Steve Thomas, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 2 of 4

Wedding Rings Lost Four Months in Palm Harbor, Fl. Yard…Found!!!

  • from Dunedin (Florida, United States)
Contact:


Steve Thomas

Dunedin Ring Finder

Lost a ring or other metal valuable at the beach or in a grassy or sandy area? Jewelry slip off of you while working outside, playing with the dog or swimming? Please call me ASAP at (843) 995-4719. I offer a FREE metal detecting service, reward optional but appreciated upon recovery!

One day in early November 2023, Michelle realized that both her engagement and wedding rings were missing from her hand. Michelle had recently done some gardening and thought that she must have lost them as she was pulling weeds in the thick liriope or monkey grass. At the same time, Michelle and her husband John had recently returned from a trip to the mountains of North Carolina so there was a possibility she had lost them where they stayed. Michelle also works as a dental hygienist and there was a possibility that she could have lost her rings at the office. Michelle and John thoroughly searched everywhere she thought she may have lost her rings and contacted the rental company of the vacation house in North Carolina but they could not find them. Michelle then reached out for help on social media and I responded to her. As it turns out, Michelle has her hair done at the same place where my wife and I go for hair cuts so several people who work there recommended me. A few days later, I searched Michelle and John’s front yard thoroughly with my Nox 900, especially the area with the tall, thick liriope grass including probing the grass with my hand held pinpointer but I was unable to find the rings. Michelle agreed to contact me again in several months after she cut the grass back which she did in early March. I went back over and searched the grass again but it was still too thick to push my detector coil as far as I needed to so I probed the grass with two pinpointers including my new Nokta AccuPoint pinpointer. After about 30 minutes of searching in several clumps of the thick grass, the Nokta “beeped” a contact signal and I pushed the grass aside to reveal the beautiful engagement ring! Michelle was at work and John had just walked into the house so I shouted for John who quickly came back out. I pushed the grass aside and John stared at the ring with a look of disbelief and we both began to celebrate. Then I remembered I still needed to find the wedding band and I got another signal just a few inches from the first ring, pushed the grass aside and there was the second ring! After I left, John texted photos of the rings to Michelle who was still at work and the entire office was overjoyed with the recovery.

Michelle and John, thank you for trusting the Dunedin Ring Finder to find and return the precious wedding rings and thank you for the generous reward!

 

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Lost Designer Prescription Sunglasses, Honeymoon Island State Park, Dunedin, Fl….Found!!!

  • from Dunedin (Florida, United States)
Contact:

 


Steve Thomas

Dunedin Ring Finder

Lost a ring or other metal valuable at the beach or in a grassy or sandy area? Jewelry slip off of you while working outside, playing with the dog or swimming? Please call me ASAP at (843) 995-4719. I offer a free metal detecting service, reward optional but appreciated upon recovery!

Julie was enjoying the warm waters of Honeymoon Island State Park when a wave took her Cocoa Mint designer prescription sunglasses off her face. She searched for awhile in the waist deep water for her glasses but was unable to locate them. Julie then posted on one of the local social media groups called Dunedin Discussions to see if anyone had found the glasses and I saw her post and reached out to her. We set up a search for the next day.

I met Julie on the beach the next day and she directed me to the area where she lost her sunglasses. I began in waist deep water and worked my way in towards the shore and up to the wet sand with my detector. After about a 1 1/2 hour search including searching the dry sand up to where Julie was sitting on the beach, I was unable to locate her glasses. Julie had to leave the beach to meet up with her family so I told her I would continue the search. I returned to the water and searched about an hour more, expanding the search area in all directions from my initial search location. I then came out of the water in order to head home for a break and realized that my hand held detecting pinpointer was missing. I had inadvertently left it in my pocket when doing the sand search and it probably came out when I got back in the water. Now I was looking for two items instead of one! I returned once again to the water and after searching briefly, I found Julie’s sunglasses and they were undamaged! I immediately  contacted her and sent her a photo of her recovered glasses. Needless to say, she was extremely happy and I returned them to her about an hour later. Unfortunately I never recovered my pinpointer but it’s all good!

Julie, it was a pleasure meeting you and being able to return your sunglasses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Lost 18K Gold and Diamond Cross Necklace, Indian Rocks Beach, Fl….Found and Returned A Year Later!!!

  • from Dunedin (Florida, United States)
Contact:

 


Steve Thomas

Dunedin Ring Finder

Lost a ring or other metal valuable at the beach or in a grassy or sandy area? Jewelry slip off of you while working outside, playing with the dog or swimming? Please call me ASAP at (843) 995-4719. I offer a free metal detecting service, reward optional but appreciated upon recovery!

