Lost & Found Category | Page 211 of 493 | The Ring Finders

This ring find began when I got a call from Ray saying his husband Mike had lost his Platinum with Black Diamonds & Blue Sapphires Wedding Band in the dry sand on Waikiki Beach, just in from the Duke Kahanamoku Statue. They arrived from New York and were celebrating their one year Anniversary. I told Ray we could meet at the Waikiki Police Station and he could show me where on the beach to look. I arrived about 20 minutes later and we walked down to the beach area. To my surprise there was a 4 inch deep square box emptied of sand where they had been sifting the sand through a net in hopes of finding the ring. That had taken a few hours. Mike told me before he went in the water he wrapped his ring in a T-Shirt and when he returned he opened the shirt forgetting that moment the ring was inside, it fell out and disappeared somewhere in the sand. I asked Mike to draw a grid in the sand and essentially it was the 30 by 20 foot box where they had removed the sand. I started the search and on the first grid East & West I didn’t find the ring only a bullet casing and a few coins. I asked which direction I should extend the grid and they agreed towards a palm tree. I decided since there were no tourists in our area I should extend in every direction possible. I started the expanded grid North & South this time and on about the fifth pass I got a loud #16 on the Nox and in one scoop there was Mike’s unique ring in the scoop. It was actually out of the original grid and in the opposite direction of the palm tree. Sadly I thought, all that sand sifting from the wrong area. Regardless, Anniversary saved! Aloha to Mike & Ray.

This ring hunt began when my fellow ring finder on Maui Dave Sheldon texted, « Inbound ring hunt for you. Good Luck. » I then received a call from Dustin who was on a family vacation from Salt Lake City, Utah. While his daughter Sophee was in the water she noticed sand lodged in between the setting and the stone. She took her ring off to rinse and it slipped out of her fingers and into the shallow water between her legs. She thought she could just reach down and grab it, but the water was just slightly murky and she didn’t have any goggles to search. She yelled for her three sisters Sydnee, Saydee and Stevee to help her search but initially they thought she was joking. When she screamed she wasn’t they came over immediately and tried to help. Sophee started to cry and told her fiance’ Teagan the ring was taken by the ocean and they probably weren’t going to see it again. They frantically searched for about an hour and as the sun went down the water was really getting cold. Sophee was crying so much she could barely see anymore. The mask she was wearing kept fogging up to make matters worse. Finally, after reaching Dave on Maui Sophee’s father Dustin got my number. The funny part was Dustin said I was a « ring finder » so I’m sure he can find it. If it was « ring searcher » I wouldn’t be so sure. Dad’s have the best humor in difficult times! The sun was setting fast so thankfully traffic across Oahu allowed me to get there in 30 minutes. Upon arrival, Teagan and Sophee helped me create a grid and I started the search. After the hunt I didn’t find the ring so I told them let me go over and expand the grid. Sure enough on about the third grid in calf deep water I got a loud number « 8 » on the Nox and in one scoop I could just see a ring in the twilight. Sophee and Teagan were amazed I found it and the location was much closer to the shoreline then they imagined. Tides can deceive the hunter! Vacation saved! Aloha to Sophee & Teagan!