In The News Category | Page 23 of 111 | The Ring Finders

Lost Gold Cross Underwater Found in Mandon Lake, White Lake Twp., Michigan

  • from Detroit (Michigan, United States)

Sentimental Symbols of Faith….

….can come in many forms and for centuries have reminded people of the nature, attributes and understanding of God and Jesus. Such has been the case for Brandon and his family since acquiring a very special pendant in the year 1830. Over time, the pendant has been passed down to members of his family and now he wears the heirloom close to his heart and is very thankful for this opportunity and to tell others about it and what it means to him. Unfortunately, all hope was lost when he and some friends fell off the end of a dock, feeling the chain snap as they fell into 5 feet deep water. Trying to search frantically in the swirling sand brought no results and mentally he was fatigued brooding over what happened and what he had to reveal to his family. On site we discussed where he fell in and I quickly put on my snorkel mask, grabbed my pin-pointer and underwater metal detector and started to grid search. I too noticed the swirling sands and not being able to see the bottom surface. The metal detector signaled on some junk, and I pulled up a few bottle caps and some nails. Slowly closing in on a grid section, I got a nice soft, less static signal from an object below the metal detector coil. Going a bit underwater, the pin-pointer buzzed and as I started to feel the object, I felt a soft rounded edge, then another, then another, then another, sort of a four-leaf clover shape and before I brought it to the surface, I knew that this was the beautiful pendant! With his back to me I yelled to Brandon I got it! As he spun around in disbelief he ran quickly onto the dock where he took the pic of me holding the pendant. Once on shore I handed the stunning gold cross to him. As he held it in his hands, looking to the sky he said thank you! Totally excited beyond belief he sent a few texts and then the calls started to come in and all I heard him say was yes, he found it! Of all my finds over the years this pendant has been my best find so far and the one with the most sentimentality attached to it! Now that it’s back where it belongs, Brandon and I have faith and hope that it will continue to transcend the boundaries of time.

Jon

Lost Ring in the Waves! – Found!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

Yesterday afternoon I was wrapping up a nice weekend when I got a call from Marcus. He was out at Pensacola Beach and had dropped his large, solid gold class ring out in the Gulf while throwing football with his friend. This is a problem anytime but it was made bigger because Marcus said that he was between 4.5-5.5 feet deep. This is about my limit without scuba diving because it is so hard to set the scoop in deep water when you keep floating off in the current and waves. Marcus had a really good mark where he was though and seemed like a very nice guy so I decided to give it a try. My wife decided to tag along and she is always good luck. When we got there and walked out to the west side of the pier where the surfers go, we met Marcus and recapped where he thought he had dropped it. He had counted seven pilings of the pier out and had marked about 200ft west with his chairs. I had a good starting point as I waded out. I noticed that the water was just gorgeous and it was so clear I could easily see the shells on the bottom. As I made my way to the 7th piling I started to worry a bit because I was taking quite a few large swells that were well over my head. I got set and started my grid trying my best to stay online. I tweaked my machine a bit for the conditions and as soon as I put it back to the sand I heard a screaming gold tone. I knew that had to be his big gold ring and tried to set my feet to scoop it. I started to panic as I kept getting pushed off the spot and I worried I would lose the mark. As soon as I heard it again I put my scoop down and tried to push down. That didn’t work as the next wave rolled me inshore. I made my way back out and heard it again and told myself to relax. Marcus had given me great directions and this ring was so large that I knew I would find it again so I took my time. I waited for a lull in the waves and then set the tip of the scoop where I knew I wouldn’t scratch the ring. I looked up to double check that I had time between the next incoming wave. I blew all the air out of my lungs to make myself as heavy as possible and jumped up to forcefully land on the scoop driving it into the sand. I fell backwards to lift up the scoop under where I hoped Marcus’ ring would be just as the next wave put me under water again. I held on for dear life and as I came up I didn’t even need to look down into the scoop. I could see that big gold ring shining through the holes in the side. 😃👍 I left the ring in the scoop and concentrated on keeping it out of the waves as I half body surfed and half tumbled my way to shore. It had been less than 10 minutes but I was worn out. My wife gave me the “did you find it shrug” but I was scared to let go of anything until I got to about knee deep water. I finally gave them all a thumbs up and a huge smile and Marcus came running in disbelief. He pulled his ring out of the scoop and said “that’s amazing, you are the man!”  That made it all worth it. Congratulations on getting your ring back Marcus. I’m so glad I could help!

