Mike Baker, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 4 of 12

How To Find a Ring Lost In Snow

  • from Barre (Vermont, United States)
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3/1/23
Got a voicemail from a guy who had recently lost his wedding ring. He had triple bad luck. He not only lost a beautiful custom made 18k ring, but he and his wife had only been married for one week, and he lost it the day they were leaving for a little honeymoon trip! Oh my, what a crazy thing!

He searched in the snow and was unable to find it. So we met tonight in the blowing snow at the area he had fallen in the snow. I got my detector out, fine tuned it and took a swing across the snow. Literally on that first swing, only one second into the search, I got a strong signal with the right number for gold. I scooped some snow out and pushed the pinpointer in and found it, about 10” into the snow. We were stunned!! It was a new recovery record for me!! You just never know, many of my recoveries have taken 10-20 hours.

He was so happy! I hope hey have much better luck in the future and a very long life together.

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Wedding Ring Found in Ice in Central Vermont

  • from Barre (Vermont, United States)
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11/27/22

Just got a call from a lady who’s husband has lost his ring. He was hand digging a French drain around the foundation to try to keep most of the water from getting into their basement. He lost it yesterday and they haven’t been able to find it.

I went right over and he showed me the search area. I got started and as expected there were tons of signals around their older house. But, miraculously, in only about 10 minutes, I got a solid ring tone, dug into the frozen ice and slush about 2 inches, and there it was in perfect condition!

They were both so happy and declared that they were “married again”!!

It’s back where it belongs, right on his finger, and he got right back to diggin!

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Class Ring Found in Vermont

  • from Barre (Vermont, United States)
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11/12/22

A very bittersweet ring return.

Last Sunday, on my way home from a ring search for a client, I decided to detect the woods for an hour in hopes of finding something old and interesting. I also get exercise, relaxation and keep in practice with all my detectors this way.

Right at dark, I got a faint signal, and almost ignored it. It gave erratic numbers, and was hard to pinpoint. I was digging about 9” down, expecting to find a corroded piece of scrap metal, when my finger felt something slippery smooth. My heart skipped a couple beats, knowing what that felt like. I got my cell phone out and shined the light down into the hole. Sure enough, there was a gold ring down there. I pulled it out, cleaned it up a bit and could see it was a 1968 men’s class ring from a nearby high school.

Monday, I emailed the administration office and gave them the initials that were on the inside. Thursday they emailed back with his name and said his home was in the next town over.

So I found his number online and gave a call. The lady who answered was his mother and she had bad news for me. Her son had passed away in June from a serious health issue at only 72 years old. She also told me that her husband of 73 years had died in March. I don’t know how her heart could take it. She said it’s been a really tough year.

My wife and I went to her house today, she invited us in, and we had a really nice visit.

I’m hoping that in some small way, this ring might help her. My wife says everything happens for a reason.

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Another Ring Found in Vermont Leaves

  • from Barre (Vermont, United States)
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11/6/22

Got a call today from someone who’s name sounded very familiar. Then when she described her ring I immediately remembered finding that ring for her many years ago!

This ring was given to her by her mother when she was in graded school, so it really hurt not having it on her finger for the past week.

She nows has a 3-1/2 year old and was having a great time playing in a huge leaf pile with her. A little while later she realized the ring was missing.

So I went right over, she brought me to the leaf pile and I got started. Just minutes later I got a great signal with the right numbers. There it was, in the grass deep under the pile. She was so happy!

What a great weekend, reuniting 2 people with very sentimental rings!

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Beautiful Ring Found in Vermont Fall

  • from Barre (Vermont, United States)
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11/5/22

I got a message last night from a lady who had lost a very special ring a few days earlier. She had heard about my services from another member of the local online Forum. She had been on errands to several places and also had been helping her husband doing the Fall gutter cleanings and scrubbing the siding. She also may have lost it indoors. I am at least able to search the outdoor part of those possible locations!

This ring had huge sentimental meaning. When she was nineteen, her mother had taken her on a vacation to an island in the tropics. There was a local artisan on the island who made custom jewelry. Her mother spotted a beautiful ring and gave it to her. She has treasured it ever since.

When I got to their house, they showed me all the areas they had been working and dumping leaves. So, I got started. At first, I quickly searched the more likely spots. No luck. So, I settled in for a longer, more intensive search. After about an hour of trying to sort through hundreds of signals, I finally got the magic sound and numbers. There it was under a vinyl trough that carried water away from the house. I guess someone had accidentally kicked or raked it under there. I was so glad she hadn’t lost it downtown!

When I handed it to her, she went from the somber “given up” mood to a very happy mood!
I love these successes!

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Found Wedding Ring in Central Vermont

  • from Barre (Vermont, United States)
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9/30/22

Got a call from a lady who’s husband is a specialty drum performer. He was participating in a music and drum event in the back yard of a local church. Before he began, he put his wedding ring in his pocket. I’m guessing playing drums that energetically probably isn’t comfortable wearing a ring! I’m a carpenter, and I also have that trouble occasionally.

She, her husband and friends had searched for a long time and pretty much given up and decided to call in a detectorist. So, she and her grandson met me there and I got started. On the very first pass of a grid search, I got that great tone you get from a surface ring! Wow, I was happy to give her their ring back! What a nice Fall evening!

