Stan Ross, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 82 of 86

Lost Ring off Balcony … Recovered … Long Beach, CA.

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)
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Last week I received a call about 9am from Luis asking me if I could help him find his platinum wedding band. Luis had looked for the ring for a whole day and a half. Then he got online thinking he could buy or rent a metal detector. Finding TheRingFinders directory and he decided to call me.  He lives on the third floor of a high rise apartment complex. Standing on his balcony sweating the dust off a cushion, he heard a ping sound but didn’t realize it was his wedding band hitting the floor. A couple minutes later he realized that he was missing his wedding band that he has had been wearing for fifteen years. We discussed the details of the search area and I decided it would be better to wait till 3pm to meet up with him. It sounded like it was possible that the ring could have landed in his neighbor’s the ground floor patio which is about 3 feet larger than the upper floor balconies. We would not be able to search that patio, because neighbors had not returned from their weekend trip.

I had about 5 hours to put together a game plan for the search. Not knowing the location my mind ran through all kind of possibilities. When I got to the building I saw two sets of balconies. One set of had a big garden area with a lawn lawn in front of it and the other had a small garden area with a large asphalt driveway leading down to an underground parking lot. I was hoping the one with the lawn was going to be where Luis lived, because it would be more detector friendly. Well, it was the other area with the small garden. It only took about a half hour to go through it with my detector followed up by crawling around with my pin pointer ( hand held detector ) checking all the hard to get at spots. It’s important to keep the right frame of mind. It’s easy to give up on a search just before the miracle happens. I wasn’t looking forward to checking the underground garage and the drain, covered by a grating that couldn’t be removed.

Luis’s wife Melissa came down to tell us we had permission to get into the neighbors patio. We went into the patio and the first thing I saw was a mass of large potted ferns in corner most probable place for the ring to be. It was also loaded with many dry leaves. It looked like it was going to take some time to do a thorough search. Luis started looking on one side of the patio and I started scanning around the potted ferns using a  small 6″ coil on my detector. It was hard to stay positive looking at the mass of ferns.  Before starting to look through the fern leaves, I checked against the wall and the miracle happened. I saw the ring hiding in the leaves against the wall. Without touching the ring I took a couple photos of the ring before I called Luis over to see it. Again I don’t know who was happier, me or Luis.    » The ring wasn’t lost, it was just waiting to be found « 

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Wedding Ring Lost in Sand … Laguna Beach, CA. … Found with Metal Detector

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)
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Wednesday  ….   Nov. 26, 2014

It’s a cold winter for the rest of the country, but we are fortunate  in So. California. It’s been in the high 70’s to 80 degrees with lots of sun. I took advantage of a senior discount to go see a movie. Half way through the movie, I received  a call but could not answer it till I got to the lobby. With the technology of the smart phone it was easy to call the missed  phone call. Ten years ago this would not have been possible.  The success of this search was largely a result of people having smart phones and access to the internet. A man named David  answered the call and passed the phone to Robert who had lost his  gold and diamond wedding ring. After talking to Robert I decided I could always go to a movie. It was more important to help Robert find his ring. Robert said he was at the Montage Resort on the beach near Treasure Island and added that he wasn’t leaving till he found his ring. It took me about an hour to get to his location because I had to stop by my place to get my favorite detector, Minelab CTX 3030.

I was able to find a parking place which is not always easy at So. Calif. beaches. I also avoid paying expensive daily parking because I have annual parking passes for  4 of the major beaches and all the Calif. state beaches ( some of the fees are $15  per car)

Here’s  how the ring was lost. It’s your basic  » I took my ring off to put sunscreen on story »  there was a twist to this story because Robert handed his ring to his wife. Sandy put it on her lap forgetting it was there, she got up walking over to the other side of where they were sitting. Then she realized that the ring was gone.After searching through the sand with their fingers , David who was  on the beach near them came to help them. He told them that he had heard from  a friend  about TheRingFinders.com . David actually googled our website and called me. I wonder how many people walk away after losing their sentimental jewelry because they don’t know that TheRingFinders exists in many cities and countries?

It was not a hard search . After finding 2 dimes, a penny and a toy car ,  I got a signal near their daughter’s beach chair. I asked her to move the chair and instantly I got a strong gold tone.  Digging it up with my sand scoop was the easy part. Then the smiles and high fives happened. Robert told me he had worn the ring everyday for 15 years. It was also very important to Sandy his wife, she had chosen this ring for Robert 15 years ago. I’m guessing that Sandy also did not want to be responsible for losing this ring. This will also make a good beginning to the Thanksgiving holiday starting a day early. It was really a pleasure to meet David who helped Robert and Sandy find TheRingFinders directory. I would rather help somebody find their lost ring than see a movie any day .
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Mesh Ring found in Surf at Del Mar, CA.

