Lost Platinum Wedding Ring Found! Oconomowoc, WI Yard-Waste Center

It was like searching for a proverbial needle in a haystack. But instead of a needle, it was an engraved platinum wedding ring belonging to Oconomowoc, WI resident Steve Nichols. And instead of a haystack, it was a colossal mound of clippings at The Town Yard and Waste Recycling Center.

The ring flew off Steve’s hand and vanished into the mound late Saturday afternoon as he was emptying his pickup truck of yard waste. Despite 5 hours of sifting through all manner of vegetative debris, Steve, his wife, Anne, and friends were unable to locate the missing love token. Even with the use of a rented metal detector it could not be found. The detector emitted a cacophony of indistinguishable chirping sounds, which only added to the Nichols’ frustration.

The following morning, Steve and Anne returned to the mound and resumed their search; three discouraging hours later, no ring. That’s when Anne contacted a Wisconsin member of The Ring Finders Directory, Dan Roekle, who in turn pointed her to me since I lived closer.

I made arrangements to meet with Steve and Anne on location. After showing me the sequence of events that led up to the ring’s loss, I began a search of the perimeter and surface area of the formidable mound. As I began to cover the area where the truck had been parked, a faint signal was heard which invited careful excavation of material. With each pass the audible signal increased and data, now visible on my XP Deus screen, was consistent with the denseness of platinum. Finally, the source of the signal proved to be none other than Steve’s ring!

The search took all of 15 minutes!

Thanks Steve and Anne, for the joy and privilege of finding and returning your precious wedding ring. May its story (which now includes being buried and lost in a humongous pile of yard clippings and then beyond all odds found), continue for many, many happy years to come.