Connor was riding some waves with friends at Indian Rocks Beach in early June of last year. While out in the rough waters that day, he lost his 18K gold necklace given to him by his father along with a gold cross studded with diamonds that had been added to the necklace. Connor and his mother Cathy found me through social media and asked me if I could help them find the necklace as they had been unable to find someone closer to help. Even though that is outside my normal service area, I agreed to coordinate a search.

I arrived at the scene later that same day and entered the water along with Connor and a friend of his. I searched for several hours in the rough water up to my neck with Connor and his friend assisting in scooping targets but I was unsuccessful. I returned the next day and searched again in the rough water but again no necklace. A few days later, I returned once again along with my metal detecting buddy Jim and we hunted for a few hours, expanding my original search area each time. About 10 days later, still in June of 2022, Jim and I searched again for a few hours to no avail. Over the course of the four searches, Jim and I found plenty of beer caps, pull tabs, a few coins and fishing weights, even some “junk” jewelry but not the big gold target we were looking for. It was always disappointing to update Connor’s mom Cathy with the bad news. In July and August, I tried to set up a search with an excellent water detectorist friend named Shawn who could also scuba search but we were never able to match schedules. Jim and I went back to Indian Rocks Beach for one last search in early October but once again we were unsuccessful. By that time and after five searches, I assumed that we were not looking in the correct area for the necklace or it had moved from the search area. It was also possible that we had just not passed our detectors close enough to the target or even that some other detectorist had found it but I thought that was much less likely because of how much time we had spent in the water.

Fast forward to July of 2023. Out of the blue, Cathy sent me a card telling me once again how much she appreciated what I and my fellow Ring Finders do to help people find their lost jewelry. Then here’s where the story really gets interesting. Two months later, in early September, I was at Honeymoon Island with my wife, daughter and grandson when I noticed someone metal detecting. I went up to him to introduce myself and realized that I was speaking to a fellow detectorist named Scott who I only knew through some texts we had exchanged as he and I and another detectorist named Brenda were trying to help someone find their lost wedding band at Honeymoon Island a number of months back. As Scott and I spoke, he told me that he had only been detecting about a year and a half and his best find had been a gold necklace with a cross at Indian Rock Beach last August (2022). I was stunned! I told him that I was searching for something like that last summer and found the photo on my phone that showed Connor wearing his necklace and said “does it look like this”? Scott said “that’s exactly what I found” and later showed me a photo taken the day he found it. We then confirmed that it was in the same area Jim and I had searched five times last year! Scott told me that he had sold the cross to a friend of his named Shannon who had moved out of the area but still had the necklace. Scott later asked me for Cathy and Connor’s contact info and I knew then that he was going to make every effort to get the cross back from Shannon and return the necklace. About a week and a half later and after Shannon sold the cross back to Scott so the entire necklace could be returned to Connor, the necklace was back on a happy Connor’s neck! He had already purchased a replacement but he promised to wear it as an every day and save the one given to him by his father for special occasions!

Cathy and Connor, thank you for trusting me to search for Connor’s necklace and your show of appreciation. Thanks to Shannon for being willing to make sure the cross was returned to its owner. And Scott, a huge thanks to you for having the heart of a Ring Finder and for being led to do the right thing, returning your best find! I have a feeling you will be rewarded with many great finds in your future! And I’m extremely thankful for the Divine intervention that led Scott and me to meet that day on Honeymoon Island.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Lost Tungsten Carbide Wedding Band Honeymoon Island, Dunedin Fl…Found!!!

  • from Dunedin (Florida, United States)
Contact:

 

Steve Thomas

Dunedin Ring Finder

Lost a ring or other metal valuable at the beach or in a grassy or sandy area? Jewelry slip off of you while working outside, playing with the dog or swimming? Please call me ASAP at (843) 995-4719. I offer a free metal detecting service, reward optional but appreciated upon recovery!

Erin and her husband Michael were enjoying some beach time with family on the Dog Beach portion of Honeymoon Island State Park. Michael was playing with the children in about knee deep water when he felt his heavy tungsten carbide wedding band slip off of his finger into the water. Despite a frantic effort by all present to find the ring searching in the water by hand, it could not be found.

Unfortunately as they were vacationing in the Tampa area and staying with family, Erin and Michael had to return to their home in Texas several days later without Michael’s wedding band. After Erin returned home, she began seeking help to find her husband’s ring on local social media pages including one called Honeymoon Island Sandbar Chasers where several people recommended me.

