Lost Wedding Rings Found! – Silver Lake, Wisconsin

Oconomowoc, Wisconsin residents, Ben and Alyson Schmidt were enjoying a July 4th excursion at Silver Lake. That’s when Alyson felt her wedding rings leave her hand in the chest-deep water. Fortunately, she had the presence of mind not to move, to remain standing where she was. When a subsequent search by family members failed to locate the ring in the mud and sand, Ben retrieved a metal mooring fixture and screwed it into the lake bottom where Alyson stood, this to mark the location. In all my years of metal detecting, this was the first time a client had the presence of mind to mark the location with such precision.

After finding me on the Ring Finder’s directory of metal-detecting specialists, I received a text message from Alyson asking if I would assist. The next day I met up with the Schmidts at the boat dock where the loss occurred. The water was crystal clear, making it easy to spot the mooring fixture. I quickly assembled my detection equipment and waded out to the marker. A mixed signal near the marker invited further investigation.

Normally, a ring generates a consistent and repeatable signal. But this signal was not stable. It bounced back and forth between two conductivity numbers which initially made me question if the target was indeed Alyson’s wedding rings. As I drew it to the surface from the lake bottom using a specialized scoop, the sun refracted off many diamonds. Sure enough, it was Alyson’s lost-but- now-found, wedding rings!

Upon examining the rings more closely, I discovered the center ring was hallmarked 18 karat gold while the side rings were 14 karat. It was this tiny, but significant difference that explained the mixed conductivity signal.

The smiles on Ben and Alysa’s faces say it best, “It’s more than a ring!”