Paul Humphreys, Author at The Ring Finders

It was not yet May. Lake Michigan waters were still too cold for a swim. However, that didn’t deter Beaver Dam, Wisconsin resident, Victor Nelson, from taking a refreshing plunge. Victor was spending a relaxing day with his girlfriend on the picturesque beach at Kohler-Andre State Park near Sheboygan. Before jumping into the frigid waves, Victor removed a meaningful silver necklace, giving it to his girlfriend for safekeeping.

Inspired by The Dresden Files the necklace and pendant were crafted after one described by the fiction author, Jim Butcher. Wikipedia explains how in Butcher’s book, the necklace had a pendant in the form of a pentacle with its encircled five-pointed star. The pentacle represented the five elements of air, fire, water, earth and spirit. It had “the power to repel certain creatures of the Nevernever and glows with a low blue light when infused with Harry’s will.” For Victor, the pentacle necklace had more than magical value. Complete with its lab-grown center ruby, the necklace was a special, thoughtful gift from his girlfriend.

To Victor’s horror, he realized the necklace was missing after the couple returned to their vehicle later in the afternoon. Victor’s girlfriend was likewise distressed, this as she had been entrusted with its safekeeping. It had somehow slipped away into the sand while moving beach furniture.

Replaying the afternoon’s activities, it seemed the necklace had slipped off its resting place and disappeared into the loose sand. Despite a half-hour of frantic searching the necklace could not be found. Victor considered renting or purchasing a metal detector but found my listing on theringfinders.com directory instead. A week later my wife and I met up with the hopeful couple at the beach.

Being a Wisconsin State Park, I completed the mandatory license application for a metal-detecting permit. Permit in hand, Victor led the way to the location where he and his girlfriend had spent the day a week prior. Using a nearby piece of partially-buried driftwood as ground zero, a systematic grid search commenced. After an hour the unmistakable signal of silver appeared on my detector’s control screen. The necklace’s hiding place was no match for a state-of-the-art XP Deus II metal detector. While the pentacle didn’t glow with a low blue light when it was found, but the smile on Victor’s face was more than magical!

So glad we were able to find your special necklace, Victor.

I’ve lost track of the number of stories I’ve heard and read where a mundane application of hand lotion resulted in a lost ring. Except, in the case of Sussex, Wisconsin residents, Jake and Lindsay Villwock, it was two rings that went missing; Lindsay’s engagement ring along with her wedding band.

Establishing a timeline of activities is critical to any lost-ring search and recovery process. The Villwock’s timeline on January 13th was heavily populated with activities. The day followed a significant snowstorm here in Southeast Wisconsin. Not, only that, the events covered a lot of miles. They were traveling to go skiing. The rings could be most anywhere.

The timing of one activity was vague. Lindsay recalled taking her rings off while riding in their truck and placing them in her lap, this to apply hand lotion. She did not remember for sure putting the rings back on her hand. Subsequently, Lindsay had stepped out of the truck on at least two locations. Once was at a Quick Trip service center about half way between the Wisconsin towns of Slinger and Richfield. Did the rings fall off in the parking lot there? Jake returned and searched the area unsuccessfully. He even shoveled the fresh snow into a pile out of reach of the snowplow just to be safe.

Jake contacted me after seeing my listing on The Ring Finder’s directory of metal-detecting specialists. I met him the following afternoon at the Quick Trip location and quickly determined the rings were no longer there. Did someone already find them? It was a good possibility. Jake notified both, the manager and the local police in case some good person turned them in.

Jake related how for several weeks prior to ‘popping the question’ to Lindsay, he would fondle the engagement ring in anticipation of that moment, rehearsing what he would say. He also had the ring inscribed with, “I always knew.” Jake suppressed the sickening thought that the ring was now gone forever.

A few days later, Jake contacted me about another event on their timeline. They had stopped by Jake’s parent’s home in Pewaukee. The parking lot had been plowed when they arrived. Jake wondered if perhaps a subsequent clearing of the snow had pushed the rings up into the waist-high piles that lined the parking area. It was a long shot, but worth a look.

