his dad, also Mike has worn a St Christopher medal that his dad gave him before he passed away several years ago. While in the crawl space to turn the water on a few springs ago, he was still wearing the chain but the pendant was gone. They recently sold the house, and it will be torn down soon. 

We agreed to meet at 9 am on Sunday, Labor Day weekend. Today is moving day. When I arrived The men were moving furniture into a moving truck. One of them asked if I was Dave, it was Mike. Mike’s dad was there and wanted to know who I was. Mike explained that he asked me to come over to search the crawl space for your dad’s pendant. Mike’s dad became emotional, because of his son’s thoughtfulness. 

Mike took me to the crawl space entrance. It was in the closest of a bedroom, removed the floor, and there it was. I lowered myself down with my detector. There were 2 lights but it was pretty dark. From ground to ceiling was about 2.5 feet. Crawl space described this hunt perfectly. 

Mike’s dad said if he lost it under the house it would be the spot the furthest from for entranceway, as there is a half wall there and he was stretched across it most likely catching his chain there. I started working my way to that spot. My detector was constantly beeping. Pieces of copper pipes, buried cans, pieces of wire, buried iron pieces, nails, and old footings. I decided to use my handheld pinpointer to limit deeper targets. 

I went over just about every inch of the sandy floor. I said to Mike that I’m getting a bad feeling, just as we were getting back to the entrance. I said maybe it’s at the opening and it fell off of the chain when his dad stood up. A few minutes later I found it! Buried about ½ an inch to an inch deep. Right at the bottom of the entrance. Mike was amazed that we found it. I asked him what he wanted to do. He wanted to surprise his dad. So I exited the hole first. I was asked if I found it and I said I really don’t think it’s down there. Mike was up next. When Mike came up we moved to the porch. I ask Mike senior if I could videotape him as he told me the story of the sentimental pendant, as I like to document my searches. 

As Mike senior was telling me about the loss, he was ending the story saying we haven’t been able to find it. I said are you sure? And the younger Mike put the pendant in his dad’s hand. 

The kicker – It is Mike’s senior’s birthday today!

I love my hobby!!

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Family Heirloom Ring Lost While Gardening in Howell Twp NJ, Found by Dave Milsted

  • from South Jersey (New Jersey, United States)
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Janet sent me an email asking if I could help her. About 6 months ago she lost a family heirloom ring that was her grandmothers’ wedding ring while gardening. I followed up with a lot of questions: do you have an idea where you lost it? What is the ring made of? Are there any metal items in the search area? And many more. She mentioned that she lost another ring about 20 years ago, while gardening.
A few weeks passed as our schedules didn’t line up. I traveled to Howel Twp NJ on a very humid Sunday afternoon. Janet showed me the area where she thought she lost the ring 20 years ago, then directed me to the area she lost the most recent ring.
I started in the area where she thought the ring was lost 20 years ago. There are a lot of metal items in the ground here. Mostly iron objects. I searched for an hour with no luck. I will have to return for another try.
I moved to the second area for the most recent loss. There aren’t as many targets in this area. About 30 minutes in I got a good signal. About 2 inches deep was the ring I was looking for. Janet had just come out to check on my progress while I was digging up the target. She was amazed that I found it. She had tried using a metal detector and said it was constantly beeping. The look on her face when I handed her, her grandmother’s ring was priceless. I was surprised how deep the ring was in the ground in only 6 months. The ring was dirty so I told her to use a little toothpaste and a brush.
I was feeling good, so I went back to the first location to try a smaller coil to try to snipe the other ring in between all of the iron targets. I gave it an additional 30 minutes with no luck. I was hot & soaking wet. Time to rehydrate and make the 1-hour drive home.
Janet was very happy to have the family heirloom ring back on her hand. All cleaned and shiny!
I love my hobby!
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Wedding Ring Lost on the South Jersey Rugby Football Field Found By Dave Milsted

  • from South Jersey (New Jersey, United States)
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Chris sent me an email asking if I could help him. He lost his wedding band the night before while at rugby practice. I did a quick Google map search of the field, and it looked pretty barren. So I decided to walk the field before work. When I get there, the field was a solid grass carpet about 5 inches tall. It’s not going to be found by a quick walk.

There was a guy on the field with a human-powered push mower. I asked if his name was Chris. He looked at me with a concerned look, as I was in my work uniform, which makes me look like a police officer. He said yes, and I told him that he sent me a message that he lost a ring. There was relief on his face. He showed me the areas that he was in during practice, pretty much the whole field.

I told him that I wouldn’t get there until the weekend because of work and another recovery that I have today after work. He told me that his wife didn’t know he was at the practice, and he didn’t tell her that his ring was lost. They just celebrated their 4th anniversary a few days earlier.

I went to the beach that night to search for the other ring; I need to get into the water at low tide. There was a thunderstorm when I arrived and when the storm passed the ocean was angry. Large, powerful waves were kicking my butt. I couldn’t complete the search, so I will have to return.

I called Chris and told him that I would be at the field in an hour and 15 minutes if he wanted to meet me there. He said he couldn’t, that his inlaws were over, and he didn’t tell anyone that his ring was lost. He left the room when he saw that I was calling to answer the phone. I told him that I would spend about an hour there tonight, but it could be a several-day search because it is such a large field.

I knew where he placed his bag & drink. So I started there. No luck. So I started at 1 corner of the field and decided to search length-wise. I figured 1 down and back would take about an hour. There are a lot of targets. A lot of « can slaw »,  cans that have been cut up by a lawnmower, leaving many aluminum pieces.

I got about ¾ of the way down my 1st path, and I got a good tone. I located the ring with my pinpointer. I was amazed I found it in about 30 minutes. My mom must have helped. I took a picture and sent it to Chris. He called me back about 10 minutes later, just as I was getting in my car as the skies opened up. He was in total shock. He said after he got the picture, he told his wife what happened. He said he was going to be in the dog house if I didn’t find the ring.

We met the next day to return the ring. Chris said he was allowed to go back to rugby practice.

I love my hobby!!

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