Gregg Larabel, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 12 of 16

I got a call today from Melissa B. saying that she lost her diamond bracelet given to her from her grandmother. She was visiting her mother and grandmother in Comstock Park, Michigan and Sunday, while packing up to go home to Miami, Florida, she lost the bracelet. Melissa looked up my name through the ring finders directory and gave me a call today. I told her I would try to get to her grandmothers house Wednesday and would get back to her. This afternoon I was able to go out to the house with my detecting friends Chuck R. and Dave B.. Arriving at the house I met her mom and grandmother and walked through the steps that led Melissa to loose the bracelet. « Melissa picked up her large carryall in the basement and with her bracelet in her right hand, walked up the stairs to the outside door and across the sidewalk to the SUV sitting in the driveway. Melissa opened the front passenger door and got in the car and noticed her bracelet was gone ». This is what we had to go on and the first thing I asked was « did you check the vehicle over, from the door jam to under the seats, did you empty your carryall, did you check your clothes? » Melissa said, « yes ».

We proceeded to check the bushes, flowers, grass along the sidewalk and drive. I went down stairs and on my hands and knees look under the heater vents, along the carpet to the carpeted steps and up and out the door. After doing this several times I called Melissa and told her it was not here. Just then while talking to her I looked down at the decorative block steps on the outside stoop and in a crack I notice several crystals that looked like what we were looking for. I called out to Melissa on the phone and said « I think I see it », her and I were very elated at that point until we pried the block loose and it was broken pieces of glass from the storm door. I apologized to her for getting her hopes up and told her we would continue our hunt.

After an hour or so of not finding it, I called her back and recommended that she call her sister who is now in Haymarket, Virginia and who drove her to the airport and have her search the car again and ask the housekeeper if she could keep her eye out for the bracelet. About 8PM tonight I got a call from Melissa who was home in Miami, she talked to her brother-in-law and he searched the SUV again and found the bracelet down between the front passenger seat and the console. This was a very happy ending to a frustrating few days for Melissa.

As a ring finder we don’t always find what we are looking for but with a little detective work and a lot of questions, we can help the one who lost the item eventually find it. I have posted a picture of Melissa wearing the bracelet and a picture of the bracelet held by her brother-in-law after finding it.

 

Last week I was given a phone number of a gentleman who lost his ring. This was a special ring, the father, Mike G., gave his 16 year old daughter an ounce of silver, she wanted to make a ring for him. After her labor of love, she was finished and she presented Mike the ring on Fathers day. Mike was wearing the ring when he went gardening, he planted 4 rose bushes and weeded 2 flower beds in his back yard then went down to his Wing Lake access to clear weeds and moss from the lake. Somewhere in one of these spots the ring came off. I gave Mike a call and arranged a trip to his home in Bloomfield Township near Detroit. It was a 300 mile round trip but I have made several of these in the passed 3 years. My partner Dave B. and I got to his house about 2 hours ahead of the appointment time so we could search the lake access first. It was my hunch that that is where he lost it as he was pulling weeds in the water. After 2 hours of a searching of an area of about 50 feet by 20 feet we came up with a lot of odd junk pieces and several coins. We bagged that up and gave it to Mike when we met him at his house. He proceeded to show us where he was weeding and we went to work. I took out my pro Pointer and went around all the flower plants to no avail then got my metal detector and started through the flower beds. Dave checked the weeds that were in the trash and then detected the yard. About 5 minutes into my search of the first flower bed I found what I thought was a piece of pipe it seemed to be too large for a ring. Cleaning it off I noticed it was sliver and it had a small what looked like a leaf on it. I motioned to Dave to look at it and  I said « do you think this is the ring »? It was indeed the ring after Mike’s confirmation of it. It turned out to be a happy day for Mike as he had not told his daughter yet that the ring was lost.

Brenda B. called me today just as my wife was taking fresh biscuits out of the oven for strawberry shortcake. I told my wife I would be right back because Brenda lives a couple miles away. So I jumped in my car and headed for Brenda’s house. Upon arrival I drove up to a newer development of homes with well manicured lawns and in the middle of her lawn was a screw driver sticking out of the grass. I rang the doorbell and met Brenda, she told me her daughter lost the charm off her necklace while playing in the lawn with her boyfriend. The screwdriver marked the spot where she thinks she lost it. I set up a grid and started in line with the screwdriver I moved back and forthe for about 10 feet both ways. It is amazing how many coin hits I got in a newer lawn but that is not what I was looking for. I expanded my search out about 20 feet and there it was in direct line from the screwdriver 20 feet away. All is well and I suggested that Brenda buy her younger son a detector to find some of those coins.

