Jim Wagner, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 3 of 4

ANOTHER Lost Wedding Ring Recovered In Fort Meade, Maryland!

  • from Baltimore (Maryland, United States)
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I’m starting to think that Union Civil War General George Meade was not fond of jewelry and his ghost may be playing a role in the amount of lost rings at the Maryland fort that is named in his honor! A few weeks ago I received a call from Dina telling me how her husband lost his wedding ring in their back yard about a year prior. They we certain it was lost back there and because of that I felt confident that I could find it. I’ll let Dina tell the rest of the story in her own words…..

A year ago my hubby lost his wedding ring of 11 years the same week that he was scheduled to ship out to South Korea for a year long Army deployment. He was jumping on our backyard trampoline with our two children when he felt the ring fly off. He had lost some weight since we were married and I had been telling him to get it resized; not that I’m saying I TOLD HIM SO or anything of the kind. The four of us searched the perimeter to no avail. We brought out the child’s metal detector that we already had but it dinged on everything on the ground.
Seven months and many rainy and frigid days later, I gave up on ever finding it and bought him a new ring for Christmas. He wasn’t entirely thrilled with it; he was still attached to the original ring because I had had it engraved inside with a surprise « inside joke » phrase between us.
This April, the year in Korea was finally coming to an end and I figured I’d call in a professional as a last ditch effort before we moved away from Fort Meade the following month. My husband scoffed at the idea of Ringfinders locating his lost band, but I called Jim Wagner. I was immediately impressed at how professional and thorough he was on the phone with his questions and comments. The day he arrived I wasn’t expecting him to find anything, but he was confident and his efforts paid off in about 15 minutes! The ring was lodged in the mud close to the trampoline. My hubby was in such disbelief that he asked me to email him a photo as proof! We are so thankful to Jim for recovering something that had such great sentimental value to us.

Dina and Jason, Fort Meade

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I am glad I was successful. This one was a bit more special as I was able to return something to a family that serves and protects our freedom every day.

 

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Lost Engagement Ring FOUND in Severna Park, Maryland!

  • from Baltimore (Maryland, United States)
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A few weeks ago I received a call from Tim explaining how his wife lost her engagement ring. He went on to say while she was almost positive it came off while walking their dogs down the driveway. The driveway, which was a good 100 yards or so long, was bordered the entire length on one side by wooded area. She believed it came off in a specific area where she recalled the dogs getting wrapped around some brush, but did not rule out any of the driveway due to the frigid temperatures that day. We made arrangements to meet the next day and Tim and Tara went over the area with me that he described the day before. I’ll let Tara tell you in her own words how things went down, but on a side note to my detecting colleagues….this was actually tough one to find! Reason is that although the ring was on the surface, there ended up being a piece of old « soda can » aluminum directly under the ring about 2 inches down! This means nothing to most of you who read this, but to us metal detecting geeks this spells trouble! A piece of « trash » like this so close to the target(in this case the ring!) acts like a shield to obtaining the « good » signal we would be looking for when searching for gold and/or platinum. I mention this in the event you are looking for something that should « sound » specific in your headphones and you have no luck. I suggest you take a break, regroup and come at the situation in a different manner. It sure paid off for me…….and for Tim and Tara!

 

« I came home from work and walked my dogs as usual. The only difference that day was the bitter cold temperature outside. I came in from my walk and noticed my engagement ring fell off (my fingers shrunk in the cold weather) I tried to retrace my steps but the area to cover was overwhelming, it was getting dark, and leaves were piled high. I panicked and called Home Depot & Ace Hardware trying to rent a metal detector. No one in the Severna Park area rented them-only sold, and they were thousands of dollars. I Googled « metal detector help severna park » and The Ring Finders popped up. We called and Jim scheduled to come over the very next morning at 6:30am (even though he was leaving for vacation that morning). Jim arrived and told me to stop and think, and walk him through my steps. We walked up and down the street and didn’t find anything. My husband and I had to leave for work, and Jim said he would try and stay a few more minutes. He explained if he didn’t find it, he would come back another day to search. My husband and I were preparing for the worst and discussed calling the insurance company.. when mid sentence we got a call from Jim! HE FOUND MY RING! Tears poured down my face! We met to pick it up and I immediately hugged him! Jim is an amazing man! We are so happy we called the site! Jim told us if it was out there, he would find it! He wasn’t going to give up on us! So I want to tell you if you are reading this because you lost something and you want it back CALL JIM NOW! »

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– Tara & Tim
Severna Park MD

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Lost Engagement Ring Recovered at Fort Meade, Maryland!