Lost Ring Found Ft Morgan

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

Phillip called me about midday asking if I would help him locate his wife’s engagement ring. It was lost in the water close to the shore line, ankle to calf deep and they had been searching for it by hand, snorkeling and they purchased a metal detector to no avail. It had been a couple days since lost and it was high tide at the time. He said because of emotional and sentimental reasons, the ring just had to be found. I said I would help and showed up late that same afternoon. This was my first visit and ring recovery at Fort Morgan so I wasn’t familiar with conditions and packed my equipment for all conditions. I searched an areas about 100 foot square with no Luck. There was only one target and when I dug it Phillip thought I had found it only to be disappointed when I pulled up a piece of wire. After performing a second search with no success I decided to first expand the search another 50 ft to the west. Now, remember the ring was lost at high tide and the beach had a gradual slope, for ever 1 foot drop of tide the horizontal distance was probably 15 or more feet. It’s was now low tide so I concentrated on the wet sand with no standing water. Within 10 minutes I got a good but weak signal, dug it and there it was. I felt it was lucky I came right out after called because the sand shifts about quickly around here and I’m afraid in another day or two it may have been buried to deep to detect. Phillip and the family were all smiles and grateful and now they can finish their vacation with no regrets. I am alway glad to help.

Lost Grandfather’s Ring -FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

Last weekend, I got a text late in the evening from Samuel’s Mom asking about whether or not I could help her son.  He was out in the water at that very second searching frantically for his Grandfather’s ring that he had accidentally slung into the Gulf while skipping sand dollar pieces with his friends.  I realized that this was an important one so I gave her a call and she patched in Samuel so I could ask him some questions.  I went over some info and asked him some questions about water depth and how the ring had come off.  Most importantly, I had him drop a Google Maps pin where he was on the beach and then where he thought it might have landed.  I told him that I would reach out the next day when I got to the beach.  We got our signals a bit crossed and when I called, he was still about 45 mins away.  I told him that with his permission, I would go ahead and start searching.  I thoroughly did the area where I thought it might be and even found another ring.  Unfortunately, I knew that it wasn’t Samuel’s so I prepared to keep looking.  About that time, one of Samuel’s friends walked up and said that she thought it was a bit farther west.  I promptly relocated and began doing my grid search there.  I spent a lot of time in that area and found all kind of things that were not what I was looking for.  I spoke to Samuel’s friend again and she mentioned a sign that was a little back towards where I had been earlier.  Samuel had also mentioned the sign.  I decided to go out deeper and make that my center point.  I started heading towards the beach and about the time I did, I saw what had to be Samuel jogging across the dune trail heading my way.  Samuel’s friend told him that we hadn’t found it as he waded out.  As he was walking out to me I got another good tone.  I scooped it up and looked inside the scoop and told him that maybe he was good luck and held it out to him.  He looked in the scoop and couldn’t see because of all the shells. He said, “is there something in here?”  I told him to take another look and watched as he saw it. I love watching people go from concerned to absolutely thrilled in a split second. 😃. Congratulations Samuel!  I’m so honored that you and your Mom trusted me to go find your Grandfather’s ring for you. 👍

Lost Gold Wedding ring Found/recovered by RingFinder Ryan Cole @ Silver Beach, St Joseph, Michigan (Lake Michigan)

  • from Granger (Indiana, United States)

