Tom Caldie, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 3 of 4

Tip of Door County recovery from Lake Michigan

  • from Green Bay (Wisconsin, United States)

Andrew lost his ring in Lake Michigan while swimming at a 4th of July picnic. He discovered Ring Finders a few days later and arranged for a hunt. I traveled with Brian Pasterski, fellow detectorist, because he is a good detectorist and seasoned diver if we need to go deep. Luckily, we only had to search in neck-deep water, which is very refreshing on a hot, sunny day. We used Garrett AT Pros. There were large limestone rocks, which could have been bad if the ring slipped between some large ones. Luckily, Brian detected it under a small rock and dove down to retrieve it. There was no junk in the rocks which made it much easier. The only signals we found were the ring, and one high signal buried deep. Andrew was overjoyed to have it returned.

Andrew’s ring is back where his bride placed it, and that makes him smile!

Irreplaceable wedding ring set recovered!

  • from Green Bay (Wisconsin, United States)

Shortly after the Memorial Day weekend, I received an email from Faye asking if I could possibly find her wedding ring.  She had attended a picnic at her boss’s home and lost the ring there.     We set up a date for June 7th after work, and I drove to about 45 miles to the site and met her there.    The yard was large, the sun was hot, but the grass was only about 4 inches long, which made my sweeps easier.  I gridded and criss-crossed the areas where Faye had been, but her face grew longer as the search went on.  Finally, 58 minutes into it, I swept the final few square yards near the exit gate and my AT Pro rang it out loud and clear!   She couldn’t believe it, and her smile was huge!   Looking at the ring set, especially when I expected a plain band, showed why.  It’s an irreplaceable work of art!

Grandmother’s Silver Ring lost in the wilderness last summer, recovered!

  • from Green Bay (Wisconsin, United States)

On March 21st, I received an email from a person named Kate, who had lost a vintage silver ring last summer while wilderness camping near the two-hearted river in Upper Michigan. It was her grandmother’s ring, and her fiance had been wearing it on a chain around his neck for seven years. They planned on getting married soon, and needed the ring to design their wedding bands. I explained that the trip would be pretty far, but she offered to pay expenses. Finally, we heard the snow melted there, so decided to leave. My detectorist friend, Brian,  and I drove there last Friday. Brian did the driving because his vehicle has better climate control and he can see deer better. We drove, and drove, and drove. It was about 500 miles, plus an extra 60-mile trip to get a park pass from the State DNR Park office, plus kind of getting lost a few times because GPS, two phones, and a few maps all said different things. Finally, we found the camp site coordinates on Brian’s portable GPS, hiked a ways to it, and he found the ring! We celebrated with a couple of Yuengling beers. Taquamenon Falls was amazing, and the campsite was pretty cool, too. 

Memorial Weekend Ring Recovery in Record Time

  • from Green Bay (Wisconsin, United States)

On Saturday, May 26th, 2018, Brad contacted me to say he had lost his wedding band at a popular sandbar while throwing a football with his family.   He called a friend who metal detects, who lived too far away to drive, but recommended me.   I tried to find someone who would be at the lake, but nobody was available.  So, I quick popped in the car and drove about 75 miles to the cottage.  The entire family rode out to the sand bar with me to witness the search.  They were all very nice, though worried it might never be found.  Luckily, they had marked the spot using GPS on a cell phone, so we knew we were close.  Well, maybe not, as opinions differed as to which direction the 14k ring had flown.  Gold can grow wings when it catches on a football!   After about 20 minutes of pattern searching, a handful of pop tabs and a few coins, I heard what I thought was another pop tab signal in my AT Pro Headphones.  A beautiful wedding band with inlaid diamonds appeared in the scoop, and Brad plucked it out with a big smile!   His finger needed that ring back on it after 21 years!   It was well-worth the drive to make Brad and his wife happy! 

Wedding band lost in snow at Christmas time, finally found after late thaw

  • from Green Bay (Wisconsin, United States)

Dan’s gold wedding band has been on his finger since 1969.    He lost it while setting out a Christmas scene in his yard last December.  Snow and cold, not to mention a late April blizzard made searching impossible, but Dan waited until the thaw.   Finally, on April 29th, I received an email asking me to look.  I drove to his home around noon and found it in 45 minutes.  I never saw such a big smile.  He didn’t feel complete without his ring back where it belonged.

