Joe Au-Franz, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 10 of 36

This ring find began while I was hunting Ulua Lagoon for a visitor. While on the extreme North side Paul from Las Vegas Nevada approached me and asked if I could assist him in finding a Koa and Turquoise Inlaid ring. He lost it the evening before while relaxing in the shallow water. Then he said, « Oh never mind its wood & stone. » I said, « It has to have a base metal! » And Paul said, « I guess your right. » He pointed to the area in the water he was sitting with his girlfriend and I immediately started a quick grid search. There were some children in the way and when they moved I continued and immediately got a screaming 16-18 on the Nox. I looked over at Paul and said I’ll bet this is it. In one scoop as the sand drained out there shining in the scoop was Paul’s unique ring. Nice way to end my hunt. Aloha to Paul!

This ring find began when my fellow ring finder Don referred Marquis from Baton Rouge Louisiana to give me a call as I live 10 minutes from Waikiki Beach. Marquis told me he was on his honeymoon celebrating in Waikiki and when he picked up his gear as he was leaving the Beach, his Black Tungsten Wedding Band must have fallen out. He said they were directly behind the Duke Statue in the dry sand. I unfortunately, had just gotten dressed to attend a belated Father’s Day Dinner Party at Ala Moana which is minutes from Waikiki. I promised Marquis I’d bring my detecting gear with me and as soon as dinner was over my wife and I would stop by and recover his ring. Around 8:30PM Marquis texted that he was waiting at the Duke Beach. I texted him we were finishing dessert and I’d be on my way shortly. Thankfully, when we arrived there was one stall of HPD parking open and I parked there. From there I could see Marquis standing under the Duke Statue. I asked my wife to wait in the car as I suspected this would be a quick hunt and it was. A mere 5 minutes later I was heading home. Marquis was shocked how quick the recovery happened and exclaimed, « Joe your a Legend » Not exactly but go ahead and feel that way. If I understood him correctly his wife didn’t know and they would be flying home in the morning. Aloha to Marquis!

This ring find began on Monday when I got a heads up from Aloha Security that they stopped a gentleman at the lagoon for metal detecting and told him to contact myself for recovery. His detector wasn’t made for salt water so it was basically useless for a recovery. Keith is a Chief Navy Diver stationed in Hawaii and he reached out to me for ring finder services. After getting a map drawing and a few pics I told the Chief I’d hunt for his ring the next day after work. Aloha Security was also at the beach and confirmed the pics depicted the correct area to hunt. The Chief had been playing with his young sons in the water and at some point his ring came off. He was only out to chest deep water so all this info helps immensely with the hunt. I fired up the Nox and headed into the water to conduct a grid search. First target was a gold plated silver bracelet. The next target was a Gold Hawaiian style ring with the letter « D » on it. Next I found a fake Cartier Gold Love ring. Man what’s going on here I wondered? 20 minutes in and three pieces of jewelry. Finally I got a booming number « 16 » on the Nox and in one scoop in waist deep water out came Keith’s magnificent ring. I showed Aloha Security the find and immediately texted Keith a pic of his ring. He responded, « Having a rough day at work, your news couldn’t have come at a better time. Thanks Joe » That’s what it all about! We met up the next day at the Navy Exchange and Chief now has his ring back on his finger. Aloha to Chief Keith!

This ring find began when I got a text Tuesday from Kendra whose husband Nick lost his White & Rose Gold Wedding Band at Sherwood Beach along the shore break on Monday. Nick and Kendra live on Hickam AFB and while spending the day at Sherwood’s, Nick’s Wedding Ring flew off when he was throwing a football. When I checked the surf report besides uncooperating surface and a jellyfish invasion kept me away until this Friday morning. Kendra and I agreed to meet Friday morning low tide 6:45 at the gate to the beach park. Her husband Nick was meeting with his Commander so he couldn’t attend. Kendra brought two friends that were there the day of the loss to help show me the location. We walked down to the beach and they showed me the area. The tide was very low so I decided to quickly search parallel to the shoreline in hopes of getting lucky. Nope! That didn’t happen only two dimes. I started on the left side of the grid and on about the sixth leg I got a blaring #16 on the Nox and on the second scoop there was Nick’s ring glistening in the morning sunlight. I walked back to the car where Kendra & friends were waiting. I yelled over, Got it! Just let me wash off and I’ll bring it over. Everyone who detects the East Shore knows how lucky after 5 days of surf that I was able to find Nick’s ring. Kendra is planning a special reunion with Nick and his ring. Can’t wait to see a pic of that! Aloha to Kendra & Nick!