Jenny was visiting friends in Kalamazoo and they all were spending the day in St Joseph, at Silver Beach County Park. It was a busy beach day and they were all just enjoying the water and eachother’s company. While out towards the floating buoys, she reached down in the water towards one of her legs, then felt her rings slip off her fingers. Her white gold wedding set and also a slim silver band. With no luck recovering them from the waist deep water, everyone she was with promptly began trying to look for the lost rings. She said about ten people were looking, some with swim masks and others just using their ringers to rake the bottom. Someone actually found the silver band and someone else found a random earring by chance, but no wedding set. Jenny’s friend Diana tried to locate a metal detector to rent, with no luck and then she came across the Ringfinders website and contacted another finder, who then contacted me. I spoke to Diana, told her I could be up there in an hour. Luckily Jenny was still at the beach with her son and was able to wait my arrival to show me where to search. Diana had given me the incorrect phone number for Jenny, so when I texted that I had arrived, given my vehicle description, etc, it all went to who knows who. But, she was keeping an eye on entering vehicles and profiling them to try and guess which wouuld be me. I had walked down to the area Diana mentioned. After several minutes, I was beginning to wonder what was going on, but then saw a lady almost running across the same towards me. She went out in the water with me, to try and relocate the loss spot, but it was all looking somewhat different to her now. I just began searching quickly, because we only had about 50 minutes until the ten pm closing time here. Found four or five bottle caps and a few pop can pull tabs. I was beginning to worry some, as I’d covered a pretty big area with no luck yet. I moved in a bit shallower and got a nice smooth sounding signal that had potential gold numbers on the detector. I was confident enough to tell Jenny it sounded really promising. I scooped up the target and could see a simple wedding band with one diamond, as she had mentioned it was. Relieved, I grabbed it out of the scoop basket and handed her the ring. She was overwhelmed with tears of joy and couldn’t thank me enough. This ring was very sentimental to her.

Lost Gold ring found (recovered) by RingFinder Ryan Cole @ Warren Dunes State Park, Bridgman, Michigan (Lake Michigan)

  • from Granger (Indiana, United States)

Kevin was enjoying his camping vacation and spent the day at the beach with his family. The water was a nice 72 degrees, clear and just slightly wavy today. While in about waist deep water, he felt his ring slip off and wasn’t able to see it on the sandy bottom. His son had a metal detector with them, however it wasn’t a waterproof unit (only submersible up to just below the control box). He attempted to locate the ring, but it was worried the detector was going to get wet and ruined. Kevin’s wife discovered the Ringfinders site and had Kevin give me a call. I was actually heading up there at some point today for some water “therapy”, so I let him know I could head right up. (Recovering from a broken leg surgery a few months ago, walking in the cool water is helping immensely to deter swelling issues). He had described the loss location and upon arrival, I just headed out to the water and started searching. Kevin didn’t show up when he said he was going to, so I just hoped I was in the correct spot. I dug several bottle caps, coins, pull tabs and other pieces of metallic junk. After a short while, I got a smooth gold range signal, scooped it up and had a nice men’s gold band with ornate engravings. Still no Kevin, so I went up to my truck to get to my phone and ended up crossing paths with him and his son who had just parked in the lot. I presented the ring, in hopes it was the right one and sure enough, it was. Another happy customer (who did not wish to be photo’d etc).

Lost Ring Ormond Beach FL – Ladies custom made, Tacori Diamond Wedding Set – FOUND!!!

  • from Ponce Inlet (Florida, United States)

Late Friday evening, I got a text from Michelle.  She explained that she was visiting the Daytona area and was enjoying the beach when she put a wedding set and a third ring in a side pocket of beach chair.  When she went to pack up, they forgot the rings.  They went back to the beach to search for the rings but could not find them.

Since it was almost 10pm, I asked Michelle if I should come down now.  Instead, we decided to meet first thing on Saturday.

I met Michelle and Tyson, her husband of 17 years, at the Ormond beach access.  We covered about a quarter mile to the scene of the loss in the dark about an hour before sunrise.

They showed me the area that their chair had been set up and the path they used leaving the beach.  I fired up the XP Deus machine and got a great hit on the slope going down to the water.  It was the wedding band!

We knew we were in the right place and continued to search.  Tyson had a detector and searched also.  Not long after the first hit Tyson had one that he wanted me to check out.  This time it was above the slope on the dune.  It was the engagement ring… A handcrafted, Tacori ring with a beautiful princess diamond, flanked by triangular cut blue sapphires.  Michelle was thrilled!

The third ring was lost to the waves or traveled further, but they had the most important of the three rings back.  Happy couple!!

