Testimonials Category | Page 49 of 58 | The Ring Finders

Amazing Lost Ring Story – Found Moments Before Big Snow Storm

  • from Madison (Wisconsin, United States)
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My husband was helping me carry groceries from the car one evening when I noticed he seemed upset about something. I asked him what was wrong. He said that while I was shopping he was working on the computer and noticed that his wedding ring was missing from his hand.

I told him not to worry about it, after all hadn’t he recently scoffed when I had my own ring repaired that he couldn’t understand why we still bothered to wear wedding rings since we’d been married 25 years, everyone knew we were married, and it wasn’t like we would ever split up. A marriage is not a ring, I reminded him. A ring is just stuff. But John was clearly deeply upset. So I headed outside with a flashlight to search in the snow in the spot where he thought he’d been standing when the ring fell off his hand.

John is blind, and for many who are blind losing things is a regular part of life. One does not notice the gloves left behind in a friend’s car or the red-and-white cane left on the seat of a city bus. One is unable to see the phone that slips out of a pocket to fall silently into the snow or the keys that drop without a sound. Losing things is one of the recurring indignities of losing your vision and so it is for John. Misplacing things leaves him tense and frustrated, as if blindness has just scored another point leaving him scrambling once again to keep possession of the things in life that are most valuable to him, the intangible most of all.

John thought he may have lost the ring while playing with his guide dog in the snow but when I searched the spot with their footprints I didn’t see anything glinting in the flashlight beam. He was afraid the ring may have slipped off his finger while they were at work on campus, maybe while taking a mid-day break to play a game of tug-of-war outside the physics building. In fact he wasn’t sure when he lost the ring as he can’t see his hand. It may have been gone for weeks he feared.

That night he was sleepless over the loss of the ring. Even though I kept assuring him it was no big deal, it could be replaced, he was not consoled. Blindness was winning again.  First thing in the morning I started calling around to rent a metal detector, but soon realized this was not a feasible plan.  We’d be dragging the detector all over the city as there were several spots where John thought the ring might have fallen into the snow. And there was no guarantee we’d even figure out how to use it properly.

I kept putting on my coat and boots, going outside, searching the spot on the hill where John said he’d been standing when he thought the ring might have slipped off his hand. I’d get down on my hands and knees, search every inch of the frozen grass and snow, searching again and again. I had to find that ring! I had to see my husband happy again.

While searching for a local store that rented metal detectors, one of the hits that came up on Google was www.TheRingFinders.com. I exchanged a few messages with Dan Roekle and it was clear he was our best bet for finding the ring.

Dan and his kids came over to our house after work with their metal detector and other equipment in tow. We didn’t think there was much chance of finding the ring that evening as it was already dark, not to mention bitterly cold. But Dan wanted to get started and at least get a look at the first search site. Anyhow a Midwestern blizzard was bearing down, predicted to dump a half-foot of snow on the city, obliterating any tracks of where John and his dog had been.

I turned on the house lights, opened the garage door to flood the driveway with light and passed out flashlights. A group of us huddled in the cold to watch as Dan dropped a wedding ring made of the same metal as John’s onto the frozen trampled ground. The detector chirped, its screen lit up with a digital reading, and Dan began slowly making his way up and down the hillside, maneuvering the detector over snow and ice, listening for a tone similar to the one triggered by the test ring.  The detector softly chirped every few moments as Dan passed a tree and he theorized that landscape stakes or discarded nails from a roofing job were to blame. “There’s a lot of metal in this hill,” he said.

It was clear John and I would have never been able to locate his ring with a rented metal detector. He’d been guiding the detector over the ground for only about five minutes when it chirped loudly and Dan announced a reading in the range of the test ring. “We’ve found it,” he said with certainty and you could almost hear the gasping of all the frozen breaths. His son Carter knelt in the spot where his dad and the detector pointed, and with a water-proof pin pointer worked to zero-in on the precise location of the ring in the snow. Carter scraped and dug through the snow and ice and within moments held it up as a whoop arose.

I may have been the most astonished as the ring had been pressed into the frozen earth in the exact location where I had searched on my hands and knees many times that day without spotting it. It was the spot where John had been standing when he pulled off his gloves after playing with his dog and leaned over to pick up the harness.

Thank you, Dan, Carter and Kylie!

Judy and John

 

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Three Years with Davy Jones and the Scallops – Cape Cod Ring Lost and Found

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

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An article in the Cape Cod Times gave Jeff the idea that his father’s ring could be found but he took a few weeks to get around to asking for help in finding the Star Ring. A call was finally made and of course I agreed to search for the ring. Unfortunately, weather, tides and obligations prevented the usual rapid response to a call for help. Then rotator cuff surgery and an Alaskan vacation put the search off for another two months until a meeting and the search began.

