Gregg Larabel, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 15 of 16

Josh O. happy to be reunited with drowned ring.

While metal detecting in about four feet of water at Kirk Park near Grand Haven, Michigan I was using my Fisher CZ21. After about an hour of trying my best to grid off the open water I came across a  good signal and after a few digs I rescued a « large » Titanium wedding band. Wanting to reunite the lost ring to the rightful owner I got on Craigslist and went into Lost and Found. About a day later I got an email from J.O. (fatkid). He had lost his ring on July 5 while playing football in the water with a bunch of friends. A day earlier he had gone to the jeweler to try to get the ring sized due to some weight-loss but wasn’t able to at that time.

After he lost the ring Josh went on the internet and saw www.theringfinders.com but didn’t act upon it until he had seen the Craigslist posting and emailed me. After a few emails it was determined that Josh was the rightful owner and this ring, rescued from under the sand and four feet of water, finally was coming home to its owner.

Happy days are now in store for Josh and I think he should think about changing his email handle from « fatkid » to something else he has trimmed down.

"I just can't believe you found it"

Pat Lindquist was busy doing some gardening around her Condo when finding her glove uncomfortable with her ring on, she removed her glove and took her ring off and put it on the trunk of her car that was sitting in the garage.

Forgetting about the ring until the next day while having a manicure, she noticed the ring missing and remembered where she put it. Pat went out and rented a detector, told the walkers and joggers that come by her condo and letting the maintenance man know that it was lost and she put an ad in the local newspaper. I answered the ad and asked her several questions. The answers I got, told me it wasn’t around the condo, so I placed an old ring on her trunk and told her to back out of the driveway and then drive about a hundred feet.  She did and the ring did not move. My brother Doug and I then got in my car and I told her to drive the route she took last week. As she drove we watched the ring on the trunk and when she traveled about 1/2 a mile and turned a corner the ring moved a little bit but did not fall off, she kept on driving. After about another couple of blocks coming to a busy intersection, I told her to stop. We took the ring off the trunk lid and I told her to go back home and we will come by soon.

An engagement ring made into a cocktail ring.

Doug headed down the busy street and I back tracked to the corner where the ring moved on the trunk. I walked along the gutter and on the edge of the grass and after about 30 feet there it was in the gutter waiting for me after one week in the cold and alone on the lonely street.

We came back to the condo and seeing that the ring was insured, I presented Pat with a letter for her insurance agent. At the same time Doug held up the ring on his pinkie and Pat started crying. She asked us in her home and we met her husband who told Pat at one point last week « we might be a scam ». We laughed and affirmed the importance of integrity of this activity.

Pat promised to tell everyone listed above and the girls at work won’t believe it.

As a RINGFINDER you need to ask leading questions, be a detective and look beside where the ring was thought to be.

A happy grandmother, trust reinstated.

Linda Timmer called me Sat June 2nd and said she lost a child’s gold ring that her granddaughter to her to hold for

Childs gold ring with amber stone.

her for safe keeping. She put it in her pocket after seeing her granddaughter and went home. While staying at a small cottage on Myers Lake, while their home was being remodeled. She brought her dog out to the back yard and threw her car keys to her husband and at thqat time unbeknown to her the ring came out of her pocket into the grass. She didn’t discover it until later so she went out and searched the car and went over the grass on her hands and knees to no avail.

Linda had been told that there was a newspaper article written by Tom Rademacher about Gregg Larabel the Ring Finder. She gave me a call and I told her I would be out Monday morn at 10am.  My brother Doug usually goes out with me as we make a great team. After meeting Linda and her husband, she retold the story and then we began to hunt.

Using a grid system Doug started on one end and I on the  other, it was only about 20 square feet of lawn. After about 20 minutes Doug reached down, using his Bounty Hunter Fast Tracker, and picked up the ring.

