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

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!

Brookfield resident, Kelly, texted me to ask if I might help find a set of keys and fob. Kelly and his wife had turned the house upside down looking for them, unsuccessfully. Now, he wondered if the keys might be in the snow in his backyard. He had moved some firewood and played with his dog on the day the keys went missing. Did they fall out of his jacket pocket?

Kelly used a rake to comb through the snow in a large area of his yard but did not find the missing key fob. He even entertained the idea of renting a metal detector. That’s when he discovered me on The Ring Finders website.

It was very, very cold when I arrived at Kelly’s home that night, 5 below zero Fahrenheit (minus 20 Celsius). Even my detector screen was slow to register in the frigid temperatures. I could see where Kelly had been searching and raking through the snow.

Scanning the same area failed to turn up the lost keys. But in the course of our conversation, Kelly mentioned having been in a different area of the yard with his dog at one point. He had reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a toy for the dog. Throwing the toy out into the snow, the dog fetched it back as was his custom. And so, we redirected our search efforts in that area.

I scanned the snow in the vicinity where Kelly had been standing. Sure enough, his key fob appeared just beneath the snow! It had fallen out of his pocket when he pulled out the toy for his dog. And the smile on Kelly’s face tells the rest of the story!

Thanks, Kelly, for the opportunity to solve the mystery of your missing key fob.

If you or someone you know has lost a jewelry item, perhaps even long ago, give me a call. I have over 40 years metal-detecting experience and specialize in solving lost-item mysteries. Whether on land, under the water or in the snow, chances are, your lost item is just waiting to be found.

Greenfield, WI resident, Jessica, couldn’t resist the temptation to toss snowballs at her friends. A late January snowstorm provided ideal conditions for joining in the excitement. Sadly, afterwards when she got into her car, her wedding ring was gone! Jessica’s heart sank to her boots. Scouring the snow failed to turn up her precious ring. That’s when she texted me.

I learned the ring had been fitting loosely and so this, combined with the cold snow, contributed to the ring coming off her hand. But it could be anywhere! I arranged to meet Jessica on location and together we walked through the scenario, doing our best to recreate the events as accurately as possible. I scanned the lawn area where she had been standing but the ring was nowhere to be found. Next, I moved to the driveway where several vehicles were parked. This presented a significant challenge because the concrete was heavily reinforced with iron. Anytime I moved the detector near the driveway it was overwhelmed by the iron signals, making it almost impossible to detect a small ring. This called for drastic measures.

Checking the closest vehicles carefully, I made sure the ring wasn’t resting on them anywhere. Then I began shoveling sections of the driveway, moving the snow onto to the lawn area previously scanned. Scraping the driveway bare, right down to the concrete, I made sure the ring was not missed. I had almost finished clearing the driveway and was checking the snow with my detector when I picked up a faint signal consistent with that of a gold wedding band. Scraping off the snow a layer at a time, the signal grew in intensity. Finally, I probed the target area with a pinpointing device and landed on what turned out to be Jessica’s beautiful wedding ring! And the smile on Jessica’s face tells the rest of the story!

So glad to have found your ring, Jessica!

A late January snowstorm resulted in Wauwatosa, WI resident, Natalie Schneckloth, having an impromptu workout when she shoveled several inches of snow off her driveway and sidewalk. In the process and unbeknown to her, the stainless-steel clasp on Natalie’s Garmin watch let go. Only later did she discover her beloved watch missing.

The next day I received a text message from Natalie asking if I might be able to help. After a subsequent phone call and a line of forensic-type questioning, I arranged to meet Natalie on location. My detector of choice in this situation was an XP Deus 2 with a smaller 9” coil. It performs well in all kinds of terrain and conditions, both on land and in the water. Now, I’ve discovered, it works extremely well in snow thanks to its fast multi-frequency technology.

Scanning the banks of the long driveway failed to pick up any signals consistent with Natalie’s watch. But when I moved to the piles of snow lining her front sidewalk, a signal well above ground level invited further investigation. I subsequently probed deep into the snow using a hand-held pinpointing device which vibrates whenever it senses a metallic object. It didn’t take long to locate the source of the signal. As it turned out, it was Natalie’s lost, but now found, Garmin watch!

So glad to have solved the mystery of your missing watch, Natalie!

If you or someone you know has lost a jewelry item, perhaps even long ago, give me a call. I have over 40 years metal-detecting experience and specialize in solving lost-jewelry mysteries. Whether on land, under water or in the snow, chances are, your lost item is just waiting to be found.

A home Christmas party with friends and family is usually a fun time. So it was, for South Milwaukee hosts, Melissa and Matthew Graff. But then their joy turned to desperation when Melissa’s wedding rings went missing.

In the process of cleaning up after the party, Melissa vaguely remembered removing her rings and setting them on a kitchen shelf beside the microwave oven. The location was her usual place to put them. But when she returned the next day to put her rings back on her hand, the rings were nowhere to be found!

I received a phone call from Melissa on Monday evening and provided guidance and suggestions of places to search. We also began to establish a timeline of events as best as the couple could remember. Time, along with the trauma of losing such a precious item, has a way of blurring one’s memory.

My ability as metal detecting specialist is somewhat limited inside a home. Wiring, nails, screws, metal ductwork and pipes, make it challenging to isolate a small ring inside a house. An “estate search,” as we detectorists call it, can also be invasive. But I can assist forensically by narrowing down the possibilities.

For example, could the ring have gone down the kitchen sink? Had the garbage been taken out? Had they checked the washer and the dryer? Were pockets, clothing and shoes checked? Had they vacuumed the floor? Were there pets in the home? These and host of other questions help narrow the search areas. The couple continued looking that day without success. The next evening, Tuesday, I arranged to meet on location.

In reviewing the timeline, I asked if they knew when the last party guest left. Technology came to the rescue when a security camera at the front door logged a video and the time whenever the entry was breached. We watched as each guest left and noted the times. The last event, remarkably, recorded Melissa’s hand reaching up to the door. It clearly showed her wedding ring on her hand. And since Melissa had not left her home since then, the ring still had to be somewhere in the house.

I checked the sink drains, heat registers, under the stove and fridge. No ring. Then two large bags of garbage begged investigation. We placed a tarp out on the front lawn and emptied the first bag. I systematically scanned the contents with my metal detector but no ring surfaced. We did the same for the second bag. It was when we were just about to put everything back that Melissa’s ring suddenly appeared on the tarp amidst cookie crumbs and leftover donuts!

It was an emotional moment for sure! The garbage was scheduled for pick up the very next morning. Thankfully we had been able to search through the bags before then. As for how the rings ended up in the garbage, this will forever remain a mystery. Who knows! But Melissa and Matthew’s smiles tell the rest of this happy-ending story!