Got home 45 minutes later and the biscuits were still fresh and warm.

 

 

I was on my way home from my daughters house when I got a call from Laura B. I could tell she was tearing up as she told me she lost her engagement ring at the park. She was turning the ring around on her finger when all of a sudden it popped off and landed in the beach sand. Searching frantically with her mom and husband to no avail they decided to go to Walmart and get a detector but they didn’t have any so they searched the web and found the ringfinders. I told Laura I could make it to the lake in 20 minutes and changed my course and headed that way.

Arriving at the lake I was greeted by Bob the park manager and he directed me to Laura who started tearing up again. She showed me where to search and I began. I used my Fisher F75 and got so much interference that I had to go to my Bounty Hunter Time Ranger on All Metal setting. I was looking for a white gold ring with and heirloom diamond given to her by her grandmother. I started to grid a 10 foot section without success and went the opposite direction still came up empty. I asked her once again to stand where she lost the ring and show me how she lost it. I then expanded the search to 20 feet and went one way then turned the grid the opposite way. Laura’s mom, Karen, followed me this time and as I swept the grid she noticed a glimmer in the sand from the sun, I must have kicked up the sand enough while missing the hit and mom said « there it is »!

Tears started to pour from Laura as she hug her mom and then me thanking me so much for coming right away. Mom was the real hero this time.

 

I got a call from Dawn C. a month ago to find a ring that her Son-in-law lost while playing with his dog in a foot of snow in the back yard. I made arrangements to come out to look for the ring and after trudging through a foot or better of snow I found it was too difficult to swing my detector due to a crust of ice about 6 inches below the fluffy snow. Glen F. had put his ring in an inside pocket of his jacket because he didn’t want to loose it throwing the ball to his dog. When he went back into the house he noticed that the pocket had a hole in it and his ring fell out while in the back yard. The ring was made by an independent jeweler named Michael Perry in Dublin, Ireland, where Glen is from. He made matching rings for him and his wife, Reagan, of grey gold and steel, a type of metal of his own creation.  This was a special loss to Glen. I told him I would be back after a thaw and find his ring. It has now been a month later and it was 45 degrees today and the snow pack has gone down and made it easier to detect. I brought along my detecting friend, Dave B., to help in the search. After about 15 minutes into the search Dave got a signal about 66 on his AT Pro and asked me to check it out because he dug down and couldn’t find anything. I used my Bounty Hunter Time Ranger on ALL METAL mode and got a signal. I dug a little deeper in the hole and there it was about a foot down in the snow. Glen was at work so I asked Dawn, Glen’s mother-in-law to show the ring for our book of smiles. It is always a pleasure to help someone find their lost treasure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barb W. emailed me after loosing her heirloom special made diamond wedding ring. While cleaning her basement in her condo, organizing Christmas decorations and sorting some books she assumed she had lost her ring there. After going back up stairs and doing some more cleaning she noticed the ring missing. She went on line and located theringfinders. Telling me the story again over the phone I agreed to travel the hour and a half to help her find the ring. I have helped a gentleman find his ring in his basement before so I had an idea how I wanted to approach this. I had the gentleman clean one end of the basement and then start bringing items from one side onto the cleared out side while examining each item first. He remembered hearing the ring hit the concrete but disappeared from view. He found the ring had bounced into a corner by a box and moving the box around produced the ring. It was a simple procedure then, but finding Barbs ring was a little bit harder. I retraced her movements around the basement going through a bookcase, Christmas decorations, art work in boxes and a three drawer cabinet. Unable to find the ring I ask Barb to think real hard about what she did that day and to retrace her actions.  She then remembered wrapping a package upstairs and went to the box of wrapping material and there it was.

With tears in her eyes she yelled « I found it ». Mark, her husband was all smiles and I got teary eyed with happiness. It is the greatest feeling finding a lost ring even if it wasn’t me that found it.