A happy and relieved grandmother promised never to mis-handle something that her grandaughter intrusted with. A nice couple that both Doug and I could identify with being veterans ourselves.

Lost ring while walking on the side of road near home.

 Last fall while walking on the side of a road near their home, Peters wife lost an expensive heirloom ring given to him from his mother.

He had a few boys and rented detctors go out shortly after and look in the grass and weeds by the road to no avail. Fearing that someone might have picked it up he forgot about it until he saw a TV show about The Ring Finders. He went on line and found my name and gave me a call, ironically I was out on another mission at Wixom Lake but told him I would call him back.

After hearing the story I agreed to meet him the next morning and drove 140 miles east of my home. I brought my brother, Doug, with me figuring two heads are better than one. We search alot together with great success. Peter met us at his home and led us a mile down the road to the spot he thought the ring was lost. After pointing between 2 telephone poles and between the edge of the street and 15 feet in, we began the search.

We set up a grid search with Doug on one end and I on the other. After an hour of wacking at weeds and scratching at gravel from the side of the road Doug found the ring about an inch under some dirt probably left over from the plow the previous winter.

Unable to reach Peter I left a message: « call me right away, (I’m at the Pawn shop) » I thought he would get a laugh out of it and a few minutes later he called me and I told him I would meet him at his house. He drove up and we presented him the ring (that needed a good cleaning). It was a beautiful ring with a big karot diamond surrounded by an emerald and four diamonds and eight more diamonds on the side.

Peters wife was home and was beside herself with joy. After giving us a generous reward we were on our way back home thinking about what we did for a very nice couple and another chance to show how much integrity this program has.

After receiving an email from Sandy on Sunday I gave her a call and set up a time to come out and search for a necklace she lost. Sandy has several wild Blackberry patches in her back yard and while she was out picking berries this past summer she discovered her silver necklace was gone. She had a bucket around her neck freeing up both hands to pick berries but because of the thick brush and prickers on the bushes she thinks her necklace must have gotten snag on a branch.

Sandy started to clear as much brush around the bushes as she could and searched painstakingly each bunch she cleared but to no avail. Sandy remembered an article in the Grand Rapids Press about me and metal detecting and looked on the internet and the rest is history. I came out to her house today weather was cloudy about 40 degrees and attempted to set up a grid in thick fallen weeds and difficult pricker bushes. After about 15 minutes I got a little beep on my Bounty Hunter detector and moved some grass and sticks laid down from the past months snow storms and there it was.

Another happy recipient of  THERINGFIDER.

Driving home from Chicago I received a cell call from Kurt D. who lost his wedding ring. He said he lived in Stevensville, Mi and I told him I just past a few miles from there on my way back to Grand Rapids.

Kurt lost his ring in the basement of his duplex. He had placed it on a towel while doing something and when he grabbed the towel the ring popped off and landed somewhere in the basement. He heard it ting when it hit the floor but could not find it after searching for hours. Kurt went and rented a metal detector to no avail. He searched the Internet for lost rings and found theringfinders and my name.

I called him on Sunday night when I got home and discussed his problem and how he searched but could not find the ring. We discussed the $50 travel expense and said I would be coming down the following Friday. I then told him I could save him $50 if he followed a few directions for another search of his basement.

I suggested that he clear one side of the basement and then search all the cracks and crevaces, then go to the other side of the basement and take one item at a time, search through it and then place it in the cleared out area. After that is done look up in the floor joyces to see if it lodged up there some place. Finally check around the furnace and air ducts and any other fixtures in the basement.

The next day, (Monday), Kurt texted me and said  » I’m delighted to tell you my beloved wife and her friend actually took your advice and found the ring while I was at work. lol »   » Thank you so, so, so much for your tme and most importantly your expertise ». He told everyone at work what happened and if anyone ever needed a Ring Finder we have one at our disposal.

So another happy husband reunited with his wedding band  sans metal detector and  physical presence of the RINGFINDER.