  • from Baltimore (Maryland, United States)
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It’s been quite a while (Jan. 2014) since my last last blog, service request and recovery, but that is a good thing as no one wants to lose something precious or important to them.  That changed when Anni contacted me last Wednesday after she lost her engagement ring the Saturday before. She was referred to me by someone who I’ve helped out in the past. That goes to show that people who you help out are truly appreciative and remember such things.  As I usually like to do, I’ll let Anni tell you the story…..

During a family photo shoot in the park, my engagement ring slipped off my finger. I noticed it almost immediately but the park was large, the grass was thick and many leaves had fallen from the trees making it very difficult to locate where the ring may have fallen off.
After looking for the ring and being unable to find it, we borrowed a metal detector and spent the next few days using the metal detector for several hours each day trying to find the engagement ring. After two long days, our metal detector found two pennies, a gum wrapper and the tab to a soda can.
Using a community social media site, I reached out to see if anyone was aware of a “lost and found” office I could contact. Although there was no “lost and found” office, one person had referred me to a “professional ring finder” that had been able to successfully find her wedding ring that had been lost outside and covered in snow.
In desperation, I contacted Jim Wagner, “the professional ring finder,” to see if he would be able to help find my engagement ring. Although the ring had suffered through two days of heavy rain and been lost almost an entire week, Jim was confident he would be able to find the ring.
Jim was professional and responsive and met with us the very next day after contacting him. We had a general idea as to where the ring may have fallen, so he used that knowledge coupled with his experience as well as his high-end metal detecting equipment and was able to locate the lost ring within approximately 30 seconds. He found the ring in the same area we had already searched early in the week using our own metal detector.
I am eternally thankful. It is such a terrible feeling when you know you have lost something so dear to you and not sure if you will ever see it again. Jim was extremely professional, personable, prompt and helpful. He works with the top of the line equipment and has a real passion for finding things. Best of all, he genuinely wants to reunite people with their precious, lost valuables and he gets great satisfaction from helping people.

…..Thank you Anni for such a kind endorsement. It was a pleasure helping you and your husband locate the missing ring. Most of all, a big thank you to you and your family for your service and sacrifice for our Country!

Anni's husband John with the ring in hand!

Anni’s husband John with the ring in hand!

There it is after removing a few leaves above it!

There it is after removing a few leaves above it!

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Lost Diamond Engagement Ring Recovered in Glen Burnie, Maryland!

  • from Baltimore (Maryland, United States)
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As I mentioned in my most recent post, Sunday was a busy day! Right after recovering Rodney’s wedding band, I set off to meet Anthony in Glen Burnie. He contacted me early Sunday morning desperate to find his fiance’s (of less than 24 hours!) engagement ring.  Luckily I had my detecting buddy Lance with me for both outings. We work very well together as a team and being able to cover twice the ground is a huge plus. Here is Anthony’s take on how things went down.

On January 4th I made the final decision to purchase my girlfriend an engagement ring to give to her at midnight (because the fourth was her birthday and I didn’t want to give it to her for that.) So at midnight in front of twenty of our friends and family I got on one knee and asked her to marry me. She said yes and then the excitement followed pictures everywhere and a celebration. We decided to let the night drag on into an after party. We went to our friend’s house and had about six of us just hanging out. We all decided to go outside when my girlfriend decided to go play in the snow(she was excited so it was just her having fun.) However the ring had not been sized one hundred percent at this point. She eventually got out of the snow and realized that she had dropped her ring!! We immediately started to search the area with phone flashlights trying to find the ring. After a while we realized that all these people weren’t a good choice because we were just stepping on each others toes. We ran to Wal Mart to get materials for a search party since we couldn’t find a metal detector. Armed with flash lights, head lamps, a few rakes and will power we began our five hour search in the back yard. We still came up empty at around 7 am I was offered a metal detecting wand to help assist my search. Again no luck with the wand. After hours of searching I had finally decided to do some research on the whole topic of losing rings. Somehow I stumbled across theringfinders.com. I didn’t think that this would be any help because I was sure there was no one in the area but I decided to give it a look anyway. There ended up being someone roughly ten miles away from the house I was doing the search party! I was able to get in contact with Mr. Wagner and he said he would be able to come out later in the day because he had another call and he was checking to see what the weather was going to do. After I contacted him I decided I’d give it one more go just because I was still worried and wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway. I went and purchased a metal detector from harbor freight tools and now I was ready to go on a search again. Ok without saying much unless your trained don’t even waste your time buying one of these. Eventually we gave up even searching with a detector we were getting hits everywhere in the yard. As soon as I decided to call it a day Mr. Wagner called me back to say he was on his way around 10am. Himself and a colleague showed up shortly thereafter armed and ready to find the ring. I had a general direction of where we thought the ring was at so I gave them the perimeter and they were on the hunt. As soon as they started not even 30 seconds !!! into the search they were able to locate the ring!!!! They were both very nice gentleman and I was finally able to go to sleep after an all night search party in frigid conditions digging through snow with bare hands. This man will find your ring 100% don’t pass him up if you’re in need of help the price was next to nothing for such a priceless piece of jewelry.