I met Jake on location on the 25th, 12 days after the rings went missing. His best recollection narrowed the search area to 3, maybe 4 parking spots. Using an extra-large, deep-seeking search coil on an XP Deus II detector, I began scanning the massive mounds of snow. About 15 minutes into the search, I heard a very faint signal, one that registered in the conductivity range of gold. Digging deeper, I used a hand-held probe to isolate the target. “It’s probably just an aluminum-foil gum wrapper,” I thought to myself. Foil wrappers sometimes give off a signal similar to a gold ring. But it was not a gum wrapper; it was in fact, Lindsay’s engagement ring! It’s inscription, “I always knew” was unmistakable.

I tucked the precious love token into my glove for safe keeping and continued looking for the wedding band. Unless someone already had found it, it had to be close by. Unaware of my discovery, Jake helped by shoveling layers of snow off the pile while I scanned their contents. Eventually, I heard the signal I was hoping for. Using the hand-held probe once again, and with Jake hovering close by, we slowly dissected a fist-sized clump of ice and snow until only a golf-ball-sized ball remained. Splitting the icy mass open, a flash of yellow gold announced the presence of Lindsay’s wedding band!

Jake was ecstatic! The find buoyed his hopes that the engagement ring could also be found. That’s when I broke the news to Jake, first telling him I was certain the engagement ring could not be in the snowbank. Then, holding out the ring in my hand, I explained, “…because I have it right here!”

Words fail to adequately capture the emotions of that moment. But in addition to Jake’s smile, he was literally trembling when I took a photo of him holding both rings.

I texted Jake the following morning to ask how the “reveal” to Lindsay went. He replied,

“So the reveal went great! I actually waited while! I wound up giving them to our two-year old and told her to bring these to Momma. She walked over with her hand up in the air saying, “Mamma… here…” I think Lindsay expected some goldfish snacks or something. When she saw what was in her hand she got very choked up!”

If you or someone you know has lost a ring…, or two, don’t let their story end! Give me a call today.

A recent winter storm in southeast Wisconsin dumped nearly 18 inches of snow.

New Berlin, WI resident, Mitchell (Mitch) Rose, was navigating the drifts between two apartment buildings when he was forced off the sidewalk by a snow-laden crabapple tree. After getting back onto the cement walkway, Mitch reached down to brush the snow off his leg. That’s when he felt his loose fitting rose-gold wedding ring leave his hand and disappear somewhere in the whiteness. It had only been 18 months since his wife gave him the ring on their wedding day. Now it was gone. “Surely it couldn’t have gone far,” Mitch consoled himself. But despite his best search efforts, the ring was nowhere to be found.

Renting a metal detector, Mitch felt certain he would locate the lost ring. But the detector seemed alive with chirps and screeches, signaling all kinds of metallic objects in the vicinity. He was just about to give up and wait for Spring when he found The Ring Finder’s online directory of metal detecting specialists and reach out to me.

On arrival, Mitch led the way to the area where he had brushed off the snow. The motion and direction of his hand movements were noted and I began a systematic search of the area, using an ever-expanding search pattern. The sidewalk was full of reinforcing iron. And the usual buried electrical and phone cables made their presence known with their EMI (electrical magnetic interference) signals.

Almost an hour of systematic searching failed to detect a unique rose-gold target. Then, further up the sidewalk and barely distinguishable from the reinforcing mesh, a signal invited investigation. Nearly 10 inches down, Mitchell’s ring suddenly flashed its presence. The smile on Mitch’s face says it best of all, “It’s more than a ring!”

If you, or someone you know has lost a ring, even long ago, don’t let its story end. Call today to discuss your lost-ring case.

It was a perfect afternoon for snowboarding at the popular Rock Snowpark in Franklin, Wisconsin. Ben Ratka and his wife took advantage of the well-groomed slopes, savoring the fresh air and exercise. Later, however, Ben realized to his horror that his heavy 14k white gold wedding band was missing! It left him feeling sickened in his stomach.

The ring had been fitting loosely of late. Indeed, Ben had been thinking that he really needed to get it resized. Now he was kicking himself for not doing it sooner.

Reflecting back on their time at the snowpark, Ben recalled two occasions when he had removed his gloves to make adjustments on his snowboard. Those locations, he thought, would be good places to begin looking. Fighting a sense of hopelessness Ben suppressed the thought that someone might have spotted the ring on the hardpacked snow surface. He comforted himself thinking, “Maybe the person turned it in to the park’s lost and found.”

