Lost Ring in Carmel reunited
Got a call from « Mary ». Tourists visiting Carmel, realized her ring was missing. They narrowed it down to suspecting it might have fallen out of their vehicle as they began their walk through the tourist district of Carmel. It was a long shot, since : There’s only a teensy planter tree-strip box there along the sidewalk. Not much use for a metal detector. But we thought: Maybe obscured in the pine needles there ?
Before turning on my machine to hunt, I noticed that the street sweeper had not passed by there for awhile . Evidence of leaf and duff buildup on the street, so perhaps cars perpetually parked , that keep the street sweeper from reaching the curb in the recent past. So on a hunch, I began studying the street curb/gutter area. Twitching aside leaves and duff. Nothing. Then on my hands and knees to study under the car that was currently parked there. And there it was ! Run over a time or two (needs a jeweler’s adjustment), but the stone still intact. Didn’t even need my metal detector after all. 🙂
She shared with me the effort and workload her fiance had gone through to afford the ring, so … to them it had a lot of sentimental value. Will be going out in today’s mail to southern CA 
for another happy reunion. Glad I could help !
I got a call from Kelli about noon on Wednesday asking if I could find her wedding ring. She and her husband had been married for nine months and the ring was designed by her husband and custom made. She first called my son in law, David Cartee, who wasn’t able to help because of other obligations that day but he recommended She give me a call. Kelli’s ring was lost in a lake off a dock in Andalusia Alabama. It had been a couple day since she lost it. She got in the water up to about neck deep and tried doing a visual search but the bottom was muddy and she had no luck. Listening to her story I felt sure the ring had sunk out of sight in the mud. I told her I would help. I was in the Pensacola area at the time and Andalusia was about 2 hours away. I felt time was of the essence because I didn’t know that lake and fearing the ring might settle deeper in the muddy bottom over time. The lake turned out to be a reservoir used by the power company to generate electricity and the bank was very steep. When I saw how quickly the grade dropped off I began to worry about it having vanished in the deep water or my recovery activity dislodging it to deeper water. It was most important to plan carefully so that would not happen. I took my time making sure the search coil didn’t touch the bottom and to carefully completely search the area before moving my feet to deeper water. Fortunately I got a good signal, the ring had settled on a slope in about 5 foot of water. I set my recovery scoop and both husband and wife stood by in anticipation. I peered into the scoop then looked up at them and smiled, her beautiful precious ring was recovered and returned to her finger. Smiling faces and no more worries all around!
