Most Recent Discovery Category | Page 7 of 380 | The Ring Finders

I received a call from Neil after he called theringfinders.com.  He was distraught after losing his white gold diamond wedding ring. As I was leaving the beach in Daytona, I told him I could be at his home in about two hours after a quick stop at mine. I prayed earnestly for guidance to help me find his ring.

When I arrived at Neil’s home in Oviedo, he took me to his front yard and explained that he had been playing with a dog when the ring went missing. He had checked his doorbell camera, which showed the ring at one point, but later, when he noticed it was gone, he was heartbroken—especially after fifteen years of wearing it.

I powered up my Minelab Manticore and began my search, covering the front yard and some hedges near the porch. I found several targets typical for a residential area, despite my efforts, the ring eluded me. After an hour of searching, I decided to switch to a smaller coil to navigate tighter spots and minimize background noise.

Starting at the edge of the grass by the driveway, I made my way to the sidewalk. Suddenly, I got a strong signal right at the sidewalk’s edge! As I set down my pinpointer, it sounded off, and to my amazement, a beautiful diamond ring rolled out from beneath a clump of grass, glimmering in the sunlight.

Neil was checking his phone for footage from the door camera when I held the ring up between us, saying, “I have a few more questions…” He looked up just in time to see the ring shining in my hand. His eyes widened in disbelief, and joy flooded his expression as I handed it back to him.

I contacted Susan about a call about a lost platinum ring.  She said she had lost it a week ago Monday, when staying at a friend’s home in Orlando, during the hurricane.  Since we both live in New Smyrna we decided to ride over together.  On the trip she told me that it was the only item that she has from her grandmother, which made it very dear.

When we arrived, I noticed a boxwood shrub circling the drive.  This is where Susan said the ring was lost as she unloaded her car.  The shrub was about 18 inches high with red rock in front and behind with other rows of higher shrubs behind that.

I spent the next two hours going over the hedge with my Manticore with the small head.  I also covered in front and behind the hedge in the red rocks.  There were lots of targets, but they were deep and not likely the ring.  After a few hours I told Susan that I had covered everything I could think of, and we went home.  Susan was devastated and said at least the ring had a gorgeous place to rest.

The next day I had an appointment to find another ring only 2.5 miles from Susan’s ring.  I found it fast and texted the friend of Susan, to see if I could try again.  I prayed on my way.  I thought of an unconventional way to detect the short shrubs…It worked!  I got a low but solid signal.  Digging past the green, deep into the dead sticks and leaves with my pinpointer, it sounded off.  Nestled in the leaves and sticks was the ring with its brilliant platinum shine!

I text Susan a picture of the ring and she called me.  She was beyond excited.  When I took the ring to my home, I found the engraving L. N. to A. R. S.  9/15/20…the ring was over 100 years old!  Susan came to get the ring the next day…many tears of joy!

I’d like to thank my good friend and Christian brother for trusting me with this call while he was out of town.