Pete McGhee, Author at The Ring Finders

Lost Ring on Lawn at Whangaruru, Found!

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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Three weeks ago, Howard threw some kitchen scraps out into the garden – but the bowl, and his sovereign ring, went with them.
After spending some time looking for it, he was considered hiring a metal detector and happened to mention it to a relation who works a gold claim overseas.
« Get someone who knows what they’re doing » was the advice given, and shortly afterwards, Howard phoned me.

I headed over to Whangaruru the next morning, Howard waving to me from the deck as I missed his driveway…

There were several potential locations which could have held the ring and made for a difficult search, including a series of deep postholes drilled for a deck extension, partially filled with water.
Then there was the tangled patch of Honeysuckle vines at the edge of some regenerating scrub and further over, the garden dropped away down a steep, overgrown bank.

I quickly cleared the easiest area of lawn (and the postholes), before setting up to search the undergrowth.
Experience told me where the likely arc and distance of the ring would be as I started to move into the scrub.

Within a few minutes, I had located Howard’s ring tucked out of sight under some weeds at the base of a tree, at the edge of the dropoff.
Howard was mowing, and I held up the ring as he glanced over – Both arms went up and he gave a celebratory yell!

Just thirty minutes from getting out of the car, I was on my way home with Howard now having a much better day.

For less than the cost of hiring a metal detector, Howard’s decision to engage an experienced Ring Finder gave him the very best chance of having his ring quickly located.

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Lost Ring Found in Plantings – Russell, Bay of Islands.

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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I have a couple of people for whom I have found lost rings, not once but twice…
Paul is one of them.

I got a call from him saying he’d done it again!

I had previously found his ring almost exactly two years ago on the Russell beach, this time he’d lost it while working on planting some shrubs and it could have been in one of two locations.

The first was where he’d been trimming and clearing a well established patch of succulents – lots of potential nooks and crannies for a ring to drop down into, or hang up. I gave it a quick search without getting ‘down and dirty’ with the pinpointer before checking out what the second location looked like.

This alternative spot was a much larger area, but relatively open and I could close this off quickly with a very high probability of detection. If it wasn’t here I could then return to the original and devote the rest of the time going through it inch by inch.

This garden bed was raised up about 5′ from the road, and Paul had been planting, weeding, spreading bark and throwing garden waste across and down onto the truck deck, there was a possibility the ring may have come off and traveled across the road, in the direction of a steep bank.
I’d worry about that option later!

Starting at one end, I systematically made my way along the plantings until, under a small tussock, I saw the edge of a partially buried ring as the coil passed over it and triggered.

A quick TXT to Paul to let him know his lost ring was safe, again – and some relief on my part that I didn’t have to spend a fair few hours grubbing around up to my armpits in succulents at the first location.

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Ring Lost in Whangarei Paddock Six Months Ago, Found in 20min

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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Simon had been laying out a course in some paddocks near Kamo, outside Whangarei on a hot January day.
Afterwards, he headed to a water trough, removed his gloves and plunged his hands into the cool water.
As he walked away shaking his hands to dry them off, he noticed his wedding ring was missing.

The sludge in the bottom of the trough was searched several times for the lost ring and his wife hired a metal detector, but without experience their efforts were in vain.

Fast forward six months, and I was on the road to meet Simon at the paddock to see what I could do.

He had been held up, so I got started.

Twenty minutes later I sent Simon a photo of a muddy ring, found some distance from the trough likely having been flung as he shook his hands.
He arrived just a few minutes later – not quite believing I had already found it.

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Special Ring Lost in Sea at Rangiputa, Doubtless Bay – Found after 2 days

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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Rangiputa on the Karikari Peninsula bordering Doubtless Bay is a pristine white sand beach with crystal clear ocean waters, a popular spot for holidaymakers year round.
And Justine was no exception.

Two nights ago, as the water was so calm, she went for a midnight swim out into the bay…  It wasn’t until the following day that she realised with horror that her bespoke handcrafted garnet ring was missing.

Made to mark her 50th by a local jeweler, she was understandably distraught and as with most rings, it was the sentimental value rather than the monetary.

She got hold of my number and gave me a call about midday today – the tide was already rising, and they were due to head home in the afternoon.
I gave my apologies to my long-suffering wife, left my lunch and loaded the car.

A little over an hour later I was pulling up at Reef Lodge where she was staying. We are well on the way to winter here in New Zealand and even in the Far North the water temperature was already cool enough to warrant the light wetsuit, especially as I could be in the water for 4-5Hrs.