Man’s wedding band recovered

  • from Green Bay (Wisconsin, United States)

I received a call this morning from Brian D. who had just finished spreading a bale of straw on his lawn and could not find his wedding band.   He figured it must have slipped off during the yard work.  I was out with my wife at the Parallel 44 Winery picking up our membership selection, and told him I would search as soon as we returned.  About an hour later, I pulled up to Brian’s yard and began sweeping the straw.   As luck would have it, I found his ring in the very last square inch searched!  Brian was happy to put it back on his finger where it belongs.   And, because he knew I like wine, he gifted me a nice bottle of red wine from Tuscany, Italy, which he recently carried all the way back to the states!   Bonus!   

Triple Ring Set Recovered!

  • from Green Bay (Wisconsin, United States)

I forgot to post this last September, but it’s an aweseome recovery story!  I was called out by a married couple who needed some help searching a sand bar for her lost ring set.  It consisted of three beautiful 14k rings from their engagement, wedding, and anniversary with many sparkly diamonds, and it was her pride and joy, in addition to their four wonderful children.  She was throwing a football in the water with some friends and noticed it gone.  She never  thought it would be recovered until they googled Ringfinders.  She, her husband, and  I searched for the better part of a day with no luck.   Then, I went out on my own for a full day, again with no  luck.  I ventured out a third time with my two friends,  Jeff and Brian, thinking three experienced detectorists would have better results.  I found the signal right about where she had searched with me the first time, and quickly texted a pic to her husband.  He drove to pick it up and bought the three of us some hot hamburgers and cold beer.    It was great to see his smile!  He didn’t tell his wife it had been found, but just laid it on the kitchen counter and snapped her picture when she saw it.   Nice of him to share it!   The Ringfinders make a lot of couples very happy to recover their treasured memories.  It’s more than just finding rings.  

Soccer goalie’s wedding band recovered

  • from Green Bay (Wisconsin, United States)

Last week I received a call from a woman whose husband lost his ring on a soccer field in a park on the far west side of town.  I trundled out early in the morning to avoid the kids, and searched one goal for about 30 minutes, then switched to the other end.   In about 10 minutes, I found it just outside the chalk marks.  It must have slipped off of his finger just when he leapt out to block.     I snapped a photo of it, but forgot to ask his wife to pose when she drove by to recover it for her groom.  Oh well!   Will remember next time.   

Men’s wedding band found in Wrightstown, WI

  • from Green Bay (Wisconsin, United States)

Men’s art-carved wedding band found!

I received a call from Michelle a few weeks ago.  She and her husband, Chris, have only been married seven months and he already lost his ring!  The good news is he knew where it happened.  The bad news was it was 12 feet deep in the bottom of their friend’s swimming pond.   We coordinated a search for 5:30 last Wednesday, and my friend Brian P. arrived with two sets of diving gear.  I’m PADI Open Water certified, but don’t own any gear, so feel quite lucky that Brian is a much more experienced diver and he has a passion for recovering wedding rings.   We  searched for about 20 minutes and Brian found it with his Fisher 1280x, which can go down to 200 feet!  Soon, Michelle was smiling and driving the art-carved wedding band back to her groom.  It’s beautiful, with diamond inlays.  Nice!

Door county lost rings were quickly recovered

  • from Green Bay (Wisconsin, United States)

Tom Caldie was helping a friend with an art gallery near Fish Creek in Door County, Wisconsin when he received a call from a Milwaukee resident who had been visiting over the weekend.    She brought her two young sons swimming for their first time in a lake, and the experience was saddened by the loss of her 14k diamond engagement ring.   Even though the family purchased a metal detector, their inexperience and lack of a water scoop meant the ring was probably lost for good.

A Google search brought up Tom’s name, and Ringfinders came to the rescue.  By coincidence, Tom was only minutes away from the beach where it was lost, and quickly started a grid search as soon as the gallery was closed for the day. After a few hours of sweeping the area, and a phone call  to the owner to pin-point the probable location, this beautiful diamond ring and its memories were finally  recovered.    It was shipped overnight to Milwaukee and back on her finger in no time.

Not much later, on July 4th, Tom received a call from a man who had lost his palladium art carved wedding band near Sturgeon Bay.    After a joint effort involving scooping and moving several large rocks and gravel,  the ring was found.   Another happy ending!   I don’t have a pic of that one because of a phone glitch, but the memories and feelings that went with it will always be unforgettable. IMG_0763[1]IMG_0560[1]