Lost Platinum Wedding Ring Found! - Geneva Lake, Wisconsin

Sunday July 10th 2022, found Chesterfield, Missouri resident, Bill Thanner enjoying a welcome vacation with his wife and three children on the picturesque shores of Geneva Lake, near Fontana, Wisconsin. While snorkeling and diving for shells at Fontana Beach, Bill dropped some of the shells his children collected. It was when he reached down to grab them in chest-deep water, his platinum wedding ring slipped off his finger and disappeared into the murky water. Together, they tried snorkeling for the ring but it was nowhere to be found. Bill felt sickened to his stomach at the thought of losing his ring after 15 years of marriage. It was a sad drive home to Missouri.

Several days later, Bill’s mother, who lives some 800-miles away in the state of Georgia, heard a person on a local radio station talking about The Ring Finders metal-detecting services. She informed Bill, who in turn called me on Monday, July 25, a full two weeks after his ring went missing. Could I assist?

I arranged the 45-minute drive to Fontana Beach early the next morning. The beach was deserted at the time. Using markers Bill had sent to me via Google satellite maps, I systematically scoured the vicinity using my XP-Deus II SCUBA-rated detector. I found a collection of coins, a cross pendant and a cheap lady’s costume ring, but Bill’s platinum wedding band was nowhere to be found. I wondered, had someone already found it? After about an hour and half, I decided to expand the search area. That was when I heard a crisp signal in my headphones. The numbers on my controller screen told me the target was quite possibly Bill’s platinum wedding ring. As it turned out, it was!

I took some photos of the ring and texted them to Bill right away for identification purposes. Bill responded, “That’s it! Unbelievable… the Mayors Jewelry symbol and the missing ruby hole is mine for sure.”

I immediately mailed the ring to Bill from a Milwaukee post office the following morning. It arrived on Saturday, July 30th, just shy of three weeks since it disappeared in a Wisconsin lake. Bill texted, “Received! Unbelievable! Thank you!”

If you or someone you know has lost a ring, even years ago, chances are it might still be found. Don’t let its story end. Contact a member of The Ring Finders today.