After checking with the park’s manager, the ring remained at large. Ben reported it to the local police as well, this in case someone found it and turned it in to the authorities. Then his thoughts turned to renting or purchasing a metal detector. Checking online, that’s when Ben discovered The Ring Finders directory of metal-detecting specialists. Who knew? He found my listing and reached out to me by telephone the next day. After hearing Ben’s story, we agreed to meet on location in Franklin later that afternoon.

The sun was setting when I arrived, triggering the lights on the slopes. The light in turn reflected back up to the darkened sky overhead creating an eerie, enchanted twilight zone. Crowds of skiers, snowboarders and tubers, unaware of Ben’s crisis, created an ebb and flow of cheerful voices, pierced now and then with shrieks of excitement. “What a delightful place to play,” I mused.

The managers at The Rock Snowpark were cooperative and understanding. They gave permission to search as needed. I followed Ben to one of the locations where he had removed his gloves, a staging area not far from the main office and restaurant. Unlike other areas, the snow was churned up from all the foot traffic. I was glad to see this as it meant the ring could have fallen out of sight and or gotten pushed deeper into the snow after being stepped on. I switched on my XP Deus II metal detector and positioned my headphones.

The electromagnetic interference (EMI) at the location was some of the strongest I’ve encountered in my forty-plus years of metal detecting! EMI happens when the detector picks up erroneous signals from buried underground and or overhead electric cables, cell towers and other electronics in the vicinity. The unmelodious noise can only be described as screeches, squawks and squeals, each competing to be heard above the other. Deciphering a signal from a ring amidst such noise can present a significant challenge to metal detectorists. It was a challenge I now faced.

Thankfully, I was able to draw from past experience and adjust or ‘hush’ the EMI to a level I could tolerate without sacrificing the detector’s sensitivity. I used my own 14k white gold wedding ring in the calibration process.

Barely a few swings of the coil over the target area, I received an unmistakable signal of gold, and in the conductivity range I was looking for. Ben watched closely as I pulled out my pin pointer (a handheld wand that vibrates and sends an audio signal when it gets close to metal) and began to probe into the snow. Barely two minutes into the search, Ben’s ring came up to the light of day! And the smile and look of relief on his face tells the rest of the story.

If you or someone you know has lost a ring or other sentimental jewelry item, whether in snow, grass or underwater, chances are it is still there waiting to be found. Don’t let the story of your ring end. Give me a call today.

Fond du Lac, WI., resident, Jared Kitzrow bent over to brush the grass from his jeans after tending to his garden. To his horror he noticed his wedding ring was missing. He was only married 4 weeks. But it wasn’t just any ring. When he became engaged, Jared’s grandmother had gifted him the wedding ring belonging to his late grandfather. Now the ring was gone!

Four long months passed. Jared searched and searched. He even rented a metal detector. But the ring was nowhere to be found. His rented detector screeched in response to metallic objects in the ground, but none proved to be his precious wedding ring. Jared felt sickened in his stomach at the thought of his grandmother finding out he lost it. Indeed, a family gathering some weeks later, forced Jared to keep his hand out of sight in his pocket, this in case his grandmother saw it was missing and might ask questions.

As the weeks passed, Jared kept searching and hoping the ring would come to light. He concluded the ring must have slipped of his finger while working in a large strawberry patch. At least that seemed to be the most likely possibility. But repeated visits to the garden failed to turn up the heirloom and only served to deepen Jared’s disappointment. That’s when he discovered The Ring Finder’s directory of metal detecting specialists and reached out to me with a brief text message.

I made the 1-hour drive to Fond du Lac the following morning on what was an unusually warm November day in Wisconsin. Jared led me to the back of the house and described his activities in the garden on the day the ring went missing. He leaned over and reenacted brushing imaginary grass off his pants not far from a mature pine tree. The pain in his face was obvious. I made mental notes of the events on Jared’s timeline. The act of brushing grass off his jeans using his ring hand was a plausible and significant event in my mind—a very likely cause. It was top of my list of possible locations.