Aaron sent me an email after finding my name through the ring finders website. He was out with friends at one of the most beautiful lakes in the Upper Lower peninsula of Michigan. Aaron and his bride just got married a week before and wanted to spend some time with friends they hadn’t seen in a while. They had just dropped anchor at the beach where boats park and party. While enjoying the hot sun and clear cool blue water Aaron was playing catch with a football and when he caught the ball he felt his black tungsten wedding band fall off his finger. After searching frantically for it in about 3 to 4 feet of water he gave up and when he got home his wife got on the computer to search for a metal detector and theingfinders web site came up.

I talked to Aaron through email then on the phone and agreed to make the 3 hour trip up to Thumb Lake in the Boyne/Gaylord area. The area I was given was just to the right of the swimming area only to find out there was an area of about 2 football fields. I started from the swimming area and headed north and covered at least 1/3rd of the area to no avail I did find a ring but not his. I gave Aaron a call and told him I will be going back up in a couple weeks and would try again. I covered another 3rd of the area and still struck out.

Today I drove up in the morning with my detecting friend Dave B. we started on the last 3rd of the area and in about 20 minutes into the search the ring was found. It was supposed to be one of the last days of warm weather in the North country but it was cloudy and windy. The water was warmer than the air so little time was spent on additional detecting so we headed back South for our last 3 hour trip to find this ring.

I will be presenting the ring to Aaron tomorrow when he gets out of work and post a smiling and happy face.

And now the rest of the story: I talked to Aaron today and got his picture. He didn’t tell his wife that the ring was found and decided to tell her over spaghetti diner and a bottle of wine. « I asked her to help me pick out a bottle of wine. She noticed the ring while we were opening the bottle together. It brought tears to her eyes as she jump up and down crying happy tears » I told him may they both have years together and a lot more happy tears.

 

My brother Jeff has always been an ambassador for me and my ring finding hobby. A letter carrier, who works in the same U. S. Post Office district, lost her ring during a golf outing so he gave me her name and phone number this afternoon. I gave her a call right away and within 2 hours the ring was back on her finger.

Chris S. was at a golf outing with the Letter Carriers MSA golf fundraiser at Deer Run Golf Course in Lowell, MI. Before golfing she took her rings off and sealed them in an envelope for safe keeping. After golfing she put her clubs and shoes in her car and took the envelope and proceeded to walk up to the club house. She said she tore the side of the envelope to open it and when she got to the club house she only had one of her rings. Tracing her steps back to her car to look for the ring came up empty.

This was Sunday and it is now Tuesday, I envisioned golfers walking back and forth from their cars to the club house just like Chris did over the past two days and one of them picking up this gem. I went out anyway as I am THERINGFINDER. I talked to the club house pro and ask if anyone turned in the ring, he said « no », I told him that I would be out around the parking lot grass by the clubhouse with my detector to search for the ring. The grass was not cut during the three days that the ring was lost so that gave me some hope that the ring could be found. I found the ring after passing over it with my Bounty Hunter Time Ranger getting a « nickel » sound in some deeper grass just off the path to the clubhouse. I informed the clubhouse pro the ring was found and then I called Chris and made arrangements to meet her and reunite her with the ring that she and her jeweler designed.

What was a long shot to me turned out to be a hot shot for Chris. I’m very happy for you Chris!

Last week I found a ring at Millennium Park for Joel H. and he mentioned the recovery to a friend who said she lost her diamond wedding ring last year in Silver Lake and wondered if it could be found after giving her my information Sara D. emailed me and said she lost her wedding band and engagement ring after she put the rings in a chest pocket and applied sunscreen while at her parents home at the lake. Sara was playing with her daughter when she leaned over on the dock and noticed the rings were gone. Sara’s husband Jeff ran his hands through the sandy bottom of about a foot deep water and found the wedding band but could not come up with the engagement ring. A year had past and telling the story to her friend Joel H. she discovered The Ring Finders. With one of the hottest days this year I thought it would be a great day for water detecting. My friend Dave B. and I arrived at the lake home and met Sara and proceeded to work our magic. After about 20 minutes of gridding a small area of the beach and lake the ring was found about 10 feet where the wedding band was lost. It always amazes me how rings are found in a different spot than where they were thought to have been lost. I presented the ring to a VERY happy Sara and suggested that she take it to the jewelry store for a good polishing. Thank you for letting me serve you Sara and Jeff, I love this hobby.