Ring Loser

Anthony 🙂

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What a great end to a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon. Two searches, two recoveries…….and the 100% success rate continues!!!

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Lost Platinum Wedding Band Recovered In Perry Hall, Maryland!

  • from Baltimore (Maryland, United States)
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The success continues! I must admit that I never imagined this 100% success streak would continue this long. The best part of it is not the actual streak, but the amount of people that I’ve been able to help out over the past few years.

The most recent, or should I say the most recent TWO recoveries happened this past Sunday(1/5/14)! The first was for Rodney. He called me on Friday explaining how he lost his wedding ring while taking down Christmas decor. I’ll let Rodney tell you how things went down after that.

Last week I took down my Christmas lights and decorations and was hurrying as it was quickly getting dark and beginning to snow outside.  As I finished and came into the house I realized that my wedding ring had somehow fallen off while outside.  I frantically went outside with a flashlight and attempted to locate the ring but was unsuccessful.  The next day I was searching the internet looking for anyone that may be able to help, when I came across the Ring Finders website.  I read Jim’s blog and was given a sense of hope that he may be able to help as he has a 100% location success rate.  I contacted Jim and we made plans to meet that Sunday to attempt to locate the ring.  When Sunday arrived I did not think we would be able to search as it was raining / sleeting with still over 5 inches of snow on the ground.  Jim arrived with his friend Lance and after introductions the two men began to search for the ring.  After nearly two hours of searching Jim began to thoroughly search each bush while on his hands and knees as a last attempt to locate the ring.  I heard Jim call out that he found it and immediately showed it to me.  Jim & Lance’s professionalism and skills were very present that day and I would recommend them to anyone who ever needs their services going forward.

Rodney

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Stay tuned for the story of the second recovery in the same day!

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Lost Platinum Wedding Band recovered in Severna Park, Maryland!

  • from Baltimore (Maryland, United States)
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The streak continues! A gentleman by the name of Brock emailed me several days ago about his lost wedding ring.  Again, I can’t emphasize enough how important taking good notes, both physically and/or mentally, are important to the success of finding your lost item. Brock did an excellent job at this which in turn made the chances of success very likely. Brock not only had the details fresh in his mind of exactly what happened, but he physically marked the spot he was standing on his property when he believed the ring flew off. He did go out and buy a metal detector and gave it a shot himself, but quickly realized that having a metal detector is only half the battle. Knowing how to operate it to its fullest capabilities is a must.  Once I arrived at his home,  I was able to recover the ring in about 25 minutes. It was about 5 yards from the spot he marked, buried in a small pile of leaves.  Here are a few pictures of the ring itself and a very happy Brock!Brocksringphoto a

 

Remember, if you are unfortunate enough to lose a ring, piece of jewelry, keys and the like,  attention to your surroundings is the most important factor. The other is to contact someone that not only has a metal detector, but the skill and experience to use it. Please be sure to check everyone’s blog in your area if you need help. Once you do that, the decision who to contact should be an easy one based on success.

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Platinum Wedding Band Recovered near Wye Mills, Maryland!

  • from Baltimore (Maryland, United States)
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I’m happy to say that the 100% success rate is still going strong!!!!! With that said, I was fairly confident on this occasion that we would find the lost wedding band simply because of the conviction the owner had.  As you have probably seen mentioned many times here at the Ring Finders, being able to describe in detail how, where and when you lost your valuable is the biggest factor when it comes to a successful recovery. Jeff had two of those three things going for him. He was able to describe in great detail exactly where and what he was doing when his wedding band slipped off his finger. Unfortunately Jeff did not hear of The Ring Finders until recently and despite losing the ring almost a YEAR ago, I was able to get it back where it belongs! Jeff was fortunate that this happened in a secluded, wooded area and not a community park, playground or ball field as the result could have been quite different. With that said, if you are reading this and think too much time has passed since you lost your valuable, keep in mind that might not be the case! Here is how things went down in Jeff’s own words…..

