Joe Au-Franz, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 31 of 36

This ring find started Thursday 18 August when I was checking my email. A ring find request came in asking me to call before 11PM. When I called Stacy from Tuscaloosa, Alabama answered and told me her daughter Anna had lost her three Gold & Diamonds Wedding rings on the beach in the sand. Anna had taken her rings off and placed them in the pocket of her back pack for safe keeping. Later that evening she pulled a shirt out of her back pack and when she went for the rings they were gone. She assumed they must have fallen out when she got the shirt. They looked for about an hour but the wind was blowing so hard they were getting pelted by the sand and it hurt. They decided to try the next morning. Stacy started google searching for a Metal Detector Rental and stumbled across the ring finders. Seeing that I was ex-Navy that’s when she sent the email. I told Stacy I would meet them as early as possible Friday morning before the wind started picking up again. We met at the McDonald’s on base and Stacy & Anna took me to the beach where the rings were lost. I had Anna demonstrate how she lost the rings and I drew a box grid in the sand. Surprisingly the area was sterile of metal but there was all kinds of plastic trash. As I was getting to the extreme edge of the grid I got an excellent tone. Because of the diamonds I used my pin-pointer and amazingly the ring was 6 inches deep already from the blowing sand. That was ring #1 but not the solitaire diamond. About 4 feet away I got another nice tone. This was the solitaire also 6 inches deep. Then slightly to the left another nice tone. That was it the 3rd and final ring. My first Trifecta and 3 for 3. Anna & Stacy were so happy & excited and actually surprised it only took 10 minutes. A few warm hugs and thank yous and I could tell a weight had been lifted off Anna’s shoulders. If ever in Alabama I’ve been invited to go relic hunting. Stacy has a White’s detector and has found a Confederate States sword buckle during one of her hunts. If I’m ever there count me in! Aloha to Anna & Stacy!

This ring find started Friday 5 August when I got a broken phone call from Steven from Anchorage, Alaska. While enjoying the evening at Honu Lagoon Steven took his Gold Wedding Band off and tucked it into a pocket of his lounge chair. At the end of the day as he was going to wash off he realized that when he picked up his chair on the beach his ring must have fallen out because it wasn’t in the pocket when he got to his car. He spent time looking in the parking lot, the shower area and all points in between. It occurred to him that the ring was probably in the sand but where? He traced his path back to where he was sitting but no luck there either. He mentioned his loss to the Aloha Security Patrol and they told him to get a hold of Joe the resort detectorist. « He finds everything » they said. The call from Steven was very static and broken. I was able to get the ring type, lagoon area and that he would be back the next day. I went back the next day but Steven never showed up so I started a search without him. I found a lot of change and a few pull tabs but no ring. I decided I’d call Steven and see what happened. Maybe the ring was found. I couldn’t reach Steven at all neither text nor call. I decided to give it another try this morning and after extending my grid search out two more lines it paid off. About 30 feet down from the shower there was Stevens Gold Wedding Band two scoops down. I did notice the sand sifter truck’s tracks so it was possible the sifter moved the ring out of the area. In any case I texted Steven that I found his ring. No response! While eating my lunch at work I tried calling him again and this time before I hung up a call was being returned to me. It was Steven. He informed me the original phone we were talking on got destroyed in the water and he just picked up his new phone with the other number being forwarded. That was a relief on my mind and his. Steven couldn’t believe I found the ring and since he works on Pearl Harbor Base as I do we met at my workplace. Photo above. With a handshake Steven gratefully thanked me and a smile from ear to ear said it all. Aloha to Steven.

