Paul Humphreys, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 2 of 12

With winter approaching, Matt was spreading a protective layer of straw over his strawberry patch near Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. That’s when his 14k white gold wedding ring slipped off his hand in the cold. Despite renting a metal detector and searching through the straw, the ring could not be found. It was like the proverbial needle in a haystack.

Like many people in Matt’s situation, the rental of a metal detector can end up being a frustrating experience. The ground was full of metallic debris, leftovers from nearly a century of farming. Matt’s experience with the rented machine was similar to that of others. His ring remained in hiding and he wondered if he would ever see it again. That’s when Matt found me on The Ring Finder’s directory of metal-detecting specialists.

I met up with Matt late in the afternoon, just before sunset. He led me to the wire-mesh and net enclosure where the plants were protected from deer and birds. Setting up my XP-Deus ll equipment, it wasn’t long before my earphones were telling me the story of long-discarded metal objects in the ground. Little wonder Matt’s rented machine proved futile. Newer, state-of-the-art technology, however, triumphed over the obstacles. It only took about 5 minutes before a conductivity signal in the range of mid-grade gold flashed on my controller. A pin-pointer quickly located the target beneath the thick layer of straw. I let Matt pull away the straw to reveal and retrieve his precious ring. The smile on Matt’s face tells the rest of the story and shows as I’ve said so many times, “It’s more than a ring!”

A visit to the family’s dairy farm near Rubicon, Wisconsin last May, resulted in the loss of an heirloom wedding ring. The ring was passed down to Dana Griesmer from her great grandmother.

Dana and her husband, Andrew, along with their 5 children were spending time together with family and friends. During the visit Dana’s 3-year-old daughter noticed the pretty ring on her mother’s finger. To her delight, Dana let her hold the ring in her hand. Excited about the special prize and in a moment of distraction the enthusiastic little girl ran out into the yard to show the ring to her siblings and cousins. That’s when the ring was allegedly dropped. At least, this was the account provided by the saddened 3-year-old. A search at the time failed to locate the heirloom.

Dana consoled herself with the view that the ring was “just an object.” She determined not to allow its loss to rob her of the peace and joy that hallmarked her and her family’s lives. As the months rolled by, however, the ring often came to Dana’s mind evoking bittersweet memories.

I met the Griesmer family one Sunday while attending church and learned Andrew was interested in metal detecting. He had tried to locate Dana’s ring using a very basic metal detector but an abundance of metallic debris in the area made it impossible to decipher the ring. And just how much stock does one put into a 3-year old’s account? The ring could have dropped anywhere.

Andrew shared the story about Dana’s ring with me. A few weeks later, with state-of-the-art metal detecting equipment in hand, we arranged to meet at the farm and scan the area where the ring had allegedly dropped. If the ring was indeed in that area, my hope was that Andrew might locate it with his newly acquired equipment. As it turned out, just a short time into the search, a signal consistent with a ring registered on my detector. Investigating further, the precious heirloom appeared in the sod where it had fallen several months before and right where the 3-year-old reported having lost it.

A precious reunion ensued. The smiles tell the rest of the story.

I so much appreciated Dana’s perspective. Without doubt, her great grandmother’s ring was a special, sentimental object; Dana could have let its loss and her disappointment control her. Instead, she chose to savor her great grandmother’s memory and not allow the lost ring to extinguish her joy and peace. Hers is a rare response these days, evidence of maturity and of life priorities arranged in appropriate order. This is because Dana’s bigger-than-life outlook is aligned with her eternal perspective, one that made the recovery of the ring a bonus, like icing on the cake of life. As the Bible urges, Dana’s real ‘treasures’ lay elsewhere,

“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;” Matthew 6:20

So glad, Dana, to have had a part in your ‘icing-on-the-cake’ experience! Enjoy!

Elkhart, Wisconsin resident, Darcy, was horrified to discover her grandmother’s wedding rings missing. It happened while mowing grass on her expansive 4-acre country estate. Darcy recalled seeing it on her hand that morning. She also recalled how the rings were fitting loosely, the result of having lost weight while grieving the deaths of multiple family members in recent years. Darcy had lost her husband, a sister and her grandmother. Now, the loss of her grandmother’s ring seemed more than Darcy could endure.

The next five days found Darcy searching for the precious ring every moment she could spare, even scouring the lawns at night with the help of a flashlight. A kind neighbor loaned a metal detector but it too, failed to locate the rings. Neighbors and friends joined in the search, all to no avail. That’s when I received a phone call from Darcy. She discovered me on The Ring Finder’s internet directory of metal-detecting specialists. Darcy’s voice betrayed both grief and exhaustion.

I drove up early the following morning and accompanied Darcy as she walked around the picturesque country setting. Having worked as a hospice chaplain, I quickly sensed Darcy’s fragile emotional state. Tears threatened to flow any moment. Clearly, this was more than a ring!

