House Key Lost and Found - Racine, WI

Racine, WI resident, Nancy Koval, went to unlock the door to her house only to discover her key was missing. She had taken it out of her purse moments before but now it was gone. Nancy thought back, recalling how with key in hand she had brushed some leaves off bushes along the sidewalk. Had her key inadvertantly fallen into the thick foliage?

I received a phone call from Nancy asking if I might assist. While not a ring, losing her house key was disconcerting for Nancy. The loss created an uneasiness in her mind. “What if it fell on the sidewalk and someone had picked it up,” she mused. The thought was not comforting.

Arriving at her home, I had Nancy duplicate the route she had taken from her car to the door. A detective’s line of forensic questions helped narrow the search field. Then began the work of eliminating the area where knee-high, ‘Winter Creeper’ [Euonymus Fortunei Celastrales] was flourishing. I laid on the sidewalk and reached as far as I could under the bushes with my PinPointer probe, inch by inch. Over an hour later, still no key. And so I stepped into the bushes, probing down amongst the prickly tangle. I again worked my way the length of the sidewalk. About two thirds of the way and another hour later, my PinPointer responded to the presence of metal. It was Nancy’s key!

Nancy’s smile conveys her enormous relief! As for my arm, it looked like I had a fight with a tomcat and lost!