Rangiputa has an almost flat contour along the inner coast, a plus as there is minimal sand movement to bury the ring although the major downside is that the potential area becomes huge.
I started out wide and began working my way ashore, systematically covering every square inch with the coil. Just one less than diligent swing might see the ring missed.
This is where the discipline and methodology of an experienced Ringfinder comes into play and what gives me my exceptional hit rate…Even if it takes many, many hours.

A strong signal came through, the scoop went into the sand and…a fishing weight. The search continued. A short time later another likely target turned out to be a piece of foil, likely from some beach cooking many years ago – the heart rate subsided and I continued on.

About forty five minutes later a good double tone came through the headset and the scoop went in once again, the white sand drained out through the holes leaving a layer of small shells, and a ring.

I held it up to Justine sitting on the shore, and started to make my way in.

The wonderful reactions people have when I hand them their ‘Lost Forever’ items is the core of what really drives me as a Ringfinder.

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Wedding Ring Lost in Sand at Glinks Gully, Dargaville – Found.

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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I was just about to head out for a kayak when the phone rang…
Nick had been staying at Glinks Gully near Dargaville with his young family for the last week, playing daily in the sand dunes and playground.
It wasn’t until later he realised his wedding ring of only 4 months was no longer on his finger – Could I help?

While Glinks was outside my regular area, I offered to try and find a detectorist near by but with my near 100% hit rate, Nick decided he wanted me to do the job.

The kayak came off the car, the detectors went in, and I started on the 170km, two and a bit hour journey…

Nick was already onsite and greeted me warmly, he was very keen to recover his lost ring and having read some of my success stories on my page was upbeat about a positive result.

Before I got the gear out, I did my usual walk and talk – Looking at the scene, drawing on my Search & Rescue tracking and Clue Processing experience and asking what may have appeared to be rather odd questions, but all building the behavioural profile of Nicks actions leading up to the loss. I isolated two high probability areas, if it wasn’t there I would start on ‘the rest of the world’ as I refer to anything outside the indicated search area.

With the machine in hand and Nick in tow, I started on the first area. This was a playground with a deep base of soft, golden fluffy sand where Nick had been pushing his son on the swings. A ring dropped here would have vanished below the surface instantly.

First run under the swings gave a $2 coin, then on the other side of the swing a solid « Lost Wedding Ring » tone 🙂

I shook the sand out of the scoop to reveal the ring, and with a big grin tossed it over to Nick – His face was in disbelief as he looked down at his wedding ring sitting safely in his hand.

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Gold and Greenstone Ring Lost at Coopers Beach, Quickly Recovered

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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Jamie posted on the local Facebook page that he’d lost his treasured gold ring, passed down from his uncle, while on holiday at Coopers Beach the previous day.
Unfortunately he had posted very detailed information as to the location.
Knowing this beach was regularly worked by casual metal detectorists, time was of the essence.
I got hold of him directly and was quickly on the road, making the 80km drive to the beach.

Arriving at Coopers Beach, it was heartening to see that there were no tell-tale scoop marks or gridlines in the sand and I got started.
Just under an hour after seeing his Facebook post, I was sending a photo of the ring to Jamie – It was now safely secured.

A couple of weeks later, I was working further down country and Jamie made the drive to meet me so I could hand over his lost ring.

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Valuable Heirloom Gold Ring Lost for 6 Weeks, Found in Compost Pile

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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Maureen habitually took off her heirloom ring in the kitchen, a beautiful gold, diamond and emerald ring handed down from her Grandmother.
One day, she caught up the ring as she swept the peelings off the benchtop into the bin.

She didn’t realise until later when she went to collect the ring and noticed it was no longer in its place.

A frantic search yielded no sign of it, and with subsequent searches over the next few weeks she narrowed it down to either having been thrown out with the rubbish, or buried in the compost.

She gave me a call, obviously there was nothing I could do in the worst case scenario of it going out in the rubbish collection, however I could search the compost (I’ve searched through far worse than domestic compost in the past!).

A quick scan with the high powered machine gave a target deep in the bin, could be a ring, or could be foil.
Only one way to find out, roll up the sleeves and on with the nitrile gloves.

I had a rough idea of where it sat inside the compost and it was well down after six weeks of additional food scraps and lawn clippings.
A dense cloud of fruit flies instantly erupted out of the compost as I scooped most of the recent material away and investigated deeper with the handheld probe.

