Tom Watkins, Author at The Ring Finders

Lost Gold Ring Bradford County PA. Found

  • from New Albany (Pennsylvania, United States)
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Don’s granddaughter texted me that he had lost his family heirloom gold ring while feeding his koi. Don was completely devastated ever since he felt the ring slide off his finger. Several weeks had passed and Don thought the ring was lost for ever. They even had a guy come out to look for the ring. He took one look at the size of the pond and told them » you’ll never find that ». He didn’t even try to search for the ring. A couple days later My family and I made the journey to Don’s koi pond. My wife and daughter help me out on most searches. My daughter Sarah helps in the water and my wife Traci documents the search and consoles the clients. On land hunts we all run metal detectors. When we arrived and saw the size of the pond and the fish I’ll have to admit, I was worried. Several of the fish exceeded three feet in length. My first thought was while he was feeding the fish the ring may have been mistaken for food and swallowed by a fish.

We got in the water and began our search anyway. The pond was a very old farm pond before it became a koi pond. There were tons of trash signals. There were so many signals I had to turn the sensitivity almost all all the way down on my metal detector. we pulled up coins, pull tabs, aluminum flashing and bits of rusted iron. There was one spot I kept coming back to. The third time at the same spot, I was locating with my metal detector while my daughter would go under with a pin pointer.  The water in this location was just deep enough our arms wouldn’t reach without diving down. After several times of diving down my daughter came up with the ring. « I found it » she exclaimed! Instantly Don broke down in tears of joy! I have never felt more joy in what we do as when we handed Don back his ring. Seeing Don’s tears and smile at the same time is why we do what we do!

Tom Watkins

 

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Tom Watkins to the rescue!

  • from New Albany (Pennsylvania, United States)
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Tom to the rescue! I stupidly let a ring that had been in the family for at least a century get swept away in a rapid stream and feared it was gone forever. I spent a couple hours searching the banks and scooping silt out of the lake I thought it had landed in before realizing I was doing more harm than good. I reached out to Tom, he was very fast to respond and came as soon as work and weather allowed. After Tom drove 2.5 hours to help, he found the ring in just two minutes. Thank you Tom!

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Lost gold ring in Wayne County PA…………………..Found!

  • from New Albany (Pennsylvania, United States)
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Cora emailed me to ask if I would be willing to help her find her heirloom ring she lost while clearing debris from a small stream.  She felt it leave her finger and quickly lost sight of it in the fast moving water.  Less than twenty feet from where she lost the ring the stream enters a large pond. I googled Cora’s location and saw that the drive was going to be over a four hour round trip! I was by far the closest ring finder to her. We made plans to meet at the location in three days. When my wife and I arrived at the location, we found out that Cora couldn’t be there and had sent a friend in her stead. I got my metal detector out of the truck and walked to the spot Cora lost her ring. Within five minutes the ring had been recovered. I was back at the truck before my wife even had all her gear ready. After leaving the ring with Cora’s friend We headed for home knowing that Cora was going to be very happy to have her heirloom ring back!

 

 

Tom Watkins

Ring Finder Tom 570-916-2617

 

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Thank you, Tom Watkins!

  • from New Albany (Pennsylvania, United States)
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Thank you, Tom Watkins!

My husband was at his cabin and discovered his gold wedding band was missing. He knew it must have come off his finger at some point while working in the woods nearby. He had a rough idea for the radius of where the ring might be. After borrowing a metal detector and looking until dusk, he came home. To say he was upset is an understatement. We had just celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary the month before. We had our wedding bands specially made and thought it could never be replaced. He headed out first thing in the morning with a friend and another metal detector. They worked all day. There were heavy rains through the night and the leaves were really coming down, making the search even more difficult. The hunt went on for four days.  I started researching online about special metal detectors and tips for finding lost items. That is how I came across the website for theringfinders.com. I was surprised to see a ringfinder located within 40 miles of our cabin. What did we have to lose? I sent Tom Watkins an email telling him about our missing ring. Within an hour, I received a reply from Tom saying that he would love to give it a try and looked forward to helping us out. He listed his personal phone number and asked us to call him.  My husband called Tom and they agreed to meet the following morning. Tom’s wife was also along for the hunt. I was at work when I got a call from my husband. As soon as I answered I could tell from his voice that it was good news. They had found his ring in about 1.5 hours – after we had looked for 4 days! I cannot explain the relief and excitement we felt. All night long, we kept looking at the ring and just laughing. We had almost given up hope. Thank you, Tom Watkins!

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Lost gold wedding band in Picture Rocks PA………….Found!

  • from New Albany (Pennsylvania, United States)
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Kevin contacted me via email about a lost gold wedding band. He had been preparing his hunting cabin for the upcoming hunting season and had lost his wedding ring he had worn for over 40 years. My wife Traci and I Set up a time to meet Kevin the next morning. We met Kevin near the access road up to his cabin. The cabin was about a mile up a four wheel drive access road. Once we arrived at the cabin we unpacked our gear and listened to Kevin’s account of what he was doing before he noticed his ring missing. It was pouring rain as it had been for days. We started out search where he thought it was most likely that the ring came off his hand. Kevin had searched for his ring for 4 days so the area was pretty torn up. After a little over an hour and still no ring, we changed tactics. We started a grid search in the area Kevin hadn’t search and before long we were able to retrieve his ring from the wet grass. Kevin had been watching us anxiously the whole time and the moment that ring came out of the grass he had one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen! That is the best part of what we do. Seeing the joy and relief on our client’s faces never grows old! It did not take long for Kevin to call his wife at work and tell her the good news.