I asked lots of questions and made mental notes of Darcy’s unusual activities while mowing with her zero-turn Cub Cadet mower. These included times when she reached up to clear low hanging tree branches and times when she threw weeds out into a swamp that bordered the lawn. The swamp location seemed like a logical place to start my search since the action of throwing vegetative material provided a very plausible explanation for how the ring left her hand.

It was painstaking work. I used three different XP-Deus detectors including a probe that allowed me to reach down into the dense foliage and water. Even out in the country, far from civilization, the ground contained metallic evidence of human occupation. Non-ferrous (iron) signals were abundant. An hour and a half later I had only searched an area the size of a living room. In comparison, the vast 4 acres loomed large and daunting. But that is when a non-ferrous signal reached my headset. Curiously, the metallic conductivity value was on the low side, more consistent with an aluminum pull tab, not 14K gold. But I chose to investigate the signal anyway and was amazed to discover Darcy’s heirloom rings! The two rings had been soldered together creating the lower-than-expected conductivity signal.

I breathed a silent prayer of gratitude and then made my way up to Darcy’s house. Picking up my empty water bottle along the way, I presented it to Darcy and asked if she would mind filling it for me. When she returned with the fresh water, I reported that the swamp area was full of old iron objects. But then I added, “The only thing of interest that I found was this.” And I placed the ring in her hand.

Words fail to fully convey the emotion of those moments. Darcy could hardly believe it. Clutching the precious love token between her hands, the tears flowed, sacred tears, tears of relief, of joy, of exhaustion and of grief. These mingled together forming an emotional waterfall. We sat quietly together savoring the moment. This was followed by photos of Darcy’s grandmother with the ring clearly visible on her hand. Other photos included Darcy’s dear husband and her sister. Their wedding rings soon appeared on the table alongside Darcy’s grandmother’s ring. Reunited in this way, it formed a loving tribute. And I couldn’t help but again reflect on what I’ve observed to be true so many times, “It’s more than a ring!”

The advertisement read, in part, “Heirloom wedding ring from deceased beloved Grandpa was lost in water 8/21 at Lannon Quarry. Slipped off in the more shallow sandy area (about halfway between the building and the rocky ledge), before the floaty partition that marks off the deeper water.”

Menomonee Falls resident, Marcus Ryczeck, received his late Grandpa Michael Fay’s wedding ring as a gift from his grandmother when he married Alex in 2022 and just a year after his beloved grandpa passed away. Losing the precious ring hurt Marcus deep down where one’s emotions often stay hidden from view. But there was no hiding the sadness from his mom, Kathi. Kathi, reached out to me by text message 8-days later saying, “Maybe you can help us somehow before it’s lost forever.”

A barrage of text messages ensued with the usual line of forensic questioning to establish a timeline of activities and to narrow down the search area. Significant land marks were noted as was the depth of the water at the time Marcus felt the ring leave his finger.

As it turned out I was able to juggle my work schedule and arrived at Menomonee Park late the same afternoon. Setting up a search grid using shoreline structures, I began a systematic sweep of the lake bottom, all the while taking careful note of faint whispers coming from deeper targets. Being a public swimming area, rings can easily get pushed down deeply into the mud and sand. One target emitted a signal consistent with a ring but not one made of 14K gold. I investigated anyway and extracted a titanium wedding band. It was definitely not the ring Marcus lost. Someone else was suffering the loss of a precious wedding ring, perhaps thinking it was lost forever. These thoughts fueled my search efforts.

About 15 feet away from the titanium ring, another ring-like signal registered both in my headset and on the controller. This time the tone and conductivity values were consistent with midgrade gold. A few moments later a precious gold ring, one that had been worn for so many years by Marcus’ beloved grandpa, lay gleaming in my scoop.

I took a photo of it and sent it along with a text message to Kathi, Marcus’ mom, “I’m thinking this is your son’s ring!” The immediate response was, “Oh my Gosh!!! That’s it!!!”

A sweet reunion ensued when the family arrived at the park to pick up the precious love token. The smiles tell the rest of the story, except for one thing. Someone else, without doubt, is still grieving the loss of a titanium wedding ring. Maybe, just maybe, we can add yet another smile to this story.

Tuesday, August 9, 2023 was a long and hot August day, one that made the refreshing swim in Lake Michigan a most-welcome reprieve for Milwaukee resident, Tanner Vandevelden and his wife. Then the unthinkable happened. Tanner felt his wedding ring slip off his hand into the choppy water. But it wasn’t just any ring. It had been worn by Tanner’s grandfather for 60 years! The thought of it being lost forever made Tanner feel sickened in his stomach. Despite repeated dives and frantic searching of the lake bottom, the ring was nowhere to be seen.