Lost Gold Ring Found in Webberville Michigan

  • from Detroit (Michigan, United States)

Hide-and-Seek….

…..was the last outside game being played into the night of July 4th, and as Jackie, her son along with other family members were finally found, upon entering the house, her husband noticed his wedding ring missing. Frantically searching the yard to no avail left them wondering where it went. With her husband having to be away from home the next day Jackie and I agreed to meet and search for the ring. Quickly grid searching the areas with my MXT metal detector I got a few junk signals. As I started to close in on a certain section, I got a good signal below a clump of grass. Pinpointing the signal, I reached down and moved the clump of grass out of the way and yelled out hide-seek-found! Jackie and her son came running over to the spot and couldn’t believe the ring was where it was! Putting the headphones on her son and letting him sweep over the ring with the metal detector left a thrilled expression on his face as he verified that it was his dad’s ring! Hopefully this left a great impression on him to someday take an interest in seeking out hidden treasure!

Jon

Lost Wedding Ring in the grass, Toms River NJ, recovered by Edward Trapper, NJ Ring Finder

  • from Lavallette (New Jersey, United States)

Anita called and asked if I would be able to locate her sons wedding ring that was lost in her yard, while they were watching the fireworks last week. She explained that the yard was pretty big, and that they had already rented a metal detector, and had no luck finding the ring. I asked if she was positive the ring was lost in the yard, and she said yes, he  was swatting a bug with his left hand and felt it fly off. I told her I was confident I would find it, and ill head right over if she wanted.  When I got there she showed me where he was sitting, and how he swatted at the bug. I started looking in the direction he had swung, working my way down the slope, toward the water. After about 20′ or so I started getting discouraged, but continued about 15′ more. There were numerous signals in the area, but only a few that even remotely sounded like a large platinum ring. I walked back up to talk to Anita, and confirm what she had said prior.  This time she mentioned the chair was facing the river, which was 90* from the way it was facing, and that meant the ring was to the left!! I told her that makes a huge difference, and we  were not searching the right spot. About 8′ on the first pass and BOOM, there was the loud tone of a big ring.  Sure enough, that was the ring.

Family Heirloom, lost ring Navarre – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)

This weekend was the Blue Angels show so I assumed that Sunday morning I would have a lost ring call from Pensacola Beach.  In reality, the call came from Stefanie, just down the road in Navarre.  When I spoke to Stefanie, I immediately knew that I had to go look for this ring and when I hung up I looked over at my wife Jeannie and she said “I want to go with you”.  It’s always a good sign when my lucky charm wants to go so I started getting excited as I packed up my gear.  When we got to Navarre, we quickly parked and headed to the beach.  As we walked along on the sand, I saw a woman waving at me about 100yds away.  When we got to her she explained that her name was Nicole and she was the actual owner of the ring.  She had Stefanie call because she was too upset to talk when she lost it.  As we walked over to the rest of her family she explained that her mother received this ring 65 years ago and had left it to Nicole when she passed away 14 years earlier.  Nicole was actually raised by her Grandparents and refers to them as her mother and father. It made it even more important because her Father, who was a Police Officer passed away in the line of duty seven years ago.  This ring was a symbol of the two of them and Nicole had every intention to pass it down to her oldest daughter, Josie who was also looking on expectantly as I prepared to hit the water.  Nicole had been knocked down by a wave a few hours before and when she came up from all fours in the shallow water, her precious family heirloom was no longer on her hand.  She had a good general idea where she was but with the tide coming in quickly and the waves getting bigger every minute, she was rightly concerned.  I told her that I would grid out the entire area and that if it was there, I would find it.  It only took about fifteen minutes before I heard a very deep signal up on the shelf before the sand drops down.  I happened to be right in front of Jeannie and she quickly started videoing for prosperity.  I made one deep scoop and looked down to see the beautiful diamond ring with so much history at the bottom of the scoop.  Nicole was a short way down the beach but I motioned to her that I had it.  She came over and in disbelief pulled out the ring and gave me a huge hug.  As Josie and Stefanie came over, I got to see the smiles and happy tears and once again be reminded why I do this.  Congratulations to you all, I am glad I got to be a part of the story for such an important part of your family’s history. God Bless!