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Wedding Ring Found on Vermont Ball Field

  • from Barre (Vermont, United States)
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8/20/22

Got a voicemail last night from a local baseball player who had lost his wedding band a couple days ago during a game. Unfortunately, my new phone wouldn’t let me call him back because during the transfer from the old phone a bunch of functions were lost. We gave up our landline long ago, so I had to drive all over town trying to find a pay phone. I wasn’t able to find one anywhere, how frustrating! Finally, a store worker let me borrow their store phone.

I called him and we met at the baseball field this early morning before the fields became busy. He told me that he and his friends and fellow ball players had spent a long time searching visually for it, with no success. He described what position he was playing, and thought that he may have lost it on the way back to the bench when he took his glove off.

So, I began at the bench and crisscrossed a grid pattern heading out towards where he had been playing. There were tons of pull tab signals near the bench! In about 20 minutes and about 20 feet from the bench I got a great signal. I reached down and poked into the grass and there it was! His theory was 100% correct. He instantly knew it was his because of the jewelers initial inside. He was one happy guy!!

I love these successes!

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Many Important Non-Jewelry Searches Lately

  • from Barre (Vermont, United States)
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7/2/22

I’ve had some real fun and important non-jewelry searches for The Ring Finders in the past few weeks.

One was a search for a lady’s cell phone with case and credit cards enclosed. What made this search much more important was this cell phone had many photos of her and her husband, who had passed away just this Winter. She was very happy to have it back.

The next search was for a tractor part. The part wasn’t real valuable or sentimental, but it could’ve caused major damage or injuries if his high speed mower had hit it. The couple gave me a loaf of homemade sourdough bread after I found it. Yum!!

Another search was for car keys for a young new business owner. Her business relied on her driving 60 miles a day. The car is a 2004 Toyota 4-Runner and the dealer and a mechanic said it was going to cost around $2,000 to replace the key(Toyota should be sued!!). She had located a parts vehicle for $800, but that would mean she would have to pay extra for labor and towing, and her business would be on hold for several days. She was extremely happy when I found it!

Another successful search was out in the woods, high on a ridge in Woodbury. This person was a wildlife photographer who had lost an SD memory card with lots of fantastic photos and movie clips on it. It was an absolutely beautiful area I got to see!

Another search was to help out an excavator who was digging trenches all around a home. We had to locate an underground power cable, buried gas lines and a septic tank. He appreciated my help because without the metal detecting, the job would’ve taken much longer, and potentially could’ve been much more dangerous and expensive if something had been damaged.

I also found a tiny earring for my bosses daughter.

So much fun!

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Ring Found in Burlington VT

  • from Barre (Vermont, United States)
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6/15/22

Got an urgent message from a woman who’s close friend had just lost her engagement ring. She gave me some information, pictures of the ring and a phone number to call. So I called her friend right away.

She sounded absolutely devastated. This ring was extremely sentimental. Her fiancé had recently proposed to her and the ring had once been his great grandmother’s. And plus, it was a beautiful ring!

My wife, being the big hearted sweetie she is, told me to go on the search, even though we had plans for the evening. She knew how important this one was, especially being lost in a public area.

So, I left immediately and met her and her fiancé on the beach where she might have lost it. She had also been riding her bike, but we decided the beach was more likely. She and her fiancé had borrowed a metal detector from a friend, so I showed them some basic detecting techniques. I got started with my gridding, and got a ton of junk signals. On the second pass I got a good, semi-shallow signal, pushed my fingers and pinpointer into the sand and felt the shape of a ring. I pulled it out and it was hers!!

When I gave it to her it you could sure see the relief and emotions. I was so happy it was back on her finger and wished them a long happy life together.

I love this hobby! Please click on my name above for more stories and contact information.

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Found Wedding Ring in a Vermont Barn

  • from Barre (Vermont, United States)
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3/26/22
My wife and I were enjoying a nice day together. We topped it off with a late afternoon matinee. During the movie, a voicemail came to my phone. Right after the movie I listened to it, where a husband explained that his wife had lost her wedding ring of 35 years at their farm.

I called him as we were driving home and we made plans for a night search. After a 90 minute drive, I arrived at their farm just as it turned dark. He told me that she had probably lost it either at the house, on the walk to the barn or most likely in the barn where she had gone to feed their sheep. They had spent the better part of 4 days searching for the ring in their house and raking through the hay in the barn. While watching their favorite hockey team on tv, she also looked online for someone to help search, where she found my contact information.

So, he took me up to the barn which seemed to be the most promising place to start. Barn searches can be very difficult for a metal detector due to interference from nails in planks, rebar in concrete, and other numerous metallic things throughout. I got started and sure enough their were lots of bad signals, especially near the welded wire fencing and metal gates. Nevertheless, a good signal chirped through the bad ones . I got out the pinpointer and started to dig down into the hay and dirt. About an inch or two into the dirt a bit of gold appeared. It was her ring, packed with dirt after being stepped on probably multiple times by the sheep! We gave it a quick cleaning and hurried back to the house to give it to her. She was absolutely beside herself with joy!! What a great feeling for me as well! We had a nice visit and I got to pet their 4 dogs.

I love this hobby! Please click on my name above for more stories and contact information.

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