 

It was around a year or so ago when I went hunting near Wye Mills, MD (across the bay bridge). It was getting late in the day when I shot a deer, then had to field dress the deer in the dark. I walked into the woods and threw away the insides of the deer, and then wiped my hands with some old hickory tree leaves. After getting the deer back to my Jeep and driving for a while I noticed my wedding ring was missing! I sadly had to tell my wife that I lost my ring. We both were pretty disappointed, but I had hope because I was going to go back the next day to search for it….on my hands and knees for hundreds of yards. No luck finding the ring, but I still would not lose hope. I knew in my heart it was there in the woods, or somewhere in the field where I was hunting. Every time I would go hunting in that spot, I would always look in the direction of where I thought the ring was.

A year goes by, always thinking what if? I was reading an article on Yahoo about a woman who lost her ring, and how she used « TheRingFinders.com » to find her ring. I immediately thought to myself, this is my chance….no way! I contacted several members and Jim Wagner (who had a 100% success rate) was the first to call. I gave Jim my story, and I said I know it’s there or that’s what my heart tells me. Jim said, « If it’s there, I will find it »!! Wow, was he right! Lance and Jim started their search, and BAM… Jim says to me, your search is over! He found the ring!! I was in tears and so thankful that I never lost hope. I was also very happy that their 100% success streak  is alive and well!

Both me and my wife are so thankful for Jim and Lance! We will always be thankful to both of them for returning the ring in style. I have been telling everyone about these guys. What a awesome end to a search that was going on in my heart! They are simply the BEST, and two of the kindest people I have met. Jim and Lance, you guys are definitely classified as « Lord of the Rings »! Wow……  

Sincerely,

Jeff and Senayit

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It’s always a great feeling to return a lost item to anyone, but it was a little extra special with Jeff because you could see how much his marriage and the symbol of the marriage really means to him!

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Gold & Diamond Ring recovered from the water in Baltimore County, Maryland!

  • from Baltimore (Maryland, United States)
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Yuriy with his girlfriend's ring!

Yuriy with his girlfriend’s ring!

I must tell you, the 100% success streak looked to be in jeopardy! This was the first time I initially came up empty during a recovery attempt, but due to the fact that Yuriy was so certain that the ring was lost in a certain area of a popular beach hang out, we decided to give it another try. I’m glad we did! Here is Yuriy’s take on the experience in his own words.

My girlfriend, some friends, and I went boating on Carlo’s (a friend of mine) boat to Hart Miller Island. We were throwing a football around in the water and my girlfriend realized that her ring had fallen off. Without seeing it hit the water it was difficult to pinpoint an exact location. We attempted a search but it was futile. The following day I decided to try to Google for “ring finding services” and came upon the theringfinders.com. Seeming too good to be true I emailed all the finders in Maryland and received prompt responses from all of them. Jim’s response was unique because he was ready to go that instant with his 100% success rate. One big issue is that I do not own a boat. I quickly contacted Carlos who was kind enough to make the drive with me to meet Jim and his friend Lance to search for the ring. While driving it all seemed too good to be true that there are people who do this and I was a little concerned about being mugged. When I met Jim and Lance that concern went away, they are two genuinely good guys. We boated out to the location where the ring was lost and they searched for about 3 hours. The location was filled with a lot of trash and the first search was unsuccessful. They were nice to offer a second attempt and we agreed on the following weekend. After the amount of trash I thought that the chances of the 2nd attempt were slim.

Only Jim was able to come out the 2nd time and my friend Carlos was once again kind enough to provide the transportation. Jim began his search and I began texting my girlfriend who at this point in time was on vacation with her family. All of a sudden Jim comes up to me and asks me, « is this it? ». It was surreal when he showed me my girlfriends ring! We celebrated and I texted my girlfriend we found it. She didn’t believe me at first so I sent her a picture. She was ecstatic. Even now it all seems too surreal.

Big thank you to Jim and Lance for searching for the ring.  These are two great guys and I would recommend everyone to not hesitate to contact them to help you find what you’ve lost. Also, great to be part of their continued 100% success streak!

Out of the water, safe and sound!

Out of the water, safe and sound!

The ring was in knee high water unfortunately surrounded by bottle caps, pull tabs and other junk!

The ring was in knee high water unfortunately surrounded by bottle caps, pull tabs and other junk!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Gold and Diamond Rings recovered in Centreville, Virginia!

