Lost ring in Zion National Park: Found

Maria was on vacation, hiking through the Narrows in Zion National Park. About knee deep in the cold Virgin River, her grandmother’s family heirloom wedding ring slipped off Maria’s finger and disappeared into the water. Maria, together with friends and strangers, searched for the ring, but couldn’t find it. After she returned home to Connecticut, she found me on TheRingFinders.com. While she contacted the National Park Service for permission for me to find her ring, I packed my metal detectors into a backpack. I left home before 3:00 am, drove 4 hours to Zion, and hiked for an hour through the Virgin river, through water that got as deep as my chest, so I had to hold my backpack over my head to keep it dry. Thanks to Maria’s detailed instructions, I found the location where the ring was lost. I selected the best metal detector for that terrain and started searching. It was literally about 30 seconds into the search when I got a beep, and there was her ring! They hadn’t found it earlier because it was nestled between two rocks, but rocks won’t hide gold from a metal detector. It took another one-hour to hike back through river, and another four hours to drive back home. I sent Maria a video of me sealing her precious ring into a box and attaching a UPS label. Her ring is now back on her finger.