After I was able to connect with Erin, I discovered that Michael had lost his ring about fours days before near high tide in knee deep water which means it would just be in wet sand at low tide. I was concerned that the ring might be found by another detectorist under those conditions so I headed to the beach at low tide the following morning. Erin had texted me a pin drop on a Google map as well as a description of the loss location which included several visual landmarks but Erin’s step mom who was with the family at the beach and who lives in the area was not able to assist me that day. I wanted to recover the ring with one search because beginning the next day I was going to be out of town for two weeks.

After I reviewed the map and noted landmarks at the site, I decided to begin my search in knee deep water and grid about 50 yards to the north and south of the beginning point. After working the water up to the wet sand for several hours and finding several bottle caps and pull tabs, I detected a target with a strong signal that I felt like could be just what I was looking for. I dug a few inches down with my scoop and out popped Michael’s wedding ring! I sent some photos to Erin who couldn’t believe how quickly I had recovered the ring especially with no one present to point out the precise location. Later that day I met up with Erin’s step mom to return the ring so she could mail it to Erin. As soon as I receive a photo of Michael with the ring back on his finger, I will edit this post. In the meantime, my smile will have to do!

Erin and Michael, thank you for trusting the Dunedin Ring Finder to find and return Michael’s wedding ring!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Lost Wedding Ring Caladesi Island, Dunedin, Fl….Found!!

  • from Dunedin (Florida, United States)
Contact:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve Thomas

Dunedin Ring Finder

Lost a ring or other metal valuable at the beach or in a grassy or sandy area? Jewelry slip off of you while working outside, playing with the dog or swimming? Please call me ASAP at (843) 995-4719. I offer a free metal detecting service, reward optional but appreciated upon recovery!

Michelle and her husband Justin were visiting beautiful Caladesi Island beach for the day. Michelle took off her beautiful wedding/engagement ring to apply sun screen and then got into the water. After a few minutes in the warm waters of the Gulf, Michelle realized that her ring was no longer on her finger! She quickly began a frantic search, first by looking around in the clear water where she stood and then by searching the area around where they had set up their beach chairs in the sand. Soon the beach chair and umbrella vendor Chris came over to see what was going on and to assist in the search. Michelle could not remember if she had placed the ring back on her finger after applying sunscreen so it could have fallen into the sand off of her chair or have been lost in the water.

I had just recovered another wedding ring on Caladesi Island about a week before and had left my contact info with Chris so he texted me about this ring loss. Chris gave me Michelle and Justin’s contact info as they were staying at Clearwater Beach and told me he had placed cones around the area of sand where their chairs were placed. I took the ferry over to Caladesi the next morning and after arriving at the beach, Chris showed me the area of sand to search and also the area of water where Michelle may have lost the ring about waist deep. The search in the sand revealed only a couple of bottle caps and another ring that was not close to the picture of Michelle’s ring she had sent me. Then I began my water search sweeping my detector back and forth from the dry sand to the wet sand and then to the point where Michelle entered the water. I worked out to a small sand bar where Michelle had told me was her furthest point in the water and then back to shore and then back out in a grid pattern. After being in the water only about 2o minutes,  I hit a target on the side of the sand bar that my detector told me could possibly be the gold and diamond ring I was searching for. After a couple of attempts I managed to scoop Michelle’s precious ring out of the water! This was the second ring I had recovered in about a week’s time without the owner present! I texted a photo to Michelle and said “Is this it”? Obviously she was ecstatic and we then set up a time and location later in the afternoon so I could return the ring and Michelle and Justin could resume their vacation much happier than they were before!

I was very fortunate and very blessed to have found the ring in only about 20 minutes. Some searches like this can last for hours and I may never be able to recover what I’m searching for.

Michelle and Justin, thank you for trusting me to find Michelle’s ring and thank you for the generous reward! And thanks to Chris for the referral and pointing me in the right direction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Lost Wedding Ring Caladesi Island, Dunedin, Fl….Found!!!

  • from Dunedin (Florida, United States)
Contact:

Steve Thomas

Dunedin Ring Finder

Lost a ring or other metal valuable at the beach or in a grassy or sandy area? Jewelry slip off of you while working outside, playing with the dog or swimming? Please call me ASAP at (843) 995-4719. I offer a free metal detecting service, reward optional but appreciated upon recovery!

Jessica and her husband Javier were enjoying the day riding jet skis around Honeymoon and Caladesi Islands. They beached on the north end of Caladesi and while Javier was opening a compartment at the rear of his jet ski his beautiful 14k hammered gold wedding band slipped off of his finger into the Gulf of Mexico.

