Mark Rubey, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 16 of 23

Lost ring at Pacific Beach Found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Thursday evening, Paolo decided to go into the ocean, so, he removed his wedding ring and gave it to his wife Celine for safekeeping. Celine placed it on one of her fingers and waited on a berm in the dry sand for his return. As the sun was setting, they got up and left the beach. Once they reached their car, it was discovered the wedding ring was missing from Celine’s finger. They returned to the area where they had been, but, in the failing light and acres of sand, the search was fruitless. Fast forward to Tuesday when I received an e-mail from Celine who relayed the sad story and asked if I could help find it. We made arrangements to meet the next morning at 10am. Being several days later, I explained that many different fates for the ring could have occurred. It’s a popular beach for other detectorist to search, so, it could have already been found, the beach grooming machines usually go through the area early Monday morning, the high surf could have washed over the area and buried it, etc. I met Celine up on the boardwalk and we hiked down to the search area. She was a little uncertain of the exact area where she was sitting, so, I searched many spots one by one, eliminating them all. I then started running a grid from where she was sitting to the stairs where they exited the beach. After 4 passes and about an hour and a half, I finally got a likely sound and reading on my E-trac. One scoop and I pulled up Paolo’s ring. Celine was amazed that it was found, as, she figured it was a long shot. It was just a matter of time on this one. I was finding other good targets in the area, so, I knew nobody else had detected there. I just had to keep expanding the search area until I ran across it. They had been married for just a month, so, I was happy to get this ring back to them, so it can add another chapter in it’s story. Celine decided not to tell Paolo right away, but, instead to surprise him at dinner! I bet he will be!20161116_113327 20161116_113352

Silver Strand State Beach lost ring Found!

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

I got the call this morning a little before 8am as I was about to leave and meet up with a detecting buddy for some old property hunting. Kim had lost her wedding band/engagement ring combo in the dry sand so my morning plans would have to be delayed a bit. Instead, I hot footed it over the the Silver Strand State Beach to search for a supposedly sterling silver wedding set. After getting the boundaries of the search area established, I started my grid. It was next to a block wall with rebar inside, so, getting right up next to it might pose a problem. a couple of minutes later, I get a nice low tone 12-07 on my E-trac….. probably a wad of foil…..not what I was looking for, so, I almost passed it by, but, I figured, what the heck. It was a good strong signal and removing it would keep any masking problem from occurring. I stuck my pin pointer into the sand and located the target. Fished it out with my fingers and to my amazement, it was Kim’s ring! I said to them, this is not sterling silver, it’s reading gold. Kim said, « oh yeah, it’s white gold, not sterling »! Good thing I didn’t ignore it! That’s why we ask what type of metal we’re asked to find. With most high end modern detectors, we can discriminate between metals and ignore some of the ones we’re not looking for, so, knowing exactly what we’re looking for is very important. In a large search area, that can be a real time saver. Everything turned out good and a very happy Kim and her husband John can now get some much needed sleep! Oh, I didn’t mention that they were just married and were on their honeymoon when this happened! In fact, it happened last night and they spent the night sleeping in their rental car at the beach so they could keep an eye on the area! Now that’s people who wanted that ring back! A pleasure to meet you both! Have fun on the rest of your honeymoon, a safe trip home, and thank you for the reward.

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Lost ring at Coronado found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Laura was at the beach with friends and lost her wedding ring. She had taken off all her jewelry and had placed them in her bag. Through the course of the day she removed items from the bag and the ring must have accidentally come out with them. At one point, the blanket was dragged 30 feet downwind to get a good shaking to remove the accumulated sand. Once she realized that her ring wasn’t in the bag anymore, the search was on. Soft sand and fairly large possible search area = no success. One of her friends went online seeking help and TheRingFinders.com popped up. I got the call and gathered my gear for hopefully a quick search. I’d been out all morning detecting in the 100 degree heat, so, I was hoping for an easy one. After gathering all the info I could, I had them move a bit of their gear so I could start my grid. After a quarter and a few pieces of scrap metal, I got a low tone right at the edge of the supposed search area. After the sand drained out of my scoop, I see a nice diamond ring matching her description. Cheers go up as everyone realized that it had been found along with a couple of heartfelt hugs. A pleasure to meet you all and thank you for the reward. Now, time for A/C and a cold one!

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Ring lost in Carmel Valley, Found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Greg called me asking for help finding his wedding ring in the backyard pool area of a friend’s home. He had been playing pool volleyball, when he lost his ring sometime during the fun. When he got out of the water, he noticed his naked finger, and started a search. They dove back in the pool and scanned the bottom, checked the filter, and combed the surrounding area…..even that night with a powerful light, hoping to catch a glint of sparkle from one of the stones in the band. No luck, so, Greg found me online and arranged to meet me at the friend’s house. When I arrived, we discussed the events leading up to the present, and I started my search while they went and rechecked the pool filter one more time. I started my search at one end of the yard beyond the west end of the pool. Not 2 minutes later, I found the ring on the first signal. It was just 6 inches from the fence in some sand. Those are the ones we like! Quick and drama free! Good thing, as some of the yard would have been a challenge with rocks, bushes and other landscaping that would have been a lot harder to search. A pleasure to meet everyone and thank you Greg for the reward.100_1484 100_1485

Platinum wedding band lost at Coronado, Found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