This ring find began when I got a text from Kate who was on vacation from Los Angeles, California with her husband Ryan. The text said after hours of desperation she found my profile on the Ring Finders and decided to text me. She wasn’t sure I could help so I gave here a call. Kate told me that she had put her rings in her short pocket then wrapped them in a towel before entering the water at Lanikai Beach. It wasn’t until later that day at Waimanalo Beach that she reached in the short pocket to retrieve them and the rings were gone. She figured they had to of fallen out back at Lanikai and when they returned they were nowhere to be found. Lanikai is heavily detected so I asked if they could meet at my house in a few hours and take one car to the beach as parking is nonexistent. I didn’t want another detectorist to find the rings. They agreed and we met and headed to Lanikai. Ryan dropped Kate & I at the beach access and went to find parking. Kate took me to the location on the beach after a little hesitation on the location she was sure we were in the correct spot. Thankfully no one was in the grid she drew in the sand for me. As I started the search I found a piece of foil and then a corona bottle cap. I got my hopes up as another detectorist would have pulled those. Then a moment later I got a double beep and looked down at the sand. There peeking up from the sand was a sparkling diamond. I looked over at Kate as I grabbed the ring she came over and was so elated and full of joy. She said I got the best one. I said no there is another target and I handed her the bottle cap. She yelled that’s not my ring…I said, No there is another target in the sand. However, it took two scoops to recover the Yellow Gold Cartier Love Ring Wedding Band. Now Kate was over the moon with joy. We walked along the beach to get back to wherever Ryan might have found parking discussing how lucky no one spotted the diamond. As we turned down the beach access path Ryan was at the other end and I gave him a thumbs up. I think he was astonished how quickly we recovered Kate’s rings. They both agreed they could now enjoy the rest of their vacation without the lost rings hanging over their heads. I meet the most wonderful people during these recoveries. Aloha to Kate & Ryan!

This Ring Find began when I got a call from Scott who was on vacation from Melbourne, Australia with his lovely wife Monali. While enjoying the cool waters of Kuhio Beach Waikiki Monali put her rings in a towel and then a chair pocket for safekeeping while they went swimming. When she returned Scott handed her the towel and her Engagement and Wedding Rings fell into the sand. They instantly saw the Engagement Ring but the Wedding Ring dreadfully disappeared. They searched for awhile but it became hopeless. Scott found The Ring Finders during a lost ring search on Google and that’s where I come in. I told Scott I could meet him in Waikiki in about 20 minutes so he could walk me down to where the ring was lost. Thankfully, although the beach was crowded the search area was clear. I fired up the Nox and immediately started getting targets. There were bottle caps everywhere. I removed several and moved to cover another part of the grid away from them. I instantly got a surface 10-11 screamer and in one scoop there was Monali’s beautiful Rose Gold and Diamonds Wedding Ring in the scoop. Scott was so relieved and knew his vacation could now continue normally. He met up with Monali later and they sent me the happy selfie. Aloha to Monali & Scott.

This Ring Find began as I was wrapping up a ring hunt for a child’s ring when I was approached by a gentleman who was acting as an interpreter for a Ukrainian lady as both were standing in the shallow part of the lagoon. As the story goes she was wondering if I could hunt for her son-in-law’s Bible Verse Inscribed Wedding Ring that was lost while he was playing volleyball in the water several days ago. She wasn’t sure of the type of metal. But as she described the ring through the interpreter I realized I had found the ring the past weekend and it was at home. I told the interpreter to have her son-in-law Nick come see me on the beach and recite the verse so I would be sure. About 10 minutes later Nick arrived and was in shock he immediately recited the exact verse and I told him I’d come back the next morning to return it to him. Nick currently lives in Sacramento California and was on vacation with family. As you can see he has his ring back and I’m so happy his mother-in-law reached out to me. It helps to carry your detector proudly when walking the beach. Aloha to Nick and his Family!

This ring find began when I got a text last night that read, « my husband lost his wedding ring at china man’s hat yesterday…any chance you could search for it? » I called and Jason who serves in the Air Force told me he was playing with his two sons in the shallow water behind the breakwater at Kualoa Regional Park and his Palladium Wedding Band went missing. We agreed to meet the next morning at the Park so he could show me the area. I’ve never been to the back of the park so him being there helped quite a bit. After about a 20 minute grid search with no luck other than coins and pull tabs, Jason expanded out the grid search South & West. I started again and more coins and trash. Just as I was about to complete the last leg of the new grid I got a screaming #9 on the Nox and in one scoop there was Jason’s shining ring in the scoop. Jason was right at the end of the grid so all I had to do was look up and say, « Got it ». A sigh of relief came over Jason’s face as he knew we were nearly done with the grid and it wasn’t looking good until that moment. We shook hands and laughed a bit in relief. Nice way to celebrate Memorial Day! Aloha to Jason and his family!

This ring find began last Saturday while hunting in Ulua Lagoon. I found a Silver High School ring at the low tide mark of the lagoon. It was a screaming high tone on the Nox and I was able to recover it on the first scoop. I could see it was engraved but had to use my loop to see the full name. Fortunately, I was able to find Syann on Facebook so I left her a message. After a few hours with no response my daughter Jodi found her on Instagram. She IG’d Syann and she responded immediately. She told us she had lost the ring back in March while enjoying the day at the lagoon but wasn’t exactly sure where on the beach and wrote it off as gone. I got her address and mailed the ring to her in Kapolei. She now has the ring back on her finger. Precious ring returned and Syann was so thankful. Aloha to Syann!