Rob Ellis, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 6 of 6

Found: Diamond Ring

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)
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On the night of October 19th, 2018, Noelle was walking her dog in an open area near her parent’s home. The dog decided to run and she was pulled off balance. Later, Noelle realized her beautiful diamond ring was missing. Not knowing where she lost the ring, she carefully searched her parent’s house and retraced her steps. When she couldn’t find the ring, she called me.

Noelle did a great job showing me where and how she walked the dog that night. Because it was dark, she could not pin-point exactly where she was when the dog pulled her off her feet. The field is directly under power lines, which can sometimes interfere with metal detectors. After making the proper adjustments to my detector, I searched the area for a couple of hours. I then traced Noelle’s steps back to her parent’s house. I also went through her car. I was not ready to give up. After a business trip, I planned to return with another detectorist and expand my search area,

I happened to be passing through the neighborhood on the way home from another search (gold hoop earring) when I decided to stop and do a quick search. This time I entered the field from the opposite direction. It was getting difficult to see in the dark. While I was walking back to the car I found the ring. It was further away from where Noelle thought she had fallen. There had been enough foot traffic in the area to push the ring into the clay-like soil. Because it was so late, I returned home and called Noelle with the good news. I met with her a few days later to return the ring.

If I can be of service, the fastest way to get me is to text or call 703-598-1435.

Hand shovel marking the spot

 

 

Grass and dirt scraped away

 

Saved!

 

Beautiful!

 

Reunited!!

 

 

 

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Lost Diamond Stud Earring Found in Yard

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)
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On September 28th, 2018 Dee was in the backyard with her grandchildren when they were attacked by wasps. As she was escaping, Dee accidently knocked off her diamond stud earring. She contacted the other local Ringfinder, and Earl was able to search right away. Incredibly, Earl found the back of the earring! He knew I would be searching and left a marker showing where he found the back. Thank you Earl!

Using Dee’s other earring, I calibrated my detector’s digital read-out and began where Earl found the earring back. I looked carefully through the yard. In every lawn, there are many bits of small metal trash, and this was no exception. After several hours and many false hits, I was forced to stop looking. I regretted telling Dee I couldn’t find the earring, showed her where I searched, and pile of small metal I collected from the lawn.  I also asked her if I could stop by and search again in the future. Even though she was disappointed, Dee thanked me for searching, and even gave me a bonus above my call out fee.

August 31st, 2019 UPDATE: FOUND! Dee didn’t realize it, but her case started me on a mission to find a metal detector that is more sensitive to small diamond stud earrings.  Almost a year later I called Dee to ask if I could search again. This time I was armed with a new specialized detector. Luckily, my son was in town and offered to help. After a couple of hours of very, very small metal targets, he suggested an area to try based on the direction Dee was running. On the third target, he caught a glimpse of sparkle and pulled the earring out of the dirt!

If I can be of service, the fastest way to get me is to text or call 703-598-1435.

 

Look carefully…

 

It’s right there…

Dee is Suprised and Elated!

Diamon Earring Found!

Dee’s Husband When Showed the Found Earring

 

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Diamond Earring

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)
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reunited

Falls Church, VA. Land search AT Pro with stock coil and 4’ sniper coil, Pro pointer. About 1 hour.

Pamela called me and left a message. She was visiting a grave site when she lost a very treasured earring. As anyone would do, she searched on her hands & knees for a long time. I called her back and we worked out the time and location to meet. Pamela was on top of everything, she even contacted the cemetery to make sure it was OK to search.

As always, we re-enacted how the item was lost. Having the matching earring allowed me to set the detector to ignore most other targets. I started searching in a small area with a probe, and then a larger area with the stock coil. Despite proper settings, the larger coil was getting too many signals. Within minutes of switching to the sniper, I recovered the earring. When I pulled it out of the grass, I was overwhelmed from the look on Pamela’s face. I am so glad to be able to help people find their treasures. Thanks to Chris Turner, for being a visionary and creating the Ringfinders.