Saturday morning was beautiful, the sun was out, the seas were calm, the temperature was in the high 70s and my grandson, Dakota, wanted to help on his third search. We met Jeff on the main road and then traveled another quarter mile down a dirt path to a parking lot that could accommodate for four cars. Our gear was downed. A short conversation explained our gear and the area where the ring was most likely lost before the search began. I chose to “go deep” while Dakota would search the shallower waters. I made an end pass then turned right to start the search parallel to the beach.

About 100 feet down the beach I heard a faint signal and started to dig when my detector gave off another, stronger signal. Two more scoops in the original target’s area did not reveal the target and the signal “disappeared”. I then scooped at the second signal. I lifted the scoop from the water, a clump of clay parted, and a tarnished glitter of gold shown for the first time in over three years. The slightly golden glitter was my first sense of pleasure that surged when I saw the brilliant white star in the sky blue sapphire. This was the object of the search.

A short walk to Jeff who just could not believe he had the Star Ring back on his finger. A very Happy Ending with a Smile worthy of posting as another find for the RingFinders!

A few excerpts from Jeff’s communications follow:

I read your article {Lord of the Rings – see my other postings for the link} above which prompted me to call Rick Browne in March or April 2013 to help me find a special ring owned by my father given to me by my mother after my father died. I had lost it scalloping in West Falmouth Harbor with 2 close friends at least 3 years ago. Rick found it for me on Sunday morning w/ his grandson, Dakota, in 10 minutes. What an incredible family/guy. Thanks for running the story it led to a very happy reunion with my father’s ring and I got to meet a really great guy who is helping people in a unique way here on the Cape.
Jeff O

My mother was thrilled to learn about the discovery of my father’s ring and thanks you for your effort and good deed of doing this service without a fee.
Jeff O

Dear Jane, Rick and Dakota,
It was quite a morning for me thanks to your generous spirits, time and expertise. I did not realize how emotional it was for me until I returned home and held my hand up so my wife could see the ring. She started crying which prompted me to tear up as well.
Rick, I thought that the possibility of you finding the ring in the harbor over 3 years after I lost it was such a long shot that I took several weeks to call you after I saw the article in the Cape Cod Times. Boy am I glad that I clipped that article and connected with you. The work you do through your hobby is much greater than simply finding lost items. It is reconnecting people to something very precious to them, beyond the intrinsic value of the item. I felt awful for weeks after I lost my father’s ring. I loved the ring because it was a constant reminder to me of him. You noticed how it shines beautifully in the sun. The star sapphire is special.
My father was a special guy and taught me a great deal by example. He was an incredibly hard worker, loving and devoted husband and father. He was very well respected in his industry, precious metal casting and had one of the finest casting shops in the world. He did museum reproductions for the Museum of Fine Arts and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He was a subcontractor for Stueben Glass the specialty division of Corning Glass making limited edition castings for their glass pieces. He did not have an easy life since he emigrated to the USA in the late 1930s as a teenager to escape Hitler’s Germany. His education was cut short and his parents went from being middle class to working menial jobs to survive in their new homeland. His family was so grateful to their adopted country that they spoke little of the hardships. As I told you his years of service during WWII were in the Army Corp of Engineers on Adak Island. He helped establish that base which blocked the Japanese advance through the Aleutians. It is interesting that during your years in the Navy you were familiar with this Island too.
Dakota it was great meeting you and thanks for helping your grandfather help people find missing rings. Follow his example and you too will have a fulfilling life.
My heartfelt thanks for your assistance.
Jeff O

Lost Silver Wedding Band Recovered In Raleigh, N.C. on 1/21/15

  • from Hillsborough (North Carolina, United States)
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On 1/20/15 , I received a call from a lady who explained that her husband had lost his sterling silver wedding band while tossing some pine cones etc, into the woods behind their town house.. The ring had slipped off his finger while he was tossing them.. I agreed to meet them the next day on 1/21/15 around 12PM to do the recovery.. When I got their , they showed me where they lost the ring and I began my search.. When I began my search I first checked the area with my long range locator/electroscope to see if i could get a hit on the possible area the ring was in.. My electroscope did get a hit and I began my search again this time using my Garrett metal detector in the area of interest.. The first hit in the area turned out to be a copper tubing which read a 84-85 on my detectors readout.. The second hit read on my detector to be a 54-55 which was to low of a readout to be real silver so i did not go after it since I was looking a silver ring.. The final and third hit rang out loud and clear at a 88-89 readout which is what I tend see most silver rings hit on my detector.. Sure enough the ring was found.. They was happy to have the ring back and I was happy to be able to help..

