Wedding Ring Lost In The Lagoon, Lavallette NJ, recovered by Edward Trapper, NJ Ring Finder
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I received a call from Derek about the possibilities of recovering his ring from a very wide lagoon. He explained exactly what had happened, and he knew right when the ring came off his finger. Water recoveries are extremely challenging to begin with, but add in the fact he and his buddies were racing to the other side and back, and this one becomes almost impossible. Well, as the conversation continues, I discover Derek had quite a bit of pertinent information which is needed to even consider this recovery. I asked him to supply me with everything he had, which included many pictures, and probably the deciding factor to move forward with this recovery, was the video of them racing to the other side. That was the spot where the ring had come off. I asked him to give me a few days to review everything, which he agreed to, as the ring was not going anywhere . After looking at all the information given I called Derek and explained this would be extremely complicated, but as long as he was positive the ring came off right when he stopped swimming , we should definitely give it a try. We cleared it with the homeowner, and set up the date to do the recovery. Once there a bouy was dropped just past precise location, and a guide line was placed on the bottom and secured back at the dock. With near zero visibility, on the 3rd pass back, we got a promising hit just before the bouy. After fanning the target a bit, you could just make out the ring. This all happened in roughly 55 min from start to finish.Had there not been the pictures and video his ring would still be on the bottom of the bay/lagoon. Huge shout out to Buzz, couldn’t have done this one without you.
Gregg called and asked if I would be able to help him find his wedding ring he had lost on the dune walkover in Holgate NJ. We were having some unusual swarming mosquitos, and when he was heading over to the ocean they bombarded him when he was almost at the top. When he tried to swat them away, unfortunately his wedding ring flew off his hand and most likely landed up on the dunes somewhere. We arranged to meet the next afternoon, knowing his ring would be safe in that location. I had read on one of the local Facebook pages how bad they were after days of heavy rain, but never experienced anything quite this like this. I pulled up in the driveway, and no sooner had my door opened, I would venture to say, there were 20 or more in my truck. With that said, out came the sweatshirt and bug spray. I really hate mosquitos. Greg and I went over again exactly what had happened, as we walked quickly to the spot he had marked with some little sticks and stuff. I turned on my machine, put on the headphones, and for whatever reason it would not quiet down. I asked him to stand facing exactly the way he was, and to demonstrate the swatting motion he used when the ring went flying. It looked like it probably could have flown up in the dune grass, but with the motion he showed me, my hunch was it went straight down. So, as these nuisance bugs are like a cloud around us, I moved back to where I turned on the machine, which was also the spot he was when the ring came off. And now I know why the machine was so noisy!!!!! Bingo!!!! It was sitting right on top of his ring. The more detective work one can do the better. The entire hunt only lasted about 10 minutes at best. Making memories again on LBI.
Kate reached out to me wanting to know if it was possible to locate her engagement that slipped off her finger during the day somewhere at the beach. It was late in the evening, and after determining that it was close to high tide when it most likely came off, it would be best to wait until the early morning low tide. We arranged to meet early the next morning at the dune walkover. As we were heading to the location I had asked her to mark in google maps we talked about the main things she could remember leading up the the ring disappearing. Once we got to the spot, she showed me some pictures she had, before and after the ring went missing. Something didn’t look just right, but I figured I would check the area that was marked. After coming up empty handed I asked her to see the pics again, it was then I knew that was not quit the right location. I adjusted the location about 40′ to the north, and things looked just right, including the piles of seaweed that had pushed high up on the hill the prior day when the pics were taken. Kate confirmed after looking at the pics that this was absolutely the right location. Combined with the rough surf, was the fact that she was boogie boarding, and that is never a good thing when doing a recovery. Kate did remember one wave that knocked her down, where she lost the board, and that was luckily close to the beach in waist deep water. I decided to hit that area real quick, and while Kate was in about knee deep water looking, I got a signal that made my eyes open wide. With the waves crashing right where I was, I took extra time to zero in on the exact spot, and hoped to grab it on the first scoop. Sure enough I had it on the first try, BINGO, it was her absolutely stunning ring!!!!! Kate had no idea what had just taken place just a few feet behind her, as I scooted up the hill , past the waves to get a better look and clean it off. At that moment I decided to make a video to capture her response, which you will see I’m not very good at. (Will be posted soon) Her reaction was something that makes this profession SO SO rewarding that no words could ever explain.
Tony was doing some surf fishing in Lavallette NJ early one Saturday morning with his buddies. It was pretty close to high tide when he realized his phone was missing, but he wasn’t quite sure where it could be. He looked everywhere possible when he figured it must have fallen out somewhere in the water while he was fishing. Loosing a phone can be very devastating with all the pictures, videos, and other information that can be stored on them now. Needless to say this was the situation with Tony, especially the pictures and videos of friends and family that can NEVER be replaced. Luckily I was able to locate his phone during the next low tide, about 20′ down the hill, right where the low tide waves were breaking. It was already buried in the sand over 12″, and prob. very close to being lost for ever. Time is so important when recovering lost items in the surf or ocean, that is why you need to call ASAP when an item is lost.