In retrospect I should have started with the 4” coil, but I have had great success on small items in the past with the stock coil. I’m glad I could adapt to the unexpected conditions with the proper equipment. Pamela is a very interesting person who has some professional experience in electromagnetic fields. She expressed interest in learning to metal detect and helping others. Jump on in Pamela, the water’s great:)

If I can be of service, the fastest way to get me is by text at 703-598-1435. I will contact you back ASAP.

 

cemetary

in the grass

 

 

Close-up

Smile!

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Fishing equipment in a lake

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)
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Reston VA

Had a call from a gentleman who flipped his kayak in a local lake. He lost some fishing gear and an important set of keys. The depth was over 25 feet in zero visibility, and had no close shore access. To do this search would require hiring a second search & recovery diver, and supplying a boat. I explained to the gentleman that the requirements for conducting a safe search with a chance of recovery would be more costly than replacing the items, and he agreed. I reccommended he call Baldinos locksmith, with whom I have had good experiences. I also suggested he could try using a large magnet on the end of a rope.

If I can be of service, the fastest way to get me is by text at 703-598-1435. I will contact you back ASAP.

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Grasonville MD Lost ring

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)
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Grasonville MD. Salt water, SCUBA 3 mil wetsuit, Excalibur detector, Garrett Pro and Vibra-quatic probes. Time 1:45 hours depth 4 to 7 feet.

I think it is important to also post the unrecovered calls. I suggest that even the rare “misses” are successful, in that the client knows he or she did all they could to find the item. I detail these events so you can learn and apply to your own experience.

After calling two other searchers, a very nice lady called about her lost her engagement ring. Two weeks before, while at Harris Crab House (a great restaurant) the diamond ring went missing. She was pretty sure that when the ring slipped off, it dropped in-between two boards, and went into 8 to 10 feet deep water below the dock. She immediately got a local diver (without a detector) to search, but he couldn’t find the ring. She then had a wading metal detectorist look, but he didn’t have SCUBA.

I called the manager and got permission to dive on the next Sunday morning. When I arrived, managers Bob and Mike were very accommodating. Bob told me the previous detectorist had been there twice. He also told me that he had experienced two other lost rings which were eventually found in the trash.

The entry depth was about 7 feet, but under the dock it was 4 feet deep. I asked the client to re-enact what happened. I then dropped a weighted line between the boards to where the ring fell. Before submerging, I checked the boards under the dock in case the ring landed on a cross beam.

The target area was small and had visibility of about six inches, so I initially used a 3’x 3’ PVC grid with the probes. I then searched the area again with the Excalibur detector. In the event the ring rolled off the dock or was moved, I extended my search area by several yards, but I only found trash.

I suppose it’s possible the ring didn’t actually make it into the water, or one or the other searchers accidently moved it. Being on SCUBA allowed me to get within inches of the bottom and have visual conformation on all targets. No matter what, I feel really bad I couldn’t find this nice lady’s ring.

If I can be of service, the fastest way to get me is by text at 703-598-1435. I will contact you back ASAP.

 

 

 

 

 

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Trip to Wintergreen VA

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)
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We took a mini-vacation with our friends G. & D. This time to the mountains of Wintergreen VA. It was kind of a long drive (3+ hours), but a beautiful place. Again, since I didn’t expect to SCUBA dive, I took my amphibious AT Pro instead of any one of my underwater detectors. I got to detect a couple of local lakes and found the usual trash and clad coins. Incredibly, the detector is so sensitive, I even found the back of an earring! In retrospect, I should have brought my SCUBA gear. While I was on a beach, a woman asked me to look for her GoPro camera. She had the spot, but it was too murky at about ten feet to find while snorkeling. The day before we left, I tried detecting a couple of hours on a ski slope. It was August, and pretty steep terrain. I felt a little like an anthropologist as I found clusters of items at certain areas. For instance, near the lift, there were many beer bottle caps and broken coat snaps. I can see in my mind the skiers settling down & enjoying a beer on the ride up. At the bottom of the actual slope, there were a few coins and broken pieces of ski boots. I’d love to go back in the spring, but I think I would need to be part billy goat because it was so steep. The photo is what I found at the lift and the slope. Afterwards, we had a fantastic dinner with G&D at Devils Backbone Basecamp Brewpub.

If I can be of service, the fastest way to get me is by text at 703-598-1435. I will contact you back ASAP.