Jessica found me through a Google search and texted me the story including a photo of the ring and a general map of the loss area. Fortunately the ring was lost in only waist deep water an hour or two before low tide so I wanted to plan a search for the same tide time the next day. Initially, Jessica and Javier weren’t sure if they could return the next day but it was important that they be there to narrow down the search area so they were able to work it out.

To get to the loss location, I had to ride twenty minutes on a ferry from Honeymoon to Caladesi, walk about ten minutes from the ferry to the beach, and then walk about 1 1/2 miles to the north end of the island with my equipment. Jessica and Javier had arrived on a jet ski before I arrived but left to pick up an anchor at a nearby marina. They texted me to let me know to look for a green tracker boat and a green jet ski as markers for where the ring was lost if I wanted to begin the search before their return so I began my search in the water. After only about fifteen minutes of searching with my Nox 600 detector, I came across a strong signal with a 21 on the VDI. After several scoops into the mud I was able to bring up Javier’s ring! Jessica and Javier arrived about ten minutes later and I walked up to Javier and asked him if he was ready to begin the search. Before he could answer, I held up his ring and said “is this what I’m looking for?” I thought he was going to fall off the jet ski! Jessica said to him “ I told you we ought to try this before you bought a new one!” After talking for a few minutes and taking a few photos with Javier texting family and friends about the ring find, Jessica and Javier sped happily away.

Jessica and Javier, thank you for trusting me to find and return Javier’s wedding ring and thank you for the generous reward!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Lost iPhone Sunset Beach, Tarpon Springs, Fl….Found!!

  • from Dunedin (Florida, United States)
Contact:

Steve Thomas

Dunedin Ring Finder

Lost a ring or other metal valuable in a grassy or sandy area? Jewelry slip off of you while working outside, playing with the dog or swimming? Please call me ASAP at (843) 995-4719. I offer a free metal detecting service, reward optional but appreciated upon recovery!

I was reading posts on a local social media page when I noticed that a person named Diana had posted that her son had lost his iPhone in the water at a local beach earlier in the day. I reached out to Diana who told me she was going to be back at the beach later that same day at low tide to do another search. I told her that I would meet her on site at 6:30pm to assist with the search which would be in knee deep rather than chest deep water at that time. When I arrived at Sunset Beach, I met Diana and several other members of her family including her son Gabriel who had lost the phone after only having it about two weeks! Diana showed me the area where they believed Gabriel may have lost his phone which included several hundred feet of beach out to about knee deep where a layer of sea grass began. I began my search down the shoreline from the starting point given to me by Diana by detecting the wet sand and very shallow water and I would move closer to the sea grass on my return sweep. I had not been searching for much longer that ten minutes when I heard several yells behind me. I turned around and saw Diana holding up Gabriel’s phone which she had found in the sea grass near my search start point! She told me that she had seen the phone in the clear water due to a reflection of sunlight. Diana gave the phone to Gabriel and he was overjoyed to see that it still worked even after soaking in the water all day. Later, Diana posted on social media that the phone had been found and gave me credit for helping with the phone search and a lot of positive publicity for what the Ring Finders do.

Diana, so happy you found Gabriel’s phone and thank you for all of your kind words!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Lost Wedding Ring Honeymoon Island, Dunedin, FL….Found!!!

  • from Dunedin (Florida, United States)
Contact:

Steve Thomas

Dunedin Ring Finder

Lost a ring or other metal valuable in a grassy or sandy area? Jewelry slip off of you while working outside, playing with the dog or swimming? Please call me ASAP at (843) 995-4719. I offer a free metal detecting service, reward optional but appreciated upon recovery!

Jeff was enjoying a Sunday afternoon with his family at Honeymoon Island State Park as he and his sons were tossing a football around in waist deep water. Jeff reached back on one toss over his head and his 14k white gold wedding ring flew off of his finger into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Even though there is normally good visibility, Jeff was unable to locate his ring in the water.

Jeff called me the following evening as his wife’s sister had recommended. He gave me the details and texted some maps of the loss area but was not going to be able to meet me on site for a few days. I packed up my gear for a search the next afternoon at roughly the same tide time.

Ocean water searches for rings are truly like “looking for a needle in a haystack” even when someone is there to point you in the right direction and you are already very familiar with the entire beach. Even though I had some maps from Jeff and he had highlighted some distances and directions on them, I was not 100% certain I was in the right location. Speaking to a nearby chair and umbrella vendor about the maps made me a little more confident.