An hour later I received a text message from Tanner asking if I might assist. I knew from experience that time is of the essence for rings lost in Lake Michigan. The lake’s currents and shifting sands quickly bury heavier rings sending them out of detection range for even the most advanced detectors.

As I drove eastward to the Milwaukee shoreline from Waukesha, the setting sun shone a deep blood red in my rearview mirror. It reminded me of the old sailor’s adage, “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning.” It occurred to me that the following day promised to be another beautiful one. I prayed that Tanner’s sense of foreboding might similarly be turned to delight, that we might find his wedding ring quickly, before the night was done.

It was getting dark when I arrived. By the time we positioned a weighted buoy in the vicinity where Tanner was swimming, nighttime had settled in. Even with the eerie glow of Milwaukee’s city lights, I could barely make out the contents in my scoop.

Several signals invited examination but none proved to be Tanner’s ring. I had just begun to expand the search area when a promising signal announced the presence of another target in my XP Deus 2 headset. I raised a scoop full of seaweed, pebbles, shells and sand. As I felt through the contents with my fingers, a round object proved to be a ring. Was it Tanner’s? Upon returning to the shore and with the help of a cellphone flashlight, the ring indeed was the lost and now found heirloom.

The smile on Tanner’s face, like the earlier sun in my rearview mirror, was evidence that tomorrow would indeed be one of delight. The emotional storm was gone, proving what I have asserted so often, “It’s more than a ring!”

The voice on the phone was like déjà vu—history repeating itself. “This is John Clark from Beloit, Wisconsin. I lost my wedding ring… again.”

Almost four years ago, in October 2019, John lost his ring while raking leaves in the foliage behind his estate home. I searched for and eventually found his lost ring. In fun, my parting words to John were, “I hope I never see you again!” But now John needed my help, again. It was my very first time searching for the same ring twice. The circumstances too were almost identical. The ring was fitting more loosely of late and had, unbeknown to John, slipped off his finger as he worked.

The heavy custom-made 22karat gold wedding ring was one of a matched pair that John and his lovely wife, Kay, wore. To John’s dismay he realized his ring was missing after cleaning up leaves from his backyard swimming pool. He searched and searched in the areas where he had thrown the leaves over an embankment, but the ring was nowhere to be found. John could hardly believe it had happened again. The consternation in his voice was evident.

When I arrived, my business card from four years ago was laying on the kitchen table. We first drank coffee together, exchanged family news and then rehearsed the day’s events when the ring went missing. I followed John outside retracing his steps on the day of the loss. Armed with a forensic mind map, I retrieved my trusty XP Deus ii metal detector from the car and donned a set of wireless headphones. Beginning at one end of the garden, I probed the thick Hosta plants and piles of leaves above and below a rock wall not 20 yards from where the ring was lost back in 2019. The image of John’s ring replayed like a video in my mind’s screen.

A plethora of metallic objects announced their presence in my headset, bits of foil, aluminum, wire, etc., but none that matched the tone and conductivity numbers belonging to a heavy gold ring. I had nearly finished scanning the last patch of Hosta plants when John’s ring suddenly announced its hiding place… again! After nearly four years, I presented John with his precious ring for the second time! He was almost speechless. All John could manage to say was, “I’m shocked!”

Happy photos, smiles, hugs and more coffee ensued while we savored yet another successful ring search, one that will go down in my books as, The Déjà Vu Ring!

As I left the pleasant company of this dear couple, I couldn’t help but repeat my usual parting words to John, “I hope I never see you again!” Only this time I added, “But keep my card just in case.”

A fun outing with friends on Saturday, July 22nd on Big Cedar Lake near Slinger, Wisconsin, turned to heartache for Miranda Schroeder when she suddenly realized her wedding ring was missing. But it wasn’t just any wedding ring. It had been passed down from her grandmother. Now, the heirloom gold and diamond ring lay somewhere on the bottom of Wisconsin’s 937-acre tourist hotspot.

I received a call from Miranda asking if I might help. The anguish in her voice betrayed the ring’s huge sentimental value. Obviously, it was more than a ring. Arrangements were made to meet Jeff Rollins, Miranda’s father, at the public boat launch Monday afternoon. Apart from the sadness of our mission, it was a glorious summer day. Jeff also happened to be the local Police Chief. His knowledge of the lake coupled with his forensic intuitiveness would prove helpful in the search.

On arrival, I couldn’t help but notice the name of the road leading to the boat launch, Gonring Road. Wouldn’t it be wonderful, I thought, if we could rename it, Foundring Road!

We spent nearly four hours searching that afternoon and into the evening but could not locate the precious love token. After examining photos and speaking further with Miranda, we decided to return the next afternoon and expand the search area.

