Saturday, May 16th, started as springtime Saturdays often do, catching up with errands and yard work. But for New Berlin resident, Margaret West, the day turned to agonized disappointment when she realized her platinum and diamond wedding rings were missing from her hand. She had worn it for nearly 25 years! Now it was gone!
Margaret wasn’t sure whether the ring came off in the house, in her garage, in the yard or while out shopping. Her grief, overwhelming, she spent over 12-hours searching, but to no avail. It seemed the ring was gone forever.
Margaret’s daughter found me on The Ring Finder’s directory of metal detecting specialists. I received a text from Margaret the next week. Would I be willing to take on her case? After reviewing the forensic details with Margaret in a telephone conversation, I arranged to meet her and her husband on location at her home. Margaret slipped away from work on her lunch break to show me where she had been working in her garden and in her garage. Before she returned to work, I quickly searched her vehicle to make sure the ring had not fallen off inside. I sensed her hopelessness and sadness as she departed and offered, “Don’t lose hope, Margaret. Keep your fingers and toes crossed!”
I began searching the garden areas in front the house. They contained a combination of junipers and annuals. These bordered the grass with plastic edging material. Since Margaret had been pulling weeds out of the garden and throwing them out into the lawn for disposal, I decided to scan the lawn area to make sure the ring had not come off her hand in the process. Only a few minutes into the search, I heard a distinct signal in my headset, one that stood out from all the other metallic debris in the grass. The conductivity numbers were in the range of platinum. Removing some leaves, Margaret’s lost-wedding ring came to light! 
Under pretense of asking questions, I invited Damon, Margaret’s husband, to join me in front of the house. Since Damon had an electronics background, I explained how the detecting technology worked to detect and locate specific metals. Then I gave him my detection probe and let him locate his wife’s ring using it. I might have encouraged a new hobby for Damon because it didn’t take him long to discover the ring! He then sent photo images to his wife at work.
The next day, Margaret drove near my home in Waukesha to meet my wife and I and to personally deliver a hug of thanks. The ring was back on her hand! And just in time; the West’s are celebrating their 25th anniversary in August. It is clearly more than a ring!
If you or someone you know has lost a ring, even long ago, don’t let its story end. Call me; I love putting smiles on people’s faces!
No Comments »