Joe Au-Franz, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 29 of 36

This ring find began when I saw a text on my phone from my wife that said call Hillary at Hickam Beach she lost her ring again. I just came in from a scuba dive hunt so I was packed for whatever scenario came up. I called Hillary and she said remember me you hunted for my ring last year at Ko Olina and now I’ve lost it in 1 foot of water at Hickam Beach. I told Hillary no worry I’ll be there in about 30 minutes. When I arrived Hillary showed me where she was holding her toddler son’s hand in the water and the ring came off. The tide was up and the shore surge was fairly significant. As light as the ring was it could have been pushed up onto the beach. Only an hour expired since she lost it so I figured not much movement. I went from waist deep to up onto the dry sand line but only found 2 pull tabs and a quarter. I asked Hillary again to explain to me how the ring came off and we decided it possibly had gotten flung rather than a straight drop into the water. I told her I would go out to chest deep water this time. Low and behold straight out from where she thought she lost the ring in 3 feet of water I got a screaming target and there was Hillary’s gorgeous engagement ring. It was a good 15 feet out from where she thought. Then I handed her the ring, she gave me a big hug and that bright smile. That’s what its all about. On a side note Hillary has used TRF three times once with our guru hunter Justin. I told Hillary your a beautiful girl but I don’t want to see you again!!! Aloha to Hillary!

This Ring Find began when I got a call from Nathalie of Ottawa, Canada. While sunbathing at Waikiki beach Nathalie put her wedding ring in the fold of her beach wrap that she was wearing. When she stood up the ring popped out of the fold and disappeared into the sand. She and her husband Eli tried helplessly to find the ring but they weren’t exactly sure where it landed in the sand. Fortunately, Nathalie Googled « Metal Detector Waikiki » and my Ring Finders link came up. She immediately called my home number and my wife passed her my cellphone number. I’ve been bringing my detecting gear to work for just such cases. It was almost knock off so I took a few minutes comp time and headed to Nathalie’s location in Waikiki. We met at the McDonalds across from the beach and she took me to where her husband Eli was watching the drop zone. I marked off the grid and 15 seconds later had a great tone and one scoop down there was Nathalie’s beautiful ring. She gave me a big hug and her sadness immediately disappeared. Love the quick recoveries. Aloha to Nathalie & Eli.

This ring find started with a phone call from Monte from Forest Hills, Queens, New York. After swimming for nearly an hour at Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach as Monte was coming into the beach his Platinum Wedding Band came off. A few folks with snorkels and masks tried searching the area but the ring wasn’t found. A gentleman on the beach with a land detector was consulted but he didn’t seem interested at all in the lost ring. Then Monte googled « lost ring Hawaii » and that’s how he found « The ring finders ». I met Monte under the Rainbow tower and he showed me the landmark he used to pin point the area his ring came off. He said the water was about 6-7 feet deep and I knew that to be at least 1 foot deeper then now. Our tide difference is about 2 feet in Hawaii. I donned my scuba gear and proceeded to the spot. Visibility this time of day was a horrible 3-6 feet. I could barely see my bright red-orange guide rope I use as a grid line underwater. I found a zinc cent, a quarter then a hair clip on the first 75 foot pass. I surfaced to reset my guide rope when a gentleman approached me on the surface and asked if I was looking for the guys ring that was lost earlier. I said yes and he said he found a Platinum ring in the sand on the down slope which is about 9-10 feet deep. I told him lets go ashore and call Monte to see if it was his ring. I found Monte and his lovely wife Daphne sunbathing on the beach. I told Monte I found your ring with this guy. It happened to be the Metal detectorist from earlier in the day but he didn’t know where Monte would be or how to find him. Monte described the inscription perfectly and the gentleman went to his room to get Monte’s ring. Luckily by chance he noticed me in the water hunting and we were able to put Monte back with his Wedding ring. Nice way to end the day. Aloha to Monte and Daphne and especially the honest gentleman who didn’t give us his name.