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)
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MONDAY   Nov. 3, 2014

John called me while I was metal detecting near San Clemente, Ca.  He told me how he and his wife had taken their dog to Del Mar Dog beach Sunday for a run on the beach. His wife really didn’t feel like going but John persuaded her to go. The weather was perfect for a walk on the beach with their dog. The nice day was upset when John’s wife lost her Tiffany, silver mesh ring while throwing a ball for their dog to chase. It went directly into about one foot of water and immediately disappeared into the sand.

I would be about 45 minutes till I could get to the location, but there was still enough low tide to give it a try. I guess John called Tony Eisenhower , a fellow RingFinder . Tony contacted me and we both met with the information that John had given him. John was unable to leave work to point out the exact location, which is always a big help. Long story, short, the two of us were unable to find the ring before the incoming tide chased us out of the water.  I was not sure I could make it back Tuesday at the next best low tide, but after finding out that Tony could not make it. I went back as the tide was receding. I was worried that possibly somebody with a metal detector would find it and not return it to John, because he had posted the loss on Craig’s List with a perfect google map. Most people are honest, but there have been reports about people using Craig’s List for their own personal treasure maps.

When I arrived at dog beach Tuesday about noon there were no other detectorists on the beach. I started the grid search without the pressure of an incoming tide. Within 30 minutes my CTX 3030 gave me a nice solid signal and there was the ring. This part of the beach has a medium hard packed sand and the surf has been more or less calm. Even with these conditions, the ring had managed to work its way down about 5 inches in the sand in about 48 hours.  It is always an advantage to have the person that lost the item present to point out the location, but in this case John was unable to leave work. On the other hand, sometimes I get a little nervous when the person is standing there with that look of doubt and despair. It is all worth the time to see the smiles and joy when you return a sentimental ring. I did not get to see John’s wife when he surprised her with the good news, I know it was a special moment for her.

 

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Metal Detector locates ring at Laguna Beach

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)
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Joseph called me asking questions about how my service works. He had been considering  buying or renting a metal detector to find a promise ring that his fiancé had lost at Cresent Bay Beach in Laguna. Metal detectors work well to find rings, but some do not work on the beach with the saltwater conditions. Metal Detectors also take some time to learn to operate. Many conditions effect the  operation and the way that the person using the detector has to consider : Soil conditions, type of metal, tide condition, other metallic trash, electrical interference , timing (ASAP), good reference points., and many more. Finding a lost heirloom is not a Do It Yourself project, if you really want to find the item.

Joseph and his fiancé ,  Bella  were at Cresent Bay two days before.  Bella put her ring in her hat with her other things on the upper beach while the went into the water. When they returned she picked up the hat then realized the ring had dropped into the soft sand. They did the dreaded ring search crawl, running their fingers through the sand for a couple hours.  I don’t even try to pick a ring out of the sand with my fingers. It’s amazing how the rings just keep slipping through your fingers without feeling them.

I was willing to go to the location that night at the next low tide, but Joseph could not make it. I called him back with the best time to do the search in the morning. He could not make it, but I asked him to send me a Google map with the drop pin to mark the general location. I told him, he had to trust me. I don’t need any more rings.  When I got to  location I thought I was looking for a stainless steel  ring.  10 minutes into the search up popped a nice man’s wedding band. I took a photo of it and sent it to  him.  It was not his ring. It’s odd how I can go for weeks without finding a ring when I’m just doing a little recreational metal detecting.  Then I find two rings within 10 minutes. He sent me a picture of the ring and  after  another 50 feet , Bella’s ring was in my scoop. Called Joseph and he drove and hour to meet me on the beach. He told me that he had not told his fiancé, Bella that  the ring had been found. They will be celebrating their second year anniversary next week, so he will surprise her.

Just Remember:  « Your ring is not lost, it is just waiting to be found »  I want to think that is an original thought, but I’m sure somebody has posted it somewhere.

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Wedding Rings found on Oceanside Beach, Calif.

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)
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I got home the other night about 5:30pm. I sat down at the computer to write a post for my RingFinder blog. Before starting my post I checked my emails. There was an email from Katie that had been sent about 8:30 am. She was desperate and had asked if I could help her find her lost rings, the most important thing that she owns. I was upset that I had not checked my mails in the morning. She had been at the public beach in Oceanside, Calif. watching a surfing event. Even though it was starting to get dark and it was a 45 mile drive I wrote her quick email telling her I could meet her tonight if she had not found anyone to help her. Within 10 minutes she called me and I jumped in my little Mini Cooper  » Calif. RING FDR  » and headed down Pacific Coast Hwy.. My favorite drive.