  • from Baltimore (Maryland, United States)
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The streak continues! 100% success in recovery since I became a search member of The Ring Finders! This time the lost items were in Centreville, Va. About 90 minutes from my residence. I got a call from David this past Saturday. I could hear the concern and panic in his voice, but luckily he contacted me immediately and gave a very accurate account of what he was doing and where he suspected he lost the rings. Because of that, along with the help of my buddy Lance, we have yet another successful recovery to add to the list.. I’ll let David tell you how things went down in his own words.

 

I had just finished cutting the lawn at my home in Centreville, VA, trying to beat the rain showers that were slated to move into my Northern Virginia location later that evening, when I realized that my Grandfather’s diamond ring and my wedding band of 30 years were missing from the little finger of my right hand where I wore them both. (This because of late life weight gain!)   I was certain that they must have come off while I was emptying the lawn mower cuttings into plastic bags.  However, after a careful search of three bags of clippings,  and repeated searches of my yard, I could not locate the rings.  When I told a neighbor what had happened and that I was considering buying a metal detector he suggested I hire a “Ring Finder” to come a search my yard for the rings.  I had never heard of such a thing, but a quick online search took me to the Ring Finders web site @ http://theringfinders.com/   The closest ring finder to my location was Jim Wagner of Pasadena, MD.   I called his number and told him about my situation.  He was very personable and wanted to help me, but he wasn’t sure if he could get to my until the following weekend, however he said he would check with a friend of his to see if he could help me sooner.  The prospect of living with my loss for a week without doing anything was worrisome to me so I decided to purchase an inexpensive metal detector and give it a shot myself.  Fortunately, Jim called me back the next day and said he could come and assist me that very afternoon.  This was very encouraging to me as my attempts to use the metal detector I had purchased were not yielding the desired results.  Jim and his partner Lance arrived at my location within a couple of hours of his call and began to search immediately.  Jim had told me in our previous phone conversation, (and as you can see on his web page), that he has a 100% success rate.  I found that statement to be very encouraging, however, I couldn’t help but thinking that I would be the one to break his streak!  As they began to search my front yard, I went around back to put my dog in the house as she was barking hysterically.  After putting my dog in the house, I was about to make a call to my wife and let her know that the Ring Finders were here and searching when there was a knock at my front door.  When I opened it, there stood Jim and Lance, my rings in hand!  It literally took them less than 5 minutes to find them!  I can’t tell you how amazed and appreciative I was!  These guys are good at what they do!  So if you ever find yourself in a similar situation, don’t despair, just call the Ring Finders!  I give them my highest recommendation.

Thanks David for the endorsement! I’m glad the rings are back where they belong!

Lance with a very happy David!

Lance with a very happy David!

So glad we were able to find these for David.

So glad we were able to find these for David.

 

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White Gold Wedding Band recovered in Trippe Creek in Easton, Maryland!

  • from Baltimore (Maryland, United States)
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Success once again! This time my buddy and I found ourselves back in the water looking for this target. I have to be honest, after 20 minutes or so of searching this creek bed I really thought we would be skunked for the first time since joining The Ring Finders. The bottom of the creek was not only muddy, but it was extremely SOFT! So much so that every step we took put us 6-9 inches deep in the clay-like bottom. What was worse, when we went to scoop a potential target, we sunk another 6-12 inches! It was like searching in quicksand. One slightly off scoop attempt could push the ring down into no man’s land making recovery impossible at that point. We decided a few minutes later that we would give it another 20-30 minutes and admit defeat if we were unsuccessful at that point. Luckily, a few more minutes of searching I got a good audible signal and made a very careful scoop attempt and……..well, I’ll let Denise tell you her story!

Up the creek!

 

My son was kayaking with my nephew in Trippe Creek near our house in Easton, Maryland.  Men will be boys, and they started cutting up and tipped over the kayak. His wedding ring (which should have been sized better) slipped off his finger in 4 or so feet of water.  He could not find it.  He was in serious trouble with his wife and was quite upset with himself.

 

The next day I searched online to find someone who had equipment for us to buy or rent or perform the search for us.  I found The Ring Finders website and called the person with the address closest to our home and it was Jim.  He agreed to come out on Sunday with his friend.

 

He asked us to try to narrow the search area as much as possible.  So, when they arrived on Sunday we had lined up my mom who had witnessed the incident and with my son on phone (he had already returned to his home out of state) we outlined a search area. The guys were patient, polite, and friendly. They were thorough in the search, and after almost 45 minutes in the water, Jim found the ring. Even they were amazed to find it, as it was in the muddy floor of the creek in almost 4 feet of water.  I would highly recommend to anyone as Jim says, they have 100% success rate.

 

Denise

Easton, Maryland

Returning the ring to Denise

 

A happy Denise!

 

The « thought to be lost forever » band.

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