Family heirloom diamond ring found – Orange Beach, Alabama
My Sunday started out with my BFF and detecting buddy Cheryl Clark of Gulf Shores and I attending church followed by a lovely fellowship lunch where we indulged in some delicious homemade goodies. Afterward, we set out for one of our favorite detecting honey holes …. Only to arrive there and realize that one of us (I’m not naming names !) had forgotten our detector. Slightly disappointed, we decided to head back home and call it a day.
As we drove to Cheryl’s house, we decided to see what was showing at a nearby movie theater. As luck would have it, something we wanted to see was starting soon so we ran home to change clothes, grab the missing detector since it usually stayed in my car, and head to the movies at The Wharf in Orange Beach. It was interesting that, during that drive, I was thinking out loud and shared with Cheryl that I felt that there was a reason we couldn’t detect that day and that God must have wanted us at the movies instead for some reason.
With the movie almost over, I saw a call on my watch from an unknown number and a voice mail. Sneaking my phone out, I read a message from Jason that he believed his wife Florence had lost a very sentimental ring the day before …… At The Wharf ! I quickly texted him and let him know that we happened to already be right there and that I would call him back in about 20 minutes. The movie ended and we walked out to meet up with Jason and Florence. They relayed to us that they had attended a car show there the day before. Florence remembered that she had taken her family heirloom ring off to put lotion on her hands, and thought maybe she had it still in her lap when she got out of the car. They had searched the car and the parking lot already and had even had someone at their hotel come take the sink apart in case it had fallen in the drain.
Looking over the vast gravel parking lot, Cheryl and I exchanged a knowing glance. This was gonna be a tough one – almost impossible in fact ! The chances of someone else having spotted it on the hard, flat ground and picking it up seemed high. Nevertheless, we set out with our detectors to search. An hour and a couple of pocketfuls of pull tabs, bottle caps and miscellaneous metal bits and pieces later and still no ring, the disappointed couple felt like they really needed to set out on their drive back home to Louisiana. We told them we would stick around and look just a little while longer. Just as I watched them drive off, I heard an excited “whoop whoop” from Cheryl and, against all odds, there in her hand was Florence’s beautiful platinum and diamond ring !! I quickly called Jason’s number and asked if they could turn around and come back. I was trying to sound nonchalant but he could hear Cheryl’s excited voice in the background as we were ooing and aahing over the stunning ring. The look on Florence’s face was priceless as she tearfully slipped “Grandma Florence’s” ring back on her finger. She and Jason agreed that our serendipitously being at the theater that day instead of 30 miles away detecting was truly meant to be !
Although I live in Mobile and Cheryl lives in Gulf Shores, we metal detect together often and frequently tag team or join together to look for lost jewelry for folks. So, no matter which side of Mobile Bay you’re on, Cheryl and I just might be in the right place at the right time !
It was a beautiful day at Gulf Shores. The family was visiting from Indiana, it was like a reunion. Their first day at the beach. Everything was going great when Lisa chased a little one before he got in water. She was wearing a top with her rings safely tucked away in a pocket that may not have been closed correctly. As she ran to the child, she took off the top and threw it towards her chair and towel. It was much later that she discovered her rings were missing. They called me for some help. I met them at their condo late that afternoon. Her husband Jason, had a fellow with a detector look for it earlier with no luck. Jason tested the detector on a gold chain and it wasn’t able to find it. So, when I got there the first thing Jason asked was will it find gold. He then tossed his gold chain in the sand for a test. Naturally my detector screamed at the chain. I explained that my detector was a state of the art machine and as far as I’m concerned the best on the market. Jason and Lisa pointed out the area they had been and weren’t sure if it was lost on the sand from the discarded top, the water or maybe some place else. Fortunately the tossed top seemed to be the logical place to start. From that point it didn’t take long to recover Lisa’s rings. Jason and Lisa couldn’t believe I was able to find it, commenting a needle in a hay stack. I could feel the tension unwind with family members now that the emergency was over. Everyone’s happy, vacation’s back on. Seeing the situation whole again is the best part being a Ring Finder. 
I was really happy to help this young man out. He called me and asked if I would find his ring. He wasn’t able to meet me because he was tied up at work but said he had read some of Pensacola Ring Finders past stories and was confident I would recover it. Further he said his ring was a Texas A&M Graduation Ring, which is a really big deal to anyone who knows any of their Grads will tell you. It was a must find situation, no pressure right. Fortunately this fellow gave me directions that lead exactly to the spot on the beach where He lost it. The ring recovered and a happy young man no longer worried about this representation of his achievement! Go Aggies!
On the last day of their vacation at Pensacola beach, Phil and his wife decided to visit a less travelled beach late in the afternoon. They were due back home in Fort Worth the next day and had to leave soon. I always try to provide service to accommodate and agreed to meet him in an hour to find his lost ring. I finished up what I was doing, jumped in the van (that fortunately had my detecting equipment already in it ready to go) and headed out. We met up a 6pm, got to the spot he lost the ring by 6:30 and started searching. I searched for about 30 minutes I got the signals that were unmistakeable a gold ring. Needless to say, they were relieved. The travel home plan was kept in tack and the lost ring worries were no more. Everyone was happy! The satisfaction I get helping people like Phil is why I do this! 
So, late on Sunday evening I received a message from Kirill saying he was “quite desperately looking for a ring finder.” They had hosted a wedding event at their home the day before, and somehow during the event, his wife’s wedding ring went missing. The festivities occurred mainly on the outdoor deck, so he requested I come out and search below the the deck and in the grassy areas around it. He also suggested it could have ended up in the trash bags from the event, so maybe searching the trash bags was a possibility.