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. 
Gregg called and asked if I would be able to help him find his wedding ring he had lost on the dune walkover in Holgate NJ. We were having some unusual swarming mosquitos, and when he was heading over to the ocean they bombarded him when he was almost at the top. When he tried to swat them away, unfortunately his wedding ring flew off his hand and most likely landed up on the dunes somewhere. We arranged to meet the next afternoon, knowing his ring would be safe in that location. I had read on one of the local Facebook pages how bad they were after days of heavy rain, but never experienced anything quite this like this. I pulled up in the driveway, and no sooner had my door opened, I would venture to say, there were 20 or more in my truck. With that said, out came the sweatshirt and bug spray. I really hate mosquitos. Greg and I went over again exactly what had happened, as we walked quickly to the spot he had marked with some little sticks and stuff. I turned on my machine, put on the headphones, and for whatever reason it would not quiet down. I asked him to stand facing exactly the way he was, and to demonstrate the swatting motion he used when the ring went flying. It looked like it probably could have flown up in the dune grass, but with the motion he showed me, my hunch was it went straight down. So, as these nuisance bugs are like a cloud around us, I moved back to where I turned on the machine, which was also the spot he was when the ring came off. And now I know why the machine was so noisy!!!!! Bingo!!!! It was sitting right on top of his ring. The more detective work one can do the better. The entire hunt only lasted about 10 minutes at best. Making memories again on LBI.