Wasn’t long before I had pinpointed the location and I dug further into the slimy mass, checking each handful until I caught a glimpse of gold in the ooze.

I lifted it out and showed a tearful Maureen.
A quick rinse under the garden tap and it shone brightly once again, no worse off for it’s little adventure and another story added to its hundred-plus history.

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Two Rings Lost at Taipa Beach, Recovered and Returned Within Minutes

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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A very quick recovery a little while ago…

Kaiah gave me a call asking if I was able to locate her two sentimental rings she had lost at Taipa, she was about to head out of the district and was very anxious to recover them before she left.
Having put them in her cap for safe keeping while she went for a swim, she subsequently forgot about them on her return and grabbed the hat with the rings still inside and headed back to the car.
She met me on site and showed me where she thought they might be and I started the search, retracing her route back towards the car.

As I expanded the search area I quickly located one ring, then the other a few metres away.

 

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Ring lost in Surf at Woolleys Bay, Recovered at 4am

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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Joanne posted on Facebook that she had lost her special silver ring in the surf at Woolleys bay, and asked if anyone had found it.

Knowing the beach well, I knew the ring would already be well under the surface, and likely quite deep with a few tides having passed since.
I very rarely solicit recoveries, however there was a very small window to be able to have any chance of recovering this ring, so I made contact.

Leaving at 1am that night, I made the two hour drive to Woolleys Bay. There was still enough moonlight to see without artificial lights, it’s very meditative searching a remote surf beach at night.
I got started in the cool morning air.

Joanne had given me a rough location, the time it was lost and a photo taken at the time showing the group in the water.

Recent rough seas had changed the contour of the beach and I calculated the delicate silver ring would likely have moved further seawards down the steep slope so biased the first grid to account for this.

As the tide started to turn and the sweeping waves started to absorb my grid lines, I heard a small fluctuation in the background tone.
I re-scanned it with different settings and decided it was definitely a viable target

The shingle was below tide water level and collapsed as quickly as I could dig with the scoop. After about four or five rapid scoops, whatever it was now lay in the small mound on the beach.
It didn’t take long before a silver ring matching the description was laying in my hand.

4am was a bit too early to call Joanne with the good news(!),  so I headed off to kill some time until a more civilised hour.

Later that day, Joanne met up with me a little way down the coast at Whangaumu Bay for the handover.

It wasn’t a valuable ring, but was treasured by Joanne as it had been purchased on a holiday and encapsulated those special memories.
You couldn’t replace that.

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Tearful Loss of Wedding Ring at Ruakaka, Tearful Reunion When Found

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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A very tearful Laura phoned – she had just watched her wedding ring vanish into the sand beneath her feet while in the sea at Ruakaka.

Her husband immediately grabbed the pink swimming goggles off the indignant daughter and he spent a long time searching for it until he was, as Laura described, « mildly hypothermic ».

I had recently returned a lost ring for Jax, Laura’s mother in law, and Jax recommended that Laura contact me immediately.

Which she did.

In the busiest summer season yet, I had literally only just returned from another ocean recovery 150km away near Whangarei and was exhausted. However, the emotion and desperation on the other end of the phone was very real – So I grabbed a strong coffee, some food, and threw the wet gear back in the car and made the two hour drive south.

I knew this part of the beach is metal detected every night at this time of year, and I was determined that this ring wouldn’t become part of someone’s collection.

On arrival the family met me, and Laura took me down to the beach and indicated the corridor where she thought the ring lay.

Fortunately, after a few days of strong offshore winds the surf was uncharacteristically very small for this coast. This was partially offset though by the corridor being right in the middle of the narrow surf lifesaving patrolled area, so lots of people to work around…

I did a quick scoping search, however this yielded nothing and ultimately I had to resort to my proven techniques to ensure every square inch was covered.

The beach was relatively trash-free, so the interruptions to the background threshold tones were few, and quickly dismissed.

Line by line I slowly closed off the indicated area, and I was starting to pre-plan the next search phase.

Suddenly a bold, gold tone in the headphones – The scoop came up out of the water and I rinsed the sand away.

There was Laura’s gold wedding ring.

I held it up to Laura, sitting on the beach, and she let loose with whoops and yells – closely followed by the rest of the beach!
They had by now all heard the story about this strange person zig-zagging around in the waves and had become invested in what I refer to as « The Worlds Most Boring Spectator Sport ».

After the excitement subsided, the handshakes and hugs done, I parked the car in the shade and slept solidly for a few hours before the drive home.

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