Most Recent Discovery Category | Page 303 of 441 | The Ring Finders

I have to say that today was probably  my favorite return of the year. It had all the elements of a great day. I got the call late in the afternoon so I didn’t have to take off work,  it was a super nice couple, they weren’t sure if it was in the water or the sand, they had dug for it extensively, they had asked a stranger with a metal detector to look in the area and last but not least, there were tons of people around watching that were vested in the return because they had been watching them search all day. When Luke called me saying that Emily had dropped her engagement ring in Orange Beach I knew I had to go and help. They had been throwing a football and when they sat back down Emily’s beautiful gold and diamond engagement ring was nowhere to be found. I got some info from Luke and quickly headed that way from Pensacola. When I got to the condo the security guard told me that there was no guest parking but he would give me one hour before I had to go. I hustled down to the beach and there were still people everywhere. Most of them were closely watching what I did so you could tell that they knew all about the missing ring. Even more than normal I wanted to do my best because I knew I had an audience. After a few questions, I started out on the beach and then headed down the path they had walked to the water. I assumed that it was probably in the water so I then went over a pattern in the breaking waves and moved over the sand drop off in case it had been sucked back into deeper water. When I was coming up the beach, Luke and Emily stopped me and said that they had been discussing it and they thought they were in the very top of the breaking water which would have been higher up the beach earlier in the day. I quickly started swinging up there and was on my second pass when I heard a very faint sound. Throughout the search I had found a few targets that I dug but nothing was a good signal. This time it was a little higher pitched but it was so deep that I was intrigued. I almost ignored it thinking that there was no way it could be that deep with only a half day in the sand. Then I remembered that they had been digging for it so I decided to go ahead and see what was down there. I couldn’t believe it when I saw the gleam of gold in the scoop. Emily and Luke immediately celebrated with me and it was then that I realized just how many people were watching the drama unfold. The whole beach erupted into cheers and applause!  😃. I had to run to the parking lot to convince the security guard not to tow my car and give me a bit longer for pictures but he was very understanding. On the way out the young man and his family who had offered help with their metal detector came running up and told me that their was a lady on the beach who needed my help. When I told them that I had found her ring the young man thought that was the coolest thing in the world. I answered about 100 questions but I’m pretty sure I have hooked him and his father on this hobby for life. I am absolutely thrilled that I could return this beautiful ring to Emily and Luke. Y’all are wonderful people and I had a great time helping you. God Bless!  💍

This is Whitney who was down with her family from Arkansas visiting Fort Morgan when she lost her brand new ring somewhere on the beach or in the Gulf. She was absolutely distraught because she and her husband Justin had been married for 13 years and finally decided to get this beautiful ring for Whitney. In her own words she knew that she shouldn’t wear it to the beach but she was just so proud of it that she couldn’t leave it behind. I always tell people to NOT dig for their rings because especially with gold the density difference makes the ring drop farther and farther into the sand. I also tell people that a cheap detector from Academy does not have the capability of finding a ring on a saltwater beach after an inch or two. Unfortunately, this ring was a prime example of both of these rules.  The night before, Whitney and Justin had driven to Foley and bought a cheap detector and dug all night at false signals making things worse. Luckily for them, my detectors can read much deeper than that and luckily for them I’m a sucker for a good story so I left at the crack of dawn to make the several hour round trip out to see if I could help. When I got there Whitney wasn’t sure if the ring was in the water or not since they had gone over the beach with the Academy detector. I told her I would start on the beach and then if it wasn’t there I would move into the water. I could see all of the disturbed sand where they had been digging so I set my machine and walked to the edge of the area to start my grid pattern. I have to say that I was a little surprised when I swung the coil to the left and before I could even complete the first swing I got a solid loud gold signal. It was a no brainer and I gently dug it out of the ground from 6 inches deep. Whitney hadn’t even walked over to her chair yet so she didn’t see me get the ring. She had mentioned earlier on the phone that they hadn’t had a good day yet because of losing the ring. I walked over and held it out and said “maybe, you can have a great day starting now.”  Needless to say, she was shocked and thrilled. She couldn’t believe that I had found it that quickly in the exact spot they had searched and dug for hours the night before. I’m so glad that I could give you back your ring and finally start your vacation right.