The waters were relatively calm and clear so I began my search in waist deep water gridding the best that I could using parallel and perpendicular landmarks. After searching for about two hours I had recovered a tungsten ring and a crusty penny along with several bottle caps and pull tabs but not Jeff’s ring. I had contacted Jeff as I was beginning my search to get confirmation of the correct search area but he was tied up at work. As I was approaching three hours into the search and having detected the same relatively small area both parallel and perpendicular to the shoreline I was beginning to question my location. I told my wife who had accompanied me that I was going to wrap up today’s search in just a few minutes when I hit a promising target. I didn’t have to scoop deep in the sand because there is a rocky bottom in this area of Honeymoon Island and out popped Jeff’s ring! This is not the first time I have recovered a ring as I was just about to leave the beach. I texted Jeff some photos and obviously he was elated! I later met Jeff at a nearby park and returned the ring.

Jeff, thank you for trusting me to search for and return your ring and thank you for the generous reward. God bless!

 

 

 

 

 

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Lost Wedding Ring Holiday, Fl….Found!!

  • from Dunedin (Florida, United States)
Contact:

       Steve Thomas

            Dunedin Ring Finder

Lost a ring or other metal valuable in a grassy or sandy area? Jewelry slip off of you while working outside, playing with the dog or swimming? Please call me ASAP at (843) 995-4719. I offer a free metal detecting service, reward optional but appreciated upon recovery!

Over the course of the last several months, I have received calls to search for several pieces of jewelry including a woman’s titanium wedding ring in the water, a gold chain with a diamond cross in the water, a gold ankle bracelet in the sand or water, and a gold wedding ring. The only recovery was the last one which the owner found at her home the next day!

Recently, I received a text from Ymalai and she told me that she had been searching for hours for her white gold diamond wedding ring that she lost in her neighbor’s yard. Her wedding band had slipped off as well but she had found that ring during her search. I arrived and began my search in the thick weeds and grass of the vacant lot owned by the neighbors and in the area where Ymalai had found her wedding band. After a few minutes, Ymalai’s husband Joel arrived and began assisting in the search. Joel walked behind me and further into the neighbor’s yard when he spied the ring on the ground hidden amongst the weeds. Another recovery by the owner! Ymalai and Joel, thank you for contacting me to assist in the search.

 

 

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Lost White Gold Wedding Band, Honeymoon Island, Dunedin Fl. …Found!!

  • from Dunedin (Florida, United States)
Contact:

 

 

              Steve Thomas

         Dunedin Ring Finder

Lost a ring or other metal valuable in a grassy or sandy area? Jewelry slip off of you while working outside, playing with the dog or swimming? Please call me ASAP at (843) 995-4719. I offer a free metal detecting service, reward optional but appreciated upon recovery!

 

David texted me a few days ago to tell me that he had lost his wedding band earlier that day while playing with his dogs on Pet Beach at Honeymoon Island State Park. David said he had only been married four days when this happened! He also told me that he had heard about me on a local Facebook discussion page called Dunedin Chat. We set up a search for the next morning to begin just after the park opened.

The next morning David explained to me that his wife Nicole had fortunately taken a photo of him on the beach where she could still see the ring on his finger but then later filmed a short video of David running with their dogs a little further down the beach where it appeared that the ring was not on his finger. David also admitted that the wedding band was slightly too large for his finger (and Nicole told him he needed to have it resized) so it probably slipped off while he was running. David then directed me to area of wet sand where he thought it most likely he had lost his ring and I began a grid search. After a couple of hours with nothing but beer caps, pull tabs, a few coins and some fishing weights to show for my efforts, I expanded the search area closer to the water but again, no luck. I then expanded the search area closer to the dune line but found nothing but coins and beach trash. After over four hours of searching, we decided we needed to take a break so I told David I would do a second sweep of the first area I detected as we headed towards the beach access. A few minutes later, I detected a target that not only I thought was a lower number than I was looking for on my Equinox 600 but also was the same number for the numerous pull tabs I had already dug. On a search like this, you dig everything and sure enough after one scoop I had recovered a ring! At first I did not think that it looked like the picture of the ring that David had sent me but after I cleaned off the wet sand and David overcame his initial shock he said “I can’t believe it, you found my ring!” I was still a little shocked myself even though I had told David that I had recovered another ring after a four hour search and while leaving the beach to take a break! The other people on the beach near our search area were just as happy as we were. David let Nicole know that the ring was safely back on his finger once again.

David and Nicole, thank you for contacting the Dunedin Ring Finder and trusting me to find David’s wedding band. Also, thank you for the generous reward and the kind words in your testimonial. I wish you many years of happy marriage!

 

 

 

 

 

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