How fitting that my 50th ring find service is to a fellow US Navy Limited Duty Officer such as I retired in 2003. This started with a phone call from Todd who was looking to buy an inexpensive metal detector. I asked him if he lost something and just needed someone to metal detect for it. He told me his 4 year old daughter took his wife Jennifer’s White Gold Wedding Band and threw it out in the front yard from the front lanai. He didn’t get to her in time before she threw the ring he only heard a « tink » of the ring hitting the concrete sidewalk. The front lawn is Hawaiian Crab Grass and it can hide a ring with ease. To make matters worse the lawn crew was coming in two days and if we didn’t find the ring heaven only knows where a weed wacker or lawn mower could send that ring. I started my search closest to the house thinking a 4 year old couldn’t throw a ring very far. I had to deal with the side walk re-bar but other than that the grass was sterile. First target was a Lincoln cent. Working away from the house I found two more underground targets using my pin-pointer so I moved on. I was beginning to think this ring took a weird bounce and might be in the bushes close to the house. That was going to be a pain. I decided to do one more arc of the search and near an irrigation pipe I got a nice tone. I put the pin-pointer into the grass and got a signal. Even with the pin-point it was hard to see the ring in the grass. Todd and I joked it was time to get his daughter into baseball because she had quite the arm. The ring was a good 20+ feet from where she threw it. Todd said he would have never thought to look that far away. With a handshake and a Mahalo the ring wasn’t going to be launched by the lawn crew. Aloha to Todd & Jennifer!

After a morning hunt I returned to my truck at Hilton Hawaiian Village and there was a voicemail waiting for me. My wife Wendy called and said I had a ring find and she had a number for me to return a call. I called Chris from Makakilo, Hawaii who told me his wife Michelle lost her engagement ring in the sand at Aulani Disney Resort. She had taken her rings off and set them on a towel on her lap to apply suntan lotion. When she finished and stood up the rings fell out of the towel. One landed on her lounge chair the other was no where to be found. Chris & Michelle carefully combed the sand most of the rest of the day and Chris came back the next morning still with no luck finding the ring. Then he searched YELP and that’s how he found me. He asked if I rent metal detectors and I said no I do the search myself. Unless you have experience using a metal detector in Hawaii I don’t recommend renting. Too many variables. Use a ring finder expert. Chris agreed and we decided to meet at the Disney resort after Chris & Michelle ate breakfast. I met Chris in the public parking lot and we walked down to the beach where the ring was lost. Fortunately the tourists occupying the seats Chris & Michelle had used the day prior were so accommodating and moved so we could get the metal lounge chairs out of the search area. Chris demonstrated how Michelle lost the rings. The Wedding Band landed on the lounge chair but the Engagement ring disappeared. Since the rings were together on the towel I looked immediately in the sand below where the other ring landed. No such luck. Next I started a grid search in the 10 by 15 foot grid. Surprisingly there were five targets 3 cents, a dime and a piece of foil but no ring. I decided to expand the search down slope and that’s when I got a faint but excellent tone. Two scoops down and there was Michelle’s gorgeous solitaire diamond Platinum ring. It was tiny no wonder the tone was faint. It was about 10 feet from where the other ring landed. Either during their search or the initial fling threw the ring down slope. Not always as we imagine. Chris and I met Michelle in the parking lot he hadn’t told her I found the ring. She thought she was going to meet the detectorist. When Michelle arrived after an initial greeting Chris couldn’t hold back he held up Michelle’s ring to her pleasant surprise. She gave him and I a warm hug and a sigh of relief was obvious. Nice way to end my Saturday. Aloha to Michelle & Chris!

While Metal Detecting the lagoon for a Gold Wedding band I was approached by a gentleman named Joey Sparks who said his Brother-In-Law Brian from San Clemente, California lost his Platinum & Gold Wedding Band in chest deep water not too far from where I was hunting. I told him if I found it I’d track them down. Joey said they would be around the pool all day. I continued on my search. After about five minutes I got an air raid siren of a tone while I was in neck deep water. It was all I could do to stay in position to dig the target. After about the fourth dig I had the target in the scoop. As the scoop broke the surface of the water I could see Brian’s huge Platinum & Gold ring in the bottom. Great I went to the area Joey said they would be and no one was around. I continued my hunt and after about thirty minutes a man called me from the shore, « Are you Brian? » I asked. Yes, are you Joe and did you find my ring? Yes, and matter of fact I did. A look of relief came over Brian’s face and he told me he had looked for a very long time the day before. I let him know his ring was buried and no way he would have seen it. We shook hands and I knew another tourist was going home with a smile. Aloha to Brian and Joey for finding me.