On Wednesday August 28th, I received a phone call from Melissa, at approximately 6:45pm. Her husband had lost his wedding ring, on GooseRocks Beach in Kennebunkport, Maine. I asked Mellisa if her husband had lost the wedding ring, in the water of in the dry sand. She told me he had lost it in the dry sand and the entire family has been searching for it, but couldn’t find it. She asked me if I would be able to come and search for it tonight. I told Melissa I would load my equipment and head right there. I also asked her to text me the address where we could meet. As I was loading two of my metal detectors, the Minelab CTX-3030, Minelab Manticore , pinpointer and sand scoop, Melissa texted me the address.
Cheryl and I immediately left our home, in Saco, Maine and started the approximately 20 minute drive to Goose Rocks Beach, Maine. We arrived promptly at 7:15pm and with a 7:24pm sunset, I needed to find the ring quickly, so I wouldn’t have to search in the dark. To make matters worse, I forgot my headlamp, that would make the night search much easier.
We were promptly met by Melissa, her husband Matt and their three young children, Abigail, Lucy and William. As Abigail and Lucy led the way to the area, where they had been spending a beautiful summer day, on the beach, I asked Matt, if he could tell me, what had happened, when he lost the ring. Matt told me that earlier, in the day, he had taken the ring off and put it on his beach chair, so he could go swimming. He then completely forgot about the ring and at the end of the day, the family packed everything up and went back to his father’s house, across the street. It was then that Matt realized he didn’t have his wedding ring on. The family went back and searched for the ring but were unable to find it. That is when Melissa called me.
We arrived at the area, where they all had spent the day. I could see the disturbed sand, where they had been searching. They had made an approximate 10-15 foot circle around the area the ring most likely would be in. If I didn’t find it inside the circle, I would have to search the route they had walked, back to Matt’s parents home. With the sun setting fast, I was hoping for a quick recovery.
I decided to start on the left side of the circle and perform a grid search, from the beach, down towards the water, turn around and go from the water side of the grid, back up the beach, towards the road. First pass I had no targets. Second pass, still no targets. Third pass a received a low tone, but I knew it would most likely be a piece of aluminum and it was. I handed the aluminum to Abigail and continued on. Just a few steps later, I received a nice low tone and a reading of 12-17 on my CTX-3030. Definitely a non-ferrous target but it could be gold or a pull tab. As I looked down at the sand, I could see just a small piece of, of a pull tab. I also gave that to Abigail and continued on. As I arrived at the end of the circle m I received another really nice, repeatable low tone and with a VDI reading of 12-24, I just knew this had to be Matt’s ring. Cheryl passed me my pinpointer and I located the target, in the sand, at a depth of about 3 inches. I put my hand into the sand and pulled out Matt’s wedding ring. I showed it to Abigail and the turned to Matt and Lucy and showed them the ring. It was now 7:25pm. Thankfully, I had found the ring within 10 minutes of arriving at Goose Rocks Beach and there was still a little daylight left.
Smiles were ear to ear and everyone was just ecstatic, that Matt had his wedding ring back. I’m just thankful that I am able to just up and leave, when the call comes in. It’s such a privilege to be able to help people like Melissa and Matt, in their time of need.
No Comments »