I carefully searched the garden area but the ring was not there. Next, I turned my attention to Jared’s route back to the house and to the spot where he had brushed grass from his trousers. I observed the extra-long grass in the vicinity. Jared had deliberately avoided mowing it so as not to risk damaging the ring in case it was there. Expanding the search area in an ever-widening grid pattern, I suddenly observed conductivity numbers on my XP Deus 2 controller that were in the range of 14 Karat gold. Sure enough, the ring appeared where it had landed under the pine tree four months before! It was covered with a good inch of needles and vegetation. I concealed it again and arranged for Jared to join me. Giving him the detector, I let Jared locate it and retrieve his precious ring from the ground. The smile on Jared’s face reflects what I have so often said, “It’s more than a ring!”

Jared hadn’t told his wife about my coming. She was at work during the search. He decided to wear the ring and see how long it would take her to notice it. Later that evening, Jared sent me a text message that read, “Well she finally noticed, took her a couple hours! She is very happy!”

If you or someone you know has lost a ring, even long ago, don’t let its story end! Chances are it might still be found. Call me today! “It’s more than a ring!”

A hot July day found Milwaukee resident, John Marszalkowski, enjoying the shade of a canopy in his yard. But when a rainstorm came up, its accompanying winds threatened to damage the structure. John wrestled the thrashing canopy in the deluge to keep it from lifting skyward. In the process, he felt his tungsten wedding ring fly off his hand. He made a mental note where he was located in the yard, thinking He would look for it later when the present crisis abated. But when he returned, the ring was nowhere to be found. He and his wife searched on their hands and knees, systematically parting blades of grass, all to no avail.

As the days turned to weeks, John decided to cut his grass shorter in hopes it might reveal the ring’s hiding place. That too, proved futile. Bumping up his search efforts a notch higher, John procured an inexpensive metal detector, but it too was fruitless. Indeed, the detector’s audio response could only be described as a constant unintelligible din. It was as though the air itself was full of metal.

The months passed. John kept thinking of his ring, one of a matched pair he and his wife wore. While tungsten is generally believed to be one of the hardest metals known on our planet, the polished finish had somehow turned to a dull gray color. A jeweler suggested John’s skin might have a chemical incompatibility. Indeed, some cleaning solutions and chemicals have been known to degrade tungsten under certain conditions. Even though John’s ring didn’t look as attractive as it was when new, its sentimental value kept the memory of it very much alive in his mind. Then John’s wife discovered The Ring Finder’s directory of metal-detecting specialists. I received a text message and arranged to meet John the same afternoon.

In my forty-plus years detecting, the electromagnetic interference (EMI) at John’s house was some of the nastiest I’ve experienced. Thankfully, my XP Deus 2 equipment with its state-of-the-art programming and controls, allowed me to cut its sensitivity back and make the noise somewhat tolerable. In addition, the ground was full of roofing nails and metallic debris of every description, creating a metal-detectorist’s worst nightmare. Little wonder John’s efforts were thwarted.

Barely 10 minutes into the search and a few yards farther than where John believed the ring fell from his hand, a conductivity signal consistent with tungsten flashed momentarily on my controller’s screen. However, other signals and all the EMI threatened to overpower it. But a quick investigation with a pinpointing device, revealed the ring’s hiding place deep in the grass. I invited John to ‘discover’ his ring using the pin pointer. He knelt down beside me and quickly located and plucked the love token from the ground, thus ending 103 days of suspense. John’s emotional response and smile only reinforced the truth; what I say so often, “It is more than a ring!”

If you or a loved one has lost a ring, even months or years ago, chances are it can still be found. Don’t let its story end. Call me today!

With winter approaching, Matt was spreading a protective layer of straw over his strawberry patch near Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. That’s when his 14k white gold wedding ring slipped off his hand in the cold. Despite renting a metal detector and searching through the straw, the ring could not be found. It was like the proverbial needle in a haystack.

Like many people in Matt’s situation, the rental of a metal detector can end up being a frustrating experience. The ground was full of metallic debris, leftovers from nearly a century of farming. Matt’s experience with the rented machine was similar to that of others. His ring remained in hiding and he wondered if he would ever see it again. That’s when Matt found me on The Ring Finder’s directory of metal-detecting specialists.