 

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Lost Ring in Ithaca NY …………Found

  • from New Albany (Pennsylvania, United States)
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Matt contacted me about his lost wedding band near Ithaca NY.  He had lost it during a kayak mishap while duck hunting at a secluded beaver pond.

He thought that the ring had came off his finger when the kayak rolled and his hand went down into the mud of the pond bottom. Matt and his friends planned a trip back to the site to see if they could see the ring. That evening Matt contacted me again and told me as soon as he stepped into the water it became too murky to see anything.  Two days later My wife Traci and I set off on our long drive to meet Matt. When we arrived Matt told us it was about a 20 minute hike back to the pond. By this time the temperature was in the forties and it was raining.  I assembled my gear and we set off toward the pond. When we arrived at the pond, Matt showed me where he thought he had launched the kayak and pointed out a 15′ by 30′ area the ring should be in. I tuned on my White’s MX Sport metal detector and stepped into the water. Immediately my feet sunk almost a foot into the mud, sticks and leaves of the pond bottom. I was thinking to myself I hope Matt did not step on his ring while he was here searching.  I waded further out and swung my coil over the area where the kayak was launched. I had absolutely no signals so after 15 minutes I expanded my search. I soon had a signal, but it was a nickel signal and it was about 10 inches deep in the pond bottom. The pond water was so murky that once my search coil entered the water it disappeared from sight.  I asked Matt what his ring was made of because I was not getting a gold signal. He told me it was only gold plated for durability. Immediately I felt I had located the resting place of the ring. Now to get the target to the surface. The water I was standing was almost waist deep so I could not search with my hands without submerging  my upper body and face into the frigid water.  I started using my sand scoop to scoop up mud, sticks and leaves.  Inch by inch I was working the target closer to the surface. When the target was at about two inches I located it with my pin pointer and lowered my scoop until I felt my scoop touch the pin pointer. I scooped up as much debris as I could get in the scoop. As I sorted through the leaves and sticks I spotted the familiar shine of white gold. As I pulled the ring out of the scoop and held it up for Matt to see.  Immediately he exclaimed  » No Way « !  I waded out of the pond and handed Matt his wedding band. He immediately texted a photo of the ring to his wife, smiling the whole time. Even though I was soaked to the bone and shivering I felt warm having been successful in returning smiles to this young couple!

 

 

 

 

 

Tom Watkins

New Albany PA

570-916-2617

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Lost Ring In Loyalsock State Forest Lycoming County PA…………….Found

  • from New Albany (Pennsylvania, United States)
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Recently Ed contacted me to find a wedding ring lost during a family hiking trip. Ed had removed his white gold wedding ring and it was safely placed in a zippered pocket in his daughters backpack. When Ed and his family arrived at their home they discovered the zippered compartment was partially unzipped and the ring was gone. Somewhere during the 27 mile hike the ring had fallen out and was feared lost forever. I asked Ed for all the details of the hike including stops and campsites along the trail. He provided me with maps, photos and all the details he could remember. He had it narrowed down to 7 miles of trail that included 2 campsites and several stops along the trail. I was eager for the challenge but I was thinking to myself just how long does it take to swing a metal detector loop over seven miles of trail? My wife Traci and I studied the information including satellite images of the trail. We decide that the most likely spot for the ring to have fallen out was when the back packs were being loaded into the car for the trip home. The next day as soon as the kiddos were on the school bus we started loading our gear for the long trip to the Loyalsock State Forest. Upon arriving we parked at the opposite end of the parking lot from where Ed had parked. I did a quick sweep of the area where Ed had parked and only had a couple trash signals. I then started a grid search an during my third pass I got a gold signal with my MX Sport. I looked down and could see a thin silver circle resembling a key ring. I started shaking as I popped the 14k white gold wedding band from the mud. I hurried over to Traci and dropped the ring into her hand. She said « You found it already »! After comparing the ring to the example photo Ed had sent, we knew our work there was done. Including unloading our gear the entire search had taken less than half an hour! I texted Ed later that evening with the good news and a couple days later the ring was back on his hand where it belonged. This whole adventure provided smiles all around. Now in a couple months when Ed and his wife celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary I bet there will be even more smiles . Traci and I really enjoyed finding this treasure and making sure it got back home.

Tom Watkins

570-916-2617

 

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Lost Ring New Albany PA…Found

  • from New Albany (Pennsylvania, United States)
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Hi my name is Tom Watkins. I  joined The Ring Finders to help people find their lost jewelry and precious valuables.  I have over 3 years of experience locating items on land and water with state of the art metal detector equipment.   I want to put it to work for you and put a smile back on your face.  If you have lost something contact me ASAP!!   I’ll do my best to help you find what you thought was lost forever.

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