Kyle Tobias, Author at The Ring Finders

Class ring missing 50 years returned Wauconda, IL

  • from Trevor (Wisconsin, United States)
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A few months ago, I got a call about looking for a ring in the water of Bangs Lake in Wauconda, IL.  The catch was that the ring has been lost since the 1970’s.  Long story short on that ring but I still have not found it yet.  What I did find was a class ring from the class of 1967 and luckily the ring had initials on the inside and all the details of the school were visible.  The school was contacted and the yearbook was found and the alumni program had contact info for the owner of the ring.

The story of the ring in a nutshell.  Guy gives ring to girlfriend in 1968 as a promise of a life together before he got drafted into the army where he served until his discharge in 1970.  Girl goes to beach for the day and loses ring in the water in 1968 and spent several hours trying to look through sand and mud in the water but was unable to locate it and had to give up.  Guy gets back from service, gets a stable job, they get married and are still married to this day.  I was able to meet up with them and get the ring back that they never thought they would see again after 55 years.

                      

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lost fishing pole and sunglasses recovered in Lake Geneva, WI

  • from Trevor (Wisconsin, United States)
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I was contacted by a person who was out fishing from his kayak when he accidently knocked his fishing pole into about 40ft of water, then while trying to make a quick grab also lost his sunglasses.  I met him down by the launch a few days later and was able to utilize my ROV (remote operated vehicle) to make the recoveries.  After about an hour and a half both items were recovered.  The visibility in the water was pretty clear which made using the ROV a lot easier.

 

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Ring found in Mt. Pleasant, WI

  • from Trevor (Wisconsin, United States)
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This ring hunt was referred to me by fellow ring finder Paul Humphrey who was unable to make it out due to other commitments.

I was contacted by Nick, who had told me about losing his ring in his yard while chasing after his dog that had just gotten out of the house.  This event occurred a few months ago while there was still snow on the ground and freezing temperatures.  During the chase, Nick slipped in the snow while rounding the garage, got up and continued on.  After he made it back into the house, he noticed the ring was missing.

The overall search area was the backyard which was not bad in itself.  The challenge with this hunt came from overhead powerlines, plenty of nails along a fence line, and underground power and cable lines along the garage and house.  After three and a half hours and some adjustments to the metal detector, the ring was successfully recovered up against the post of the fence and hiding under some leaves.

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Ring Recovered in river near Rockford, IL

  • from Trevor (Wisconsin, United States)
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I was contacted yesterday about a wedding ring that fell off during a canoe trip down the Kishwaukee river. The canoe had gotten hung up on a submerged tree limb in a faster current area and the ring fell off. The owners searched the area and was able to see it in the water but lacked the equipment to retrieve it and reached out to the ring finders for assistance. I was able to meet them out at the river this morning and after a short walk upstream we were at the location. The current made it a little challenging to swing the detector and stand still and luckily was only a few feet deep and with a great location given by the owners the ring was recovered fairly quickly.  After being in the river almost a full two days it had gotten buried about 3 inches under silt and gravel.

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Engagement ring and wedding band found in Chain O’ Lakes Illinois

  • from Trevor (Wisconsin, United States)
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I received a call this morning about an engagement/ wedding band set that had fallen off in the water during a game of volleyball on the 4th of July.  I was able to meet the couple out at the lake and their friend gave us a lift on the boat to the spot where the ring was lost.  After 5 hours of searching in the water and digging up somewhere close to 30-40 bottle caps, both rings in the set had been recovered.  The search area had to be expanded once the main area was covered and both rings were found about 10ft from each other in an area that was closer to shore than what the owners had been hanging around in.

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Lost wedding ring in Powers Lake, Genoa City, WI 8/7/2016

  • from Trevor (Wisconsin, United States)
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I was contacted by a guy who lost his ring while swimming in Powers Lake near a floating trampoline.  He had a pretty good idea of where it was and the water was only about 6ft deep but with all of the weeds and the muck in the area it made it hard to see clearly to the bottom.  The floating trampoline was his landmark however the trampoline could moved close to 10ft in any direction.  After an hour and a half of searching with scuba gear, the ring was located right by the trampoline.  

 

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Lost Engagement Ring near Bristol, WI 7/24/2016

  • from Trevor (Wisconsin, United States)
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I was contacted today by a man and his fiancée.  They were traveling near a road when the ring fell off of her hand and landed in the grass somewhere near the road.  They felt they had a pretty good idea of where the ring had ended up and after about 30 minutes of searching, the ring was located about 20ft outside of their original search zone.

 

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