I met up with Matt late in the afternoon, just before sunset. He led me to the wire-mesh and net enclosure where the plants were protected from deer and birds. Setting up my XP-Deus ll equipment, it wasn’t long before my earphones were telling me the story of long-discarded metal objects in the ground. Little wonder Matt’s rented machine proved futile. Newer, state-of-the-art technology, however, triumphed over the obstacles. It only took about 5 minutes before a conductivity signal in the range of mid-grade gold flashed on my controller. A pin-pointer quickly located the target beneath the thick layer of straw. I let Matt pull away the straw to reveal and retrieve his precious ring. The smile on Matt’s face tells the rest of the story and shows as I’ve said so many times, “It’s more than a ring!”

A visit to the family’s dairy farm near Rubicon, Wisconsin last May, resulted in the loss of an heirloom wedding ring. The ring was passed down to Dana Griesmer from her great grandmother.

Dana and her husband, Andrew, along with their 5 children were spending time together with family and friends. During the visit Dana’s 3-year-old daughter noticed the pretty ring on her mother’s finger. To her delight, Dana let her hold the ring in her hand. Excited about the special prize and in a moment of distraction the enthusiastic little girl ran out into the yard to show the ring to her siblings and cousins. That’s when the ring was allegedly dropped. At least, this was the account provided by the saddened 3-year-old. A search at the time failed to locate the heirloom.

Dana consoled herself with the view that the ring was “just an object.” She determined not to allow its loss to rob her of the peace and joy that hallmarked her and her family’s lives. As the months rolled by, however, the ring often came to Dana’s mind evoking bittersweet memories.

I met the Griesmer family one Sunday while attending church and learned Andrew was interested in metal detecting. He had tried to locate Dana’s ring using a very basic metal detector but an abundance of metallic debris in the area made it impossible to decipher the ring. And just how much stock does one put into a 3-year old’s account? The ring could have dropped anywhere.

Andrew shared the story about Dana’s ring with me. A few weeks later, with state-of-the-art metal detecting equipment in hand, we arranged to meet at the farm and scan the area where the ring had allegedly dropped. If the ring was indeed in that area, my hope was that Andrew might locate it with his newly acquired equipment. As it turned out, just a short time into the search, a signal consistent with a ring registered on my detector. Investigating further, the precious heirloom appeared in the sod where it had fallen several months before and right where the 3-year-old reported having lost it.

A precious reunion ensued. The smiles tell the rest of the story.

I so much appreciated Dana’s perspective. Without doubt, her great grandmother’s ring was a special, sentimental object; Dana could have let its loss and her disappointment control her. Instead, she chose to savor her great grandmother’s memory and not allow the lost ring to extinguish her joy and peace. Hers is a rare response these days, evidence of maturity and of life priorities arranged in appropriate order. This is because Dana’s bigger-than-life outlook is aligned with her eternal perspective, one that made the recovery of the ring a bonus, like icing on the cake of life. As the Bible urges, Dana’s real ‘treasures’ lay elsewhere,

“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;” Matthew 6:20

So glad, Dana, to have had a part in your ‘icing-on-the-cake’ experience! Enjoy!

Elkhart, Wisconsin resident, Darcy, was horrified to discover her grandmother’s wedding rings missing. It happened while mowing grass on her expansive 4-acre country estate. Darcy recalled seeing it on her hand that morning. She also recalled how the rings were fitting loosely, the result of having lost weight while grieving the deaths of multiple family members in recent years. Darcy had lost her husband, a sister and her grandmother. Now, the loss of her grandmother’s ring seemed more than Darcy could endure.

The next five days found Darcy searching for the precious ring every moment she could spare, even scouring the lawns at night with the help of a flashlight. A kind neighbor loaned a metal detector but it too, failed to locate the rings. Neighbors and friends joined in the search, all to no avail. That’s when I received a phone call from Darcy. She discovered me on The Ring Finder’s internet directory of metal-detecting specialists. Darcy’s voice betrayed both grief and exhaustion.

I drove up early the following morning and accompanied Darcy as she walked around the picturesque country setting. Having worked as a hospice chaplain, I quickly sensed Darcy’s fragile emotional state. Tears threatened to flow any moment. Clearly, this was more than a ring!