This ring hunt began when I got a text from my wife. In the text it said to call Jeannie from Sausalito, California. When I called Jeannie she told me while she was snorkeling in the lagoon she was holding onto a buoy safety rope and as the current pulled on her both of her wedding rings came off and fell into 10-15 feet of water. When she got ashore and told Aloha Security they gave her my number. My truck was already loaded with scuba gear so I told her after eating my lunch I’d meet her at the resort. At the resort Jeannie showed and explained to me where the rings came off so I donned my scuba gear and proceeded to the buoy line. As I was snorkeling over a local couple were snorkeling in the area and when I approached them they said « Are you looking for something? » I responded a gold wedding ring and the young lady spotted one from the surface and dove down and retrieved it. I gave them a description and they handed over the ring to me. I still had to find the other one so I started my underwater search. Their were many coin and garbage targets and I even found a Silver Hawaiian style ring. About 30 minutes into the hunt I got a nice low gold tone and two hand scoops down was the other matching ring. This ring was under a small sand dune. When I got ashore I told Jeannie I found 3 rings and hopefully two of them were hers. When I pull them out of my catch jar a look of relief came over Jeannie’s face. Jeannie & her husband were in Hawaii for their anniversary and she felt so bad having to tell her husband she had lost both of her rings. Thankful for the honest couple and that I found the other one. Aloha to Jeannie!

This ring find began when I got a frantic call from Samantha from Sydney, Australia. While she was playing with her child on the beach her Engagement ring at some point fell off. She was in a rather confined area but she wasn’t exactly sure when or where it exactly came off. I was at work but told her I’d have my wife Wendy bring my Excalibur II metal detector to my work then I’d be right over but it would be at least 45 minutes because its just over 30 miles away. Samantha assured me she’d wait on the beach until I arrived. My wife delivered the Excal in record time and I got on my way to the resort. Samantha met me on the beach and explained it was her 6th Anniversary and her husband who was in the US Navy was deployed. She was totally devastated that she had lost the ring. I told her I was very confident we would find her ring. I asked her to hold my pin-pointer until I had a target. I wanted her to regain her composure and helping me would do just that. First target in the sand was a bent piece of aluminum. As I was getting towards the center of the grid I got a real nice tone. I asked Samantha to hand me the pin-pointer so I wouldn’t knock the diamond off her ring. Surprisingly it was her ring and it was at least four inches into the sand. She must have stepped on it while looking for it. Tears of joy started streaming down her face and Samantha was obviously so shocked her ring was found so quickly. These are the best hunts. Quick & painless. Aloha to Samantha!

This ring find began while I was on a break from another ring find. Greg from California’s Central Valley was on the beach relaxing with his wife when he took his ring off and placed it on a towel. When they moved location Greg forgot about his ring and he assumed it fell off the towel and into the sand. He rented a metal detector but Aloha Security stopped him and told him to call « Joe » the only authorized resort detectorist. He said he wasn’t making much progress anyway. Greg was at the Dole Plantation tour and texted me some decent location data. I started my grid search but their were a few folks in the box. I explained what I was doing and I’d have to ask them to move at some point if I didn’t find the ring elsewhere. They all were very nice about it. After not finding Greg’s ring in the area he described I thought maybe when he picked up the towel the ring got flung farther away. It was so because a few more grid lines outside the box and I got a nice platinum tone and one scoop down was Greg’s stunning ring. The folks that were in the area were shocked that I found it and all wanted to see the ring up close. I then went back to my truck and texted Greg a pic. He called immediately and asked if he could drive over and pick it up in about 30 minutes. As you can see in the pic all came together again in this new year. Aloha to Greg.

This ring find began when I got a call from Ashlee who lives on Oahu. While she was standing in the shore break at Outrigger Canoe Club beach she was taking her ring off to put on her beach towel for safe keeping when it fell in the water and the next wave erased it from view. Slightly panicked Ashlee and her husband Greg tried searching for it but it was no where to be found. Ashlee went on line and looked for metal detecting service and that’s how she got my number. I was relaxing at home watching a football game but told Ashlee the game was a blow out so I’d pack my gear and come right down. Waikiki is only 10 minutes from my house but it seems like I hit every single red light and slow bus along the way. Ashlee had her husband Greg meet me in the parking garage which was nice as there is zero parking on the holidays. We walked down to the beach and Ashlee was standing in the water where her ring fell off. I started a grid around her location and down to the low tide mark but no ring. Seeing how tiny Ashlee’s fingers were and knowing it was a 1 carat diamond I suspected the first wave probably carried the ring up further onto the beach. Finally I got my first target and one scoop down there was Ashlee’s beautiful ring. My guess was right. Ashlee gave me a big hug and Greg a thankful hand shake. A few spectators on the beach told me congratulations and I thought what a great way to start the New Year. Aloha to Ashlee & Greg.