A large pontoon boat was anchored in the vicinity when Jeff and I arrived. A group of ladies were huddled nearby, waist-deep in the water. Their outing, similar to Miranda’s, had likewise turned to sadness when one of the ladies lost her wedding ring. When the group spotted me with my metal detector it was as though their prayers were answered. Jeff and I took time out to assist and a few minutes later, the missing wedding ring lay in my scoop! I bunched together with the happy group for a photo, then Jeff and I quickly resumed our search for Miranda’s ring. The unexpected recovery boosted our hopes that we would likewise find Miranda’s precious heirloom.

Nearly two hours passed as I systematically scoured the lake bottom with my XP Deus ii detector. The sun was beginning to set. But then, as if by magic, Miranda’s cherished wedding ring lay glistening in my scoop! I breathed a silent prayer, “Thank you, God!”

At the same time, Jeff happened to be making his way over to me to show off a pair of gold-rimmed sunglasses he had found. He spotted a flash of gold in the water and dove down to retrieve it, hoping it was Miranda’s ring. What a joy it was to flash the actual gold we had been searching for, complete with all its diamonds! The smile on Jeff’s face once again reinforced the truth, “It’s more than a ring!”

What a great day! It was not only an amazing day for Jeff and for Miranda, but also for another unknown soul whose agony was turned to relief and joy! I don’t even know her name. As for me, finding and returning two rings on the same day warrants a name change, don’t you think? “Foundring Road” does have a nice ‘ring’ to it!

An evening swim in Lake 12, near Fredonia, Wisconsin resulted in the loss of Coty Becker’s white-gold wedding ring. It was later in the evening Coty realized, to his horror, that his ring was missing.

His wife, Kayla, discovered my forensic metal-detecting services when she stumbled upon The Ring Finders directory of metal-detecting specialists online. I was visiting family in Michigan when I received a text message from Kayla asking if I might help solve Coty’s lost-ring mystery. I arranged a drive up to Fredonia on June 28th, a week after the ring’s disappearance. My wife, Kathleen, accompanied me and provided emotional support to Kayla while I searched. Coty was working at the time.

Underwater searches can be challenging. As so often is the case around boat docks, the lake bottom was heavily populated with metallic debris, leftovers from decades of human occupation. The area where Coty had been swimming was no exception.

Using a similar ring, I was able to calibrate my XP Deus ll multi-frequency detector, tuning it for the presence of 14 Karat gold. About 15 minutes later, a promising signal in my headset invited further investigation. As the mud and silt washed out of my scoop, Coty’s ring suddenly appeared amongst the remaining pebbles. Case solved!

I finished searching the area and retrieved an old penny, just what I hoped to find. I handed the coin to Kayla under pretense of it being a ‘good luck’ penny. Then I proceeded with a verdict. I said, “I am confident the ring is not in the water.” The disappointment in Kayla’s face was immediately evident. But I quickly followed by explaining, “I say this because your husband’s ring, is in fact, in my scoop!” I then invited Kayla to retrieve it from my scoop. A myriad of emotions followed, mostly in the form of Kayla’s huge smile.

As for Coty, Kayla texted me the next day saying, “He was very happy and relieved and loved hearing about you finding it! He’s so thankful!”

Coty’s underwater ring search was not a particularly technical experience. The usual challenges were easily overcome and in a relatively short amount of time. However, this ring search goes down in my books as very memorable. It marks my 100th documented recovery as a member of The Ring Finders directory of metal-detecting specialists! What a privilege it has been to have brought such joy and relief to the hearts and lives of so many people. The smiles say it best, « It’s more than a ring! »

June 13th, found Lake Mills, WI resident, Robert Rehm spreading mulch on his one-acre property when his tantalum wedding ring went missing. He and his wife, Miriam, searched everywhere but could not locate the love token.

I received a phone call from Miriam asking if I might help. I was travelling in California at the time but arranged to conduct a search shortly after my return to Wisconsin.

Tantalum is a rare metal used “in high-temperature applications, such as aircraft engines, electrical devices such as capacitors, surgical implants and when handling corrosive chemicals.” Its use in jewelry is only recent. In fact, Robert’s is only the 2nd tantalum ring I’ve searched for.

Upon arrival at the Rehm’s residence on June 20th, Robert gave me a tour of the property as we reviewed his timeline of activities on the day of the loss. I noted the newly installed mulch in several garden areas and decided to begin searching at one end.

Knowing just where to begin searching is sometimes a random choice that can have significant time consequences. Had I started at another location, the search at Robert’s large property could have taken a few hours. But as it turned out, only a few minutes later, Robert’s tantalum ring registered its presence in my headset. It lay buried under a couple inches of mulch.

The smile on Robert’s face tells the rest of the story.

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!