I asked lots of questions and made mental notes of Darcy’s unusual activities while mowing with her zero-turn Cub Cadet mower. These included times when she reached up to clear low hanging tree branches and times when she threw weeds out into a swamp that bordered the lawn. The swamp location seemed like a logical place to start my search since the action of throwing vegetative material provided a very plausible explanation for how the ring left her hand.

It was painstaking work. I used three different XP-Deus detectors including a probe that allowed me to reach down into the dense foliage and water. Even out in the country, far from civilization, the ground contained metallic evidence of human occupation. Non-ferrous (iron) signals were abundant. An hour and a half later I had only searched an area the size of a living room. In comparison, the vast 4 acres loomed large and daunting. But that is when a non-ferrous signal reached my headset. Curiously, the metallic conductivity value was on the low side, more consistent with an aluminum pull tab, not 14K gold. But I chose to investigate the signal anyway and was amazed to discover Darcy’s heirloom rings! The two rings had been soldered together creating the lower-than-expected conductivity signal.

I breathed a silent prayer of gratitude and then made my way up to Darcy’s house. Picking up my empty water bottle along the way, I presented it to Darcy and asked if she would mind filling it for me. When she returned with the fresh water, I reported that the swamp area was full of old iron objects. But then I added, “The only thing of interest that I found was this.” And I placed the ring in her hand.

Words fail to fully convey the emotion of those moments. Darcy could hardly believe it. Clutching the precious love token between her hands, the tears flowed, sacred tears, tears of relief, of joy, of exhaustion and of grief. These mingled together forming an emotional waterfall. We sat quietly together savoring the moment. This was followed by photos of Darcy’s grandmother with the ring clearly visible on her hand. Other photos included Darcy’s dear husband and her sister. Their wedding rings soon appeared on the table alongside Darcy’s grandmother’s ring. Reunited in this way, it formed a loving tribute. And I couldn’t help but again reflect on what I’ve observed to be true so many times, “It’s more than a ring!”

The advertisement read, in part, “Heirloom wedding ring from deceased beloved Grandpa was lost in water 8/21 at Lannon Quarry. Slipped off in the more shallow sandy area (about halfway between the building and the rocky ledge), before the floaty partition that marks off the deeper water.”

Menomonee Falls resident, Marcus Ryczeck, received his late Grandpa Michael Fay’s wedding ring as a gift from his grandmother when he married Alex in 2022 and just a year after his beloved grandpa passed away. Losing the precious ring hurt Marcus deep down where one’s emotions often stay hidden from view. But there was no hiding the sadness from his mom, Kathi. Kathi, reached out to me by text message 8-days later saying, “Maybe you can help us somehow before it’s lost forever.”

A barrage of text messages ensued with the usual line of forensic questioning to establish a timeline of activities and to narrow down the search area. Significant land marks were noted as was the depth of the water at the time Marcus felt the ring leave his finger.

As it turned out I was able to juggle my work schedule and arrived at Menomonee Park late the same afternoon. Setting up a search grid using shoreline structures, I began a systematic sweep of the lake bottom, all the while taking careful note of faint whispers coming from deeper targets. Being a public swimming area, rings can easily get pushed down deeply into the mud and sand. One target emitted a signal consistent with a ring but not one made of 14K gold. I investigated anyway and extracted a titanium wedding band. It was definitely not the ring Marcus lost. Someone else was suffering the loss of a precious wedding ring, perhaps thinking it was lost forever. These thoughts fueled my search efforts.

About 15 feet away from the titanium ring, another ring-like signal registered both in my headset and on the controller. This time the tone and conductivity values were consistent with midgrade gold. A few moments later a precious gold ring, one that had been worn for so many years by Marcus’ beloved grandpa, lay gleaming in my scoop.

I took a photo of it and sent it along with a text message to Kathi, Marcus’ mom, “I’m thinking this is your son’s ring!” The immediate response was, “Oh my Gosh!!! That’s it!!!”

A sweet reunion ensued when the family arrived at the park to pick up the precious love token. The smiles tell the rest of the story, except for one thing. Someone else, without doubt, is still grieving the loss of a titanium wedding ring. Maybe, just maybe, we can add yet another smile to this story.