Stuff from the ski slope.

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Vacation time

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)
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Grand Falls, MO

We went out to Missouri to visit family. Of course, any vacation should have a metal detector available. I took my AT Pro. It does a nice job for land/shallow water. My son and I checked out Grand Falls. It’s a beautiful place with some interesting history. We also spent a couple of hours at a beach near Branson, and I checked out a park in Galina. We found the usual stuff like fishing weights, pull tabs, bottle caps, bits of jewelry, and clad coins. Another interesting thing we did was detect near an old stump next to my son’s house. Before air conditioning and hundreds of channels on TV, people spent more time outside, under & around shade trees. We ended up finding old keys, coins, and other fun artifacts from the past. I would like to try some old trees on property which has a longer history.

If I can be of service, the fastest way to get me is by text at 703-598-1435. I will contact you back ASAP.

Rob & Son in Shoal creek, MO

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Cleaning up roofing nails

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)
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Found in the yard

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Jane & Ellen

Land/stock AT Pro. Land search, items recovered. 2 hours.

My lovely neighbors Jane & Ellen, (and their four footed owners Agi and Riley),had their roof replaced. Although the crew did a careful clean-up, my friends were concerned about missed roofing nails which could hurt the always active, Agi & Riley. I swept through the yard, trying my best to ignore any deeper signals. I spent a couple of hours and found about 40 nails and staples, bits of wire, a drill bit, and some trash. Although I tried to ignore the deeper targets, I couldn’t help it, and I dug a couple of clad coins from 5 or 6 inches down. As you can see in the photo, one of the nails has a square cap. I found that one in the back yard by a swinging bench. Not only was it pretty far from the roof, it was sticking straight up on packed mulch. Anyone (human or dog) who stepped on that would have noticed! I am so happy Jane and Ellen asked me to do this for them. Before, it hadn’t occurred to me that this would be a useful service. Everyone was very appreciative. I even got a thank you card from Agi & Riley!

If I can be of service, the fastest way to get me is by text at 703-598-1435. I will contact you back ASAP.

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Time to catch Up

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)
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After finding the rings in the James river, I had some interesting calls. For example, one call was a woman who wanted me to help her find an expensive ring she lost somewhere on her property. It could be “anywhere on the grounds, or even flushed down the toilet”. She couldn’t remember what she did with it, because she was “pretty drunk and angry”. If the school year hadn’t started, I might have tried to help her, but I declined and suggested she call some other Ringfinders in the area. Other calls were either out of the area or during a critical time at work and I couldn’t get there fast enough.

If I can be of service, the fastest way to get me is by text at 703-598-1435. I will contact you back ASAP.

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In the James River for over a year

  • from Fairfax (Virginia, United States)
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9/24/16 Recovered: Engagement and Wedding rings set, lost last year in the James River.
SCUBA, 8’ to 10’ deep, 1:31 minutes, Garrett ATpro w/Gray Ghosts

092416gear

Equipment & river access.

In August, I got an email from Lindsay after she saw my listing in the Ring Finder’s directory. She lost the rings last year when a friend accidentally pulled them off her fingers. She had another detectorist do a search that summer, but he could not complete the recovery.

092416-surface

The access to the river is on private property. With all the variables of work, family, and the schedules of the owners, it was difficult to schedule a day. We finally got to the river on a beautiful Saturday morning. My wife who is a certified divemaster, acted as my safety diver. Lindsay’s husband Brett, met us in a nearby town and we followed him to the property. A pleasant gentleman who is one of the landowners met us at the river.

Brett paddled out from the small dock to where he thought the rings dropped. He gave me every detail he could remember and placed me within 15 feet of where I found the rings. Brett’s memory and ability to find the location was invaluable. Lindsay was tenacious and never gave up hope. I am so glad I could help them recover the rings.

I have been metal detecting above and below the water for many years. This is my first recovery through Ring Finders. Thank you to Chris Turner for creating the directory and getting us together!

Rob

 

092416

The rings after more than a year in the silt.

Update:

Here are some photos Lindsay just shared. She also added a comment at the end of this post. I love this hobby:)

Rings after a cleaning.

Rings after a cleaning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

lindsay2

 

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