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Found Wedding Ring in Norwood, MA

  • from Charlestown (Rhode Island, United States)
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Two days before Christmas, I received a call from Dana, because her husband, Sean, had lost his wedding ring while they were moving.  Sean had stashed his wedding band in his shoe, which was with a change of clothes, for fear of damaging it.  While carrying the clothes, Dana tripped and the ring flew out of the shoe and dropped on the lawn.  The couple searched for the ring without any luck.  Dana searched the internet and found me on The Ring Finders website.  The day after Christmas I searched the lawn and found the ring in a few minutes, the quickest recovery I’ve ever had!  Dana and Sean were delighted to have the ring back.

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Lost Ring in Detroit Michigan, Lost Ring in Southeast Michigan Area, Lost Ring Toledo Ohio Area

  • from Detroit (Michigan, United States)

Hello,

I’m Jonathan from the Detroit, MI area.

I enjoy meeting people and locating lost items of value.

If you have lost a ring, jewelry or valuables plz contact me and I will do my best to assist you in finding what you thought was lost forever. Contact me at 313-683-3082. Calls/Texts OK

Twice Lucky, Wedding Ring found in Kelowna.

  • from Kelowna (British Columbia, Canada)
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January 2013,  Paul called me to assist with his lost wedding ring on his hobby farm, we were successful in recovering the ring. Today November 2014, Paul called me again to say that he had once again lost his wedding ring again while working in the Orchard and his wife was not impressed. He was raking the leaves and driving his tractor with his gloves on, he removed his gloves at four locations when he noticed the ring was missing. I detected the four locations where he thought it would be with no success, I told him I would grid the whole farm until I found it. After a couple of hours the ring was located by an apple tree in the Orchard. Another marriage saved, I told Paul I would book him in for next year.

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Wedding Ring Found in Johnston, RI

  • from Charlestown (Rhode Island, United States)
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On Saturday, Jason lost his diamond wedding band while doing yard work.  Family and friends helped to search the yard.  Someone even tried to find it with a metal detector, but they had no luck.  Not knowing where to turn, his wife, Toni, decided to search the internet for help.  She found my information and gave me a call on Monday.  That evening, I searched the property for a few hours, mostly in the dark, but was unable to locate the ring.  I assured Toni and Jason that I would be back early Wednesday to continue the search, expecting that it would take quite some time given the size of the property.  Five minutes into the search, I located the ring in their lawn.  Jason and Toni were delighted!

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Lost Gold Signet Ring / Vintage Family Heirloom Recovered In Raleigh, N.C. on 10/20/2014

  • from Hillsborough (North Carolina, United States)
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On Sunday Night on 10/19/14 I received a call from a nice young lady named Christine M. about a lost gold ring that was a Family Heirloom. She explained that she had lost the ring in the grass in front of the apartment building she lives in. She had just got out of a cab in front of her building and was walking up the walk way to the building when the ring slipped off her finger. Christine and her roommate attemped to locate the ring with no luck And even attempted to look up metal detector rental places online to find the ring. I agreed to come out the next morning between 8 & 9 am to help her find the ring.. Because of traffic I was running alittle late and got there alittle after 9 am on the morning of 10/20/14.. Christine was at work when I got there but her roommate show me the area she lost the ring.. I began my search and even expanded the search area some to make sure i covered all the area.. This was a very hard search to do, the area was so littered with buried trash target and iron and pulltabs.. I used two different detectors and made several passes to make make sure I covered all the area.. I dug over 100 trash targets along with 2 fake aluminun rings, a toy car and over $6.00 in loose change.. This ground was loaded with targets. After searching over 4 hours and still had not found the ring i was almost ready to give up as I covered all the area good.. I called Christine back up to let her know I could not find it yet and was thinking someone else might of picked it up.. I asked for more details and she explains the ring was a small ring and even texted me a pic to show me what the ring looked like.. I agreed to continue the seach.. As it turned out the reason I had so much trouble is the ring was a small gold ring and so much iron trash in the ground, the ring was stepped on and pushed into the ground.. The iron was so much that it was masking the ring which would of made it ring up of a iron target which i was not looking for.. So I decided  to changed up my  method of search and started crawling the area on my hands and knees useing only my hand held  metal detector and after about about 30 minutes I found the ring .. I called her up to let her know I found it and waited around town another 4 hours until she got home to return it to her.. She was very happy to get it back and I was happy to help her..

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Ring Found in Attic, Worth the Wait!

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

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A perfect duo – ATPro and 4.5” Sniper coil – for an attic search

With out this duo Keith would more than likely still be without his father’s wedding band that he had worn for several years. In his original E-mail; Keith wrote “I am not 100% certain but I think the ring fell into about 2 feet of blown-in insulation in my attic. Back in February my roof was leaking, I went into the attic to investigate, and later that evening I realized my ring was gone. If the ring is in the attic it’s in a tight spot close to the eaves, it’s a difficult area to search. I borrowed a metal detector and spent some time searching without any luck. I had never used a metal detector before, and I don’t have a lot of confidence that I was using it efficiently.”