This ring find started when I received a Craigslist alert for a lost gold wedding band. I just started drinking my morning cup of java and reading my email when the alert came in. The post was just 10 minutes old so I knew they must be awake so I gave the number a ring. A gentleman named Steve from Washington DC told me his ring fell off while he was walking in waist deep water at Kuhio Beach. I told him I lived 10 minutes away and he gave me some coordinates on where the ring fell off but he was leaving for Maui soon and was probably not going to be able to show me exactly where. I know the beach well and I was planning to detect that morning anyway so it might as well be there. After about 30 minutes of hunting a gentlemen came down to the beach and asked if I was Joe. It was Steve and he was able to narrow down the search area. I drew a few lines in the sand as shore markers and went to work. Steve came back and said we needed to move the eastern most mark more eastward as his wife was watching from their room in the hotel across the street and thought that area was more exact. In the end she was exactly right three lines into her extension area and I got the nice low gold tone and two scoops down was Steve’s gold wedding band. This was an hour after they departed for Maui so when I got back to my truck I texted Steve a pic of the ring. He responded immediately and asked if I could Express mail it to him on Maui. Steve got his ring back around 4PM today and sent me the pic above with it back on his finger. Aloha to Steve!

This hunt began when I got a call from Alex at Aulani Disney Resort. He told me a gentleman named Christian lost his Go Pro 4 with all their vacation photos while paddle boarding in the lagoon. I told him I could be there around noon to look. While en-route I got stopped at the freeway entrance as President Obama’s motorcade was heading to the North Shore. Thankfully the wait was only 15 minutes. Not many route options on the island of Oahu. When I arrived I went down to the beach to get the locating data and to meet Christian. The lagoon was extremely murky from the high west surf and visibility was only about ten feet which is horrible in Hawaii. Alex paddled out to the area as I snorkeled out. The depth was about fifteen feet so I started my search. I bring my metal detector in case the camera gets covered in sand and silt. As I started my grid the Go Pro came into view lying among some rocks. I put it inside my wet-suit and continued my metal detecting for other lost treasure. This time I only found a tungsten wedding band, a pair of sunglasses and a few coins. Never know around here what you might find. Christian and his wife were ecstatic that I found their Go Pro. It was still on when I found it. Aloha to Christian.

This ring find was from a craigslist alert I got last night at 8PM. The ad said lost my white gold wedding ring at Kaimana Beach this afternoon ten feet into the water. The ad was placed 8 minutes before my alert so I called the number and got Jamie from Ohio who was attending Law School on Island. Jamie told me while playing catch with a football he fell into the shallow water catching the football but losing his white gold wedding ring in the process. Several of his fellow classmates looked but the sand swallowed his ring completely and they couldn’t find it. I told Jamie to take his craigslist ad down immediately so no other detectorists go to the beach and hunt. Jamie described where in the water I should look and I told him I would check the tides to see if it could wait until the morning. When I looked the tide was on an extreme low and living ten minutes away I grabbed my gear and head lamp and cruised down to the beach. My daughter Korin was with me so I gave her my phone, put her in the life guard shack and with a flashlight told her to play Pokemon Go while I did my hunt. I walked down from the shower area as Jamie had described and walked into the shallow water. Not 15 seconds had gone by when I heard an excellent tone and two scoops down bingo there was Jamie’s ring. I immediately called Jamie but his phone went to voicemail. I left a message saying I found the ring and we could meet the next day for return. When Jamie called the next morning he was so excited that I got him out of the dog house and being a submarine veteran he was able to meet me on base to retrieve his ring. He had never been on Pearl Harbor so after getting his ring he went on a tour of the submarine base. I’m sure that brought back some great memories of his time in the fleet. Aloha to Jamie.