3 Gold Rings Lost in the Sand, Found and Returned North Myrtle Beach SC

Shortly after 7 pm, I got a call from Allison saying she had lost 3 rings (all gold) in the dry sand that was probably under water by now. She told me that one of the rings was her wedding band and the other 2 were 14k. She asked if I could help find the rings. I asked her about what time she lost them, and she replied around 4 pm. I asked her if we could meet at 9:30pm and if she’d send me the address. She agreed to the time and sent the address, The address wasn’t coming up so I asked for the address again. Her phone did an auto correct the first time but got it right the second time. As time passed, I was thinking of the time of loss and low tide and text her asking if we could meet at 8:30 instead. She agreed so we were set.

When we met on the beach, Allison introduced me to her best friend Hannah. The 3 of us walked down the beach to the suspected loss area. On the way, I asked Allison how the rings were lost. She explained she took them off to apply sunscreen and put them in the cup holder of the beach chair. As the tide started coming in they moved their chairs to higher ground. After a short time, they packed up to go to dinner. It was while they were driving to dinner that she realized she forgot to take her rings out of the cup holder. They went back to the condo and went through everything they had on the beach with no luck. Allison said she had called her mother and told her about the loss. She said her mother called her back giving her my information and she called me. We got to the area that both Allison and Hannah agreed was the area they had been sitting. They were basing it off a trash can near the dunes. I turned on my Nox 800 and went to work. I was looking for VDI (visual display indicator) of around 13. I did a north/south grid and came up empty. I went back to Allison and told her I didn’t think we were in the right area because I came up with nothing. She was on the phone and suddenly said “there’s a new development!!” She asked if the trash cans got moved and I told her no, they get emptied in the mornings, but rarely get moved. We walked back down the beach to where we came across the access point and spotted another trash can. Allison and Hannah picked a new spot based off that trash can and I started a new grid line running east/west, perpendicular to the tide line. On my second line I hit 3 separate targets, all registering 11-13. I dug the first target and Bingo; I had the 1^st gold ring sticking out of the sand. I held it up and hollered at Allison. Both she and Hannah came flying down the beach. I handed the ring to Allison to identify. One down, two to go. The next target I dug up was the wedding band. As I reached down and picked it up and handed it to Allison, the tears came rushing out. She was overwhelmed, as was I. Back to work, I pulled out the 3^rd ring. Mission accomplished, all 3 rings were back where they belong, and Allison couldn’t have been happier.

Allison – Thank your mother for me for sending you, my way. Also, for trusting me to help find your lost treasures. It was my pleasure.  All the best to you in your new profession as a Dentist, everybody loves Dentists!

Jim