I agreed with his assessment plus it was now May and attic temperatures were on the rise. Also I did not have the best equipment that I thought would locate the ring. I had the ATPro, but not the Sniper coil. A request went out to two clubs and a dealer for help in locating one I could buy or beg, borrow, or steal for a day. No luck! Then in October a new coil came into the dealer and I bought it. Three days later I was in the attic, on a nice cool morning, poking around in the deep insulation. It took about 10 minutes to search the 14 inch space between each set of ceiling joists. In the third area I got a repeatable signal close to a wire loop. I moved the loop and the signal was still there and so was the ring. Seconds later an emotional Keith had the ring on his finger. As I left, Keith was on the way to his mother’s house to show her the ring had been found.

 

Rick,

Thanks again for finding my wedding ring, I couldn’t be happier to have it again, and I owe it all to you. At times in the past few months I felt devastated over having lost the ring, but you brought what was needed and I’m so glad to have found it. I’m attaching the photos I took with my phone from the attic. I’m not sure they completely do it justice as the insulation was at least 2-3 feet deep in spots. And here is a recap of the story of the ring, please feel free to post about it on your blog:

My father passed away when I was 5 years old, and 30 years later my mother gave me his wedding ring to me to wear as my own wedding ring. My wife Christine thought it was a great idea to use the ring. The ring is engraved with my parent’s initials and wedding date. I have little memory of my father, and the ring helped to create a connection that was very important to me. In February of this year, during a healthy snow storm, I noticed a water stain on the bedroom ceiling and realized there was some type of roof leak. As you know, the leak was in a far corner of the attic, and I had to investigate the leak on my hands and knees partially buried in insulation. A few hours later I realized the ring had slipped off my finger at some point during the day. The most likely place for the ring was in the attic, and I made several search attempts in the area. I borrowed a metal detector, but having no experience with one, this attempt and all my attempts were fruitless. I thought it was gone for good, and it was then that despair would set in when I thought about having lost it. As I mentioned, it was extremely painful for me to tell my mother that I had lost this ring. But then we waited out the summer, you got the coil, got down on your hands and knees into the corner of the attic and found it. I didn’t tell my mother that you were coming to look, I didn’t want to create any false hope if we couldn’t find it. I was able to surprise her later on Sunday with the ring. I really can’t thank you enough for finding it.

Keith

 

Engagement Ring Lost at La Jolla Shores… Found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

I received a call in early Sept from Zach about two lost rings at La Jolla Shores. His fiance Maria had been out kayaking with her friends and on the return leg of the trip, got caught in a wave, overturned, and her engagement and promise rings came off in the waist deep surf. By the time I got the call, Maria had returned to San Bruno so I had to go by a map and description of the search area.

After gridding the area for three days (about 12 hours) I had to  give Zach the bad news that I just couldn’t find them. I had found many other target so I figured it was unlikely anyone else had hunted the area and found them,  but, I told him I would keep it on my « list » and check with others I knew to see if it had been found. Nobody fessed up so I put it on my « return at low tide » list so I could venture out a bit further in the ocean.

Fast forward a month…..nice minus tide and calm conditions made the area inviting to search. After about 2 hours of virtually no targets, I get a weak but promising sound in my Excalibur’s headphones. In about knee deep water, I sifted one full scoop and discovered a beautiful platinum diamond ring in the bottom. Since I had earlier received a photo of the rings, I knew right away that I finally had one of them. I searched another couple of hours centered around that find, but still couldn’t come up with the promise ring. A task for another day. I texted Zach with a photo and the question, « does this look familiar? » and received an excited reply « YES! »

He said he would fly down here in a couple of days to pick it up. Since he hadn’t been here when it was lost, he wanted to go to the site and see where it all happened, so, I picked him up at the airport early Friday morning and took him there, where we snapped a few photos and took a little tour of the area. Over a nice breakfast, I learned that he hadn’t told her about finding the ring. He plans on getting it resized and proposing  to her again! Boy will she be surprised when she sees that ring again! (I hope you’re going to video that Zach!) Oh, and they were scheduled to have some of their upcoming wedding photos taken this coming weekend, so the timing couldn’t have been better.

Even though it was one of the most difficult and longest  searches I’ve had so far (about 16 hours total), it was very satisfying to make this recovery. It was a pleasure to meet you Zach and thank you for the generous reward. Maybe you two will decide to honeymoon in San Diego, now that Maria’s painful memories are alleved somewhat. Wherever you go, I hope you have a great time and happy marriage!

Right about where the surfer is in the first photo is where I found the ring. Tide’s quite a ways in compared to when I found it, but you get the idea.

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