Soybean Field Ring Lost and Found! – Woodstock, Illinois

It was Saturday, November 5th 2022. Married only two weeks, Illinois resident, Ben D., was enjoying an afternoon with family and friends at a cottage and pond at the back of his childhood farm. Surrounded by several hundred open acres of harvested soybean fields, the location provided a perfect launch site for model rockets, a hobby enjoyed by Ben’s family. But the fun was short lived when Ben’s 14-karat wedding ring vanished.

But it wasn’t just any wedding ring. The ring was gifted by Ben’s grandfather prior to his passing away 4 weeks earlier. Indeed, a memorial service was planned in a few days. Now, the precious ring was lost!

The ring was fitting loosely on Ben’s finger and so he was planning to have it resized. Being newly married, however, he wanted to wear it. Ben thought for sure he would feel it coming off if that happened. Now, despite their best search efforts, the ring was nowhere to be found. Then two photographs showed up.

The photos were taken 5-minutes apart. The first showed the ring on Ben’s hand while the second photo revealed it missing. This proved to be solid forensic evidence of the general area when and where the ring had to have been lost. But the mud and soybean stocks provided the perfect hiding place for Ben’s ring.

As it turned out, Ben knew exactly who to call for help. A family member had previously lost a valuable wristwatch in a motorcycle accident. The watch was recovered by a member of The Ring Finders directory of metal detecting specialists. The memory buoyed Ben’s hopes. And so he reached out to The Ring Finders once again.

I received a brief text from Ben the next morning and within a few hours was on my way to Illinois from my home in Waukesha, WI. Ben met me by the barn and we drove back to the pond location. The vastness of the fields all around amplified the magnitude of the task at hand. « How on earth does one find a postage-stamp-sized ring in all that area, » I mused. But the two photos, combined with forensic analysis, state-of-the-art metal detecting equipment and 40+ years’ experience were no match for the lost ring.

The conductivity numbers for medium grade gold on my controller bore witness to the ring’s presence, barely visible among the soybean stalks. Holding up the ring, Ben couldn’t help observe, “That’s two for two for The Ring Finders!” I responded, “Don’t take this the wrong way, Ben, but I really hope we never see you again!” 🙂 The relief and joy on Ben’s face tells the rest of this emotional story!