John and his family were visiting from Las Vegas and enjoying the beach at Coronado when John lost his ring out in the surf. No way to visually find it once it hits the bottom and gets covered by sand. They saw a a couple metal detecting nearby and ask for their help, but, the ring still couldn’t be found. When I got the call for help from John’s wife Angela, I was planning another ring search at a nearby beach, so, I added John’s to my to-do list. They had already returned home, so, I  asked Angela to send me a map of the search area and a pin poked into the most likely spot. The next decent low tide was about 4am. I started with my first ring search (actually my third attempt for this ring) and after that turned out to be unsuccessful, I headed to Coronado to give that one a try. Armed with my map and a verbal description of the search area, I hunted for about and hour when I got a good signal at dead low in ankle deep water. Sure enough, after verifying the description, it was John’s ring. I sent a text to Angela who arranged for the ring to be shipped home to them. She didn’t tell John that it was found, but, instead, surprised him the following Friday night by handing him a present. When he opened it, he couldn’t believe what he saw! It was all caught on camera, so, I’ll try to figure out how to attach the video. For now, here’s a photo of the ring and of a very happy family. Thank you for the reward and nice card.100_1475 JohnSring

Lost ring found at The Silver Strand State Beach

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Emily left a message on my answer machine, my voice mail, e-mail, and texted my phone about her engagement ring lost in the sand at the Silver Strand. I figured she must want it back! 🙂 We made arrangements to meet at the scene in a couple of hours so they could show me the search area. When I arrived, I got the story on how it was lost. She had caught a football and the ring popped off her finger. She immediately dropped to her knees and started sifting through the sand, but, couldn’t find it. She was joined by the rest of her group, but, the same result….no ring. Now, several days later, my concern was that someone else might have found it. There is a campground at the other end of the beach and many campers like to detect too. The good part was that they were in a less used area in front of the parking lot normally closed off during the week. She remembered where she was when she caught the ball, so, I started there and spiraled out from that point. I was finding a few good coin targets, so, I figured that nobody had beat me to the spot and gridded the area. After almost and hour and many promising foil targets, I got another weak foil signal and a couple of scoops later, saw a beautiful white gold engagement ring in my scoop. Needless to say, Emily was overjoyed to get it back and amazed that I found it, and that it was so far from where she had caught the ball.  That’s the way the ring bounces sometimes! A pleasure to meet you and thank you for the reward.100_1482 100_1483

Ring found and returned at Marine St. in La Jolla

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Kim was visiting San Diego from Hawaii with her husband, and was spending a day at the beach. She had removed her rings to clean the sand from their settings. Forgetting that she had removed them, she shook the sand out of her blanket and the rings along with it. She managed to find the wedding band, but, the engagement ring was eluding capture with only sifting fingers as a tool. She got on her phone and Googled for help. My profile came up for San Diego and she gave me a call. She hadn’t left the area, so, I figured this should be a fairly quick search. The hard part was battling the traffic and parking! I lucked into a spot fairly close to her location and gave her a text on the way to the sand. Since Kim and her husband were leaving for home the next day, this had to be found now! She met me on the beach and guided me to the search area. 30 seconds later, I got a beautiful 12-03 on my E-trac and pulled her gorgeous engagement ring from over 5 inches down. A pleasure to meet you Kim, thank you for the reward, and thank your husband for his service.

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Ring lost at Mission Bay found!

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Amy and family were visiting San Diego from Missouri and enjoying a day at the beach, when, her ring was accidentally flung into the sand from their blanket. they combed through the dry sand with their fingers for quite some time before they realized they needed some help. After a search on the internet, I got the call and headed out. I met them at the location and began a grid. Luckily, they kept watch on the area, so, there was no chance someone else could have found it. Well, it wasn’t found in record time, but, it was close…..took maybe 15 seconds and was at the edge of the designated search area! A pleasure to meet you and thank you for the reward.

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Ring lost at Mission Bay found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Alyssa was enjoying a day at the beach with her family, when she noticed that the ring she had put in her pocket was missing. She was pretty sure it happen out in the sand where her kids were playing after she had pulled her phone out of the same pocket. Alyssa’s sister told her about The Ring Finders and Alyssa contacted me. I hot footed it down there (actually just joined the rest of the maddening crowd inching our way to the beach!) and circled for another 1/2 hour before getting lucky on a parking space. After discussing the particulars on ring size, metal, search area, etc, I started a pass through the sand. My first target was a nice gold ring sound, but, turned out to be a partial pull tab. (not a big surprise in this area). The second target was the same sound and  I.D. number (12-09 on my E-trac), but, was her ring. A happy Alyssa and another satisfying return. Great to meet you and thank you for the reward. 100_1463 100_1462

Ring lost at Ocean Beach Found.

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Bradford and his wife were visiting from out of town and enjoying a day at the beach on the 4th until Bradford lost his wedding ring in the late afternoon in ankle deep water. It disappeared into the sand and no way it would be found with the naked eye.100_1456 100_1457 They returned the next morning hoping they could spot it, but, it was not to be. They saw several people with metal detectors searching the beach that morning, but, nobody had found it. Some even tried to help by searching the target area, but, the ring didn’t show itself. Disappointed, They went home.

I got the call for help on the 6th, and, even though I thought it likely someone had already found it, I heading down to the beach to give it my best, and ease their minds that it wasn’t still just laying there. After close to an hour of carefully gridding the area and not a single target (good or bad!), I figured my assessment was correct and the area had been hammered by other detectorists. Just then, my Excalibur gave me a nice big signal, and low and behold, it was Bradford’s ring! Surprise and satisfaction for me, and happiness for Bradford. He and his wife drove down today and were reunited with the ring. A pleasure meeting you both and thank you for the reward.