At 7:00 pm,  I pulled up in front of the vacation rentals where Katie and her husband Brian were staying. They walked over to the area where Katie said she had walked out to the water the day before. She rinsed the sand off her ring and walked back up to the dry sand playing with their small dog. In that 20 or 30 minutes she realized that her ring was not on her finger. I am always competing with the sand sifting machines on these popular public beaches, but we were fortunate that after summer has past they don’t sift everyday. It was dark and I was trying to be careful to grid overlapping my swings. I did have the advantage that there was two rings, so if I missed one there was a chance to get one of the two. Then I could hone in on the other ring.  I covered about 7 or 8 passes about 60 feet in each direction before the larger of the ring gave me 12-03 reading on my CTX3030 .  I called Katie and Brian over to show them. It was an exciting time for all, even Brian who had mostly given up that the rings could be found. A couple more swings and the smaller ring gave me a 12-02 reading on my detector screen.  Another happy couple and a special beginning to their marriage of 45 days. Brian is a Marine and will be leaving the county next month. Look at those smiles.
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Gold Wedding Band found in Huntington Beach Park

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)
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imageI received  a call from Evan asking me if I could help him find his 18kt gold wedding band.  I was a couple miles away so it was just a few minutes to get to the park where he had lost the ring the yesterday. He and his wife were sitting on a curb along the side of a service road in the park. They realized they were sitting on some ants. When he stood up he swatted the ants off his pants with his hands and felt his ring fly off his finger. He actually heard the ring hit the asphalt, but it had bounced off the side of the road. Heavy leaf and ivy covered the side of road and the edge of road was a steep slope. It could of bounced 20 feet or more down the embankment . After crawling around in the leaves and ivy I moved 50 feet down the road from where Evan had been sitting.  A few swings with my CTX 3030 about 12 inches off the edge of the road laying in the leaves and rubble was Evan’s ring. The ring was not only special because it was his wedding ring. His dad had made the ring for Evan.  It was a special search with some tuff conditions. Another time that I was thinking about coming back tomorrow with some other search coils and equipment. A couple more swings outside the main search area proved to be the solution to making this a successful search.  And a lot of luck.
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Ring Found Camp Pendleton Delmar Beach

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)
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Friday  October 10, 2014

Sean called me early this morning telling me that he found my name in The RingFinders directory.  He had lost his white gold wedding band in the sand the night before. He had been working out with a squad of Marines  doing  some type of crawling exercise in the sand. Sean told me that he knew exactly when the ring slipped off his finger, but even that he knew the location it couldn’t be found. He said  about 40 guys searched the sand for about 15 minutes with no success .  I met Sean at 10 am and he walked me to the location  where it was lost.  Sean had placed a traffic cone in the general location and had ask the beach cleaning crew not to rake the area with the tractor rake.  ( last week I missed an easy search because the rake beat me to the location ). This  looked like an simple search, but I went south instead of north. After about 45 minutes I thought I’d cross grid and also check a little area north of the cone.  Ten or fifteen feet in the new direction my search coil was over the ring. After digging the ring in my sand scoop I called Sean over and we both were elated. Sean and myself were beginning to give up hope. I wasn’t ready to quit, but I was thinking of what words to say if I didn’t find it. After finding the ring Sean told me that he had just recently got married and he had not told his wife about the loss. At least he did save her a night of worrying about the loss.  I’m sure if Sean did not mark the spot and ask the beach crew to avoid raking that area we may have never found his ring..  I love  being able to help people, look at that smile.

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Lost Wedding Rings on Mother’s Day … Aliso Beach, Laguna, CA. … Found in the Sand

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)
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Sunday … May 11, 2014

I’m starting to believe that  » THERE ARE NO COINCIDENCES »

Last week I found a nice wedding band set while searching for another lost ring. I had a call from a lady who had lost a ring 5/5/14 at Aliso Beach, CA. It seems she was putting on sun screen and had taken off her ring forgetting to put it on after applying the lotion. Six days had passed with beach cleaning machines and other detectorists, but I wanted to give it a try. When I arrived at the beach there were still a lot of people on the beach. I started messing around back away from the search area to use up some time till I could start my grid search. I did a two hour two way grid search for the ring lost last week with no success.

While working my way up to the beach front a lifeguard came up to me telling me about another lady that had lost her ring. I walked about 50 yards. When I got close Landan and her mother-in-law, Julie came up to me with surprised looks on their faces. They were at their wits end and couldn’t believe that some guy with a metal detector had just showed up out of no ware.  They had gone home and tried to locate a someone that could help them find the lost ring with no luck. It was Sunday and they could not get anyone to answer their calls. They returned to the beach to resume running their fingers through the sand.  Ladan told me that she had been playing in the sand with her daughter about noon when she noticed she had lost her ring. I confidently told her it should be an easy search, but then she told me that she had made several trips to the water to fill a bucket with wet sand. That could be a major problem, but I tried to stay positive.  People were all over the area and they all seemed to know about Ladan’s dilemma. I was able to find the larger ring within a few minutes. Nobody noticed that I retrieved the big ring in my sand scoop, so I set my detector down, walked over and presented it to Ladan. The tears of joy flowed. It was a special moment for her and everyone around the area. Then she said you’ve found the big one. I realized that she had lost the wedding band also. In the excitement they forgot or I didn’t hear that there was two rings lost. It was a matter of a few more swings of my search coil and within 4 feet of the first ring. A very special Mother’s Day for Ladan to remember.  One of the ladies on the beach came over to me after things settled down saying that she had been praying for the last two hours that Ladan would find her rings.  I’m going to add a personal email that Julie ( relative of Ladan) sent me.

