Saturday, June 21st, 2024, I had been searching for a lost Silver Chain and Religious Cross, in the Camp Ellis beach area, of Saco, Maine. I had arrived there at 4:45am, to take advantage of the low tide. At approximately 7:30am, I was still searching, when I felt my phone vibrate, signaling a text message had come in. The message said
“Hi there, I’m interested in your ring finding service. I lost a ring yesterday at Scarborough Beach State Park”.
I immediately called the number back and found myself talking to Julie. Julie explained that she and her husband, Drew, had gone to Scarborough Beach State Park, in Scarborough, Maine, to beat the heat. The previous days temperature, was in the mid 90’s and humid. Julie explained that she was wearing her 18K Cartier Ring, when they arrived and noticed it was missing, while swimming, in the ocean, just before they left at 1:30pm. I told Julie that I would be willing to search for her Cartier Ring, but it would need to be when the tide was near the same, as it was, when she noticed it missing. I told Julie, I would call her, when I arrived home, from the chain and cross search. I needed to figure out the best time to conduct my search, with the tides, working in my favor.
When I arrived home, I called Julie again and the tides would work well, if I started my search, between 1:30pm and 2:00pm. Julie agreed to meet me at Scarborough Beach State Park, at 1:30pm and show me the location where she and Drew, had spent the day, staying cool, by swimming, in the ocean. Julie and Drew, showed me where they had placed their towels, on the beach. They also told me that they spent a lot of time, in the ocean, swimming, way out and well over their heads. They told me that they did not leave the area, of their towels, other than to go swimming. The Cartier Ring, had to be out there, somewhere under the water and I will search the exposed wet sand, as the ocean receded, until, hopefully, the ring was no longer, under the ocean water.
With the high tide, now 2 hours behind us, this was approximately the same tide timeline, that Julie noticed her ring, was missing. The search would need to be horizontal, to the water and I would start at the bottom of the slope, leading to the wet sand, from where their towels were. What we didn’t know was at what point did Julie’s ring, slip off of her finger? Was it when the tide, was closer to the shore? Did it slip off her finger, when the tide was further out? Don’t know and that is why I need to methodically search the entire area. She and Drew, told me that they had swum way out, into the ocean, a few different times, during their day at the beach. Could it have been lost out to far, for me to recover? If the wet sand wasn’t going to be exposed, by the low tide, there was no way, that I could go 30, 40 or even 50 feet, out into the ocean and search for her ring. The water was just going to be to deep.
As I searched, I wasn’t finding many targets. A few pieces of aluminum, bottle caps and one penny. I was finding more ferrous targets, than non ferrous items, but I wasn’t going to dig the ferrous items. Time was to precious and I needed to search the entire low tide area. I then received a signal that got my heart to jump. A nice low tone and VDI reading, of 12-23. Definitely within the gold range. After digging the hole, I saw a gold ring, with the infinity symbol. I motioned to Julie and her husband, to come down, from where they were watching me from. When they arrived, I asked Julie to describe her ring, exactly. She told me it was a band, with small circles, all around the outside of the band. This was not her ring and Julie went back up to the towel area, to wait for me to find her ring. Over the next hour or so, nothing of any substance, was found. Julie and Drew, came down to see me and tell me that they had to leave and get back home, to Auburn, Maine. Auburn is approximately a 45 minute drive, North of Scarborough. Julie looked very sad and disappointed. She asked if I could contact her, if I find her ring. Of course I will.
After they left, I picked up, right where I left off and there was approximately 2 hours to go, before low tide. I need to find this ring, but time and real estate, was running out. As I worked my way further and further away from the shore, I still wasn’t getting many signals, as I caught up to the receding waters. Just before 4:30pm and nearly 3 hours, into the search, I heard the unmistakable low tone, that I had been hoping to hear. The VDI was reading 12-20, a fantastic reading and one that got me smiling. I took a scoop of sand threw it up onto the wet sand, away from the water. I still couldn’t see the target so I used my pinpointer to search the pile of wet sand. I located the target and when I brushed the sand away, I could see a beautiful gold ring. As soon as I saw the circles, on the side of the band, I knew I had found Julie’s Cartier Ring. A look inside the ring showed the Cartier name and Au 750. Definitely 18K and definitely Julie’s ring. I was ecstatic and immediately took a few photos and sent a text, to Julie, telling her, “Got It”, along with a photo of the ring. Such a great feeling, when I am able to send a text like that. When I didn’t hear back, from Julie, after a few minutes, I called her and she told me her phone was almost dead and hadn’t received the message yet. She called me back on her Drew’s phone and she was extremely excited and happy to hear the news, that her beautiful Cartier Ring would soon be back on her finger. I then sent some photos, to Drew’s phone. I immediately received a response and she said
“Oh my goodness. That’s it. Thank you!!!”
She also sent me another text a little while later saying
“I still can’t believe it!!! I’ve been telling everyone. I will call you at 7!☺️☺️☺️”
She did call me and we made a plan to meet up, in the morning, to return her ring.
We met up at the Saco Hannaford and when I saw Julie, it was a smile from ear to ear and I don’t think her feet were touching the ground. She was extremely happy to have her ring back, after approximately, 27 hours, under the water and sand. Julie and Drew couldn’t have been any happier and I just love knowing that the 18K Cartier Ring was now back, with the rightful owner. What a great feeling, knowing I could help her, in her time of need. Since Julie prefers not to have her photo, on social media, I have respected her wishes and included only a photo of me.
I received a call from a friend, Chuck R., who refereed a man to me who lost his wedding ring while clearing debris off his boat dock. I contacted Matt A. and made arrangements to come out and find his ring. On Sunday morning I got my gear together and drove an hour and a half from Manistee, MI to Houghton Lake.