Email from Julie:    GRATEFUL 

May 11,2014

Dear Stan, you were our « Dragon Slayer » today. My daughter-in-law felt completely helpless until you appeared with your twinkling blue eyes and confident attitude! And then in a matter of minutes you found her rings and released her from her pain.  Now, her pain was not about losing valuable objects. It was about her husband and the love the rings represent, HIS LOVE FOR HER! She wanted to find them more for him than for herself. It was an amazing Mother’s Day gift for me to discover Ladan’s sense of determination and depth of character. I have a wonderful new story to tell about what really matters in life. A true Mother’s Day gift. Thank You! I’ll never forget you……Julie
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Lost Car Keys … Newport Beach, CA. … Found planter under Ivy

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)
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Saturday .. May 10, 2014

I remember the days when I couldn’t wait for Friday night to celebrate the end of a work week. It was easy to understand what happened when I received a call from Ronald. He was out with his girlfriend and another friend having a few drinks. To make the story short, his girlfriend had a few too many drinks. When she insisted that she was going to drive her car their friend threw her car keys into some ivy. I recieved the call the next morning and was able meet Ronald a few minutes after he called. He is almost my next door nieghbor. One small note to mention is that I was refered by to Ronald by Joe Demarco of Demarco Detector Sales in New Jersey.  Joe is very active helping people to find TheRingFinders group.

I spent about 20 minutes with my 11 inch coil over the ivy and was just about ready to change over to my 6 inch coil which is better in trashy, tight areas. I opted to try my hand held pin pointer. We thought that possibly the keys may have ended up on a balcony about 8 feet  above the planter. I asked Ronald to ask the tenant of that unit if we could check the balcony. As Ronald started to go knock on the door, my pin pointer gave me a signal and there was the car keys. I yelled  at Ronald and was able to get his attention before he had bothered the tenant.  It was amazing how these keys were hiding in the ivy. It would have been a lot easier to find the keys if they were another color than black.  It always gets a little crasy after I’ve covered the whole area and I have to go to double check mode sometimes refered as plan « B ».

Ronald

Ronald

Why don't they make these yellow
Why don’t they make these yellow
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Lost Platinum Wedding Band … Laguna Beach, CA. … Found at the Beach in Sand

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)
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Saturday  .. May 3, 2014

I was on another ring recovery 58 miles from Laguna Beach when I got a call from a Concierge at the Montage resort. The Concierge at the desk passed the phone off to Joann and I told her I could be there before dark.  I was able to get there before the sunset. Joann and her husband were waiting on the beach in front of where the ring was dropped. I made a few swings with my detector and scooped a nice wedding ring. I let Joann pick it from my scoop, then she said this is not my ring.  I put it in my pocket then  swung the detector a couple more times. The next signal was Joann and Federico’s wedding band. They were elated to have this most important symbol of their marriage back where it belongs.  I reported to the hotel’s security that I had found another ring that I’d like to return to the rightful owner. I am also posting it on Craig’s List Lost and Found.. As of this date it has not been claimed. Below is Federico and Joann’s story.

OUR STORY;
My husband, Federico Blanco and I met on October 7, 2007. We became boyfriend/girlfriend on March 15, 2008 and got engaged four years later on the same day we met, October 7, 2011. Eight months later we got married on June 10, 2012 and have had a happy and fulfilling relationship.

This was the first time I had ever lost my wedding band. I had asked Federico to hold my rings while I put sunblock on our 8 year-old daughter, Sarah and he forgot he was holding onto my rings (Wedding ring and band). When he stood up he realized the wedding band was gone but managed to hold onto the most expensive ring, the wedding ring! We searched the sand for about 15 minutes before it occurred to me to call someone who had a metal detector. I went to the Montage to ask the concierge who was named Calvin Randle if he knew any staff members who might have a metal detector but no one had one. I asked him to look online if any nearby stores sold one and in the search Stan Ross came up. We decided to give you a call and within seconds you answered and said you would be there within an hour. You showed up 90 minutes later and found my wedding band within 5 minutes or less of looking for it. Thank you again and we hope to see our story on your blog soon.

-Joann Blanco
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Joann and Fernando

Joann and Fernando

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