Uncategorized Category | Page 420 of 584 | The Ring Finders

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin resident, Betty Jo, lost a one-of-a-kind wedding ring while cleaning up her garden. The ring was designed and created in Thailand many years ago. Betty Jo’s late husband had it made for her. Now it was gone.

I received a phone call from a kindly neighbor friend, Karen. Would I come and search for Betty Jo’s ring?

I met up with Betty Jo the next evening. She was visibly grieving the loss of the ring and all the memories it held. I followed her as she retraced her steps to where she was the moment she suddenly realized her precious ring was missing.

Equipment in hand I worked my way down a row of small bushes, probing the foliage and leaves as I went. Betty JO searched with me. Indeed, the ring suddenly appeared when she raked away some leaves that were covering it.

Mission accomplished!

Wedding rings belonging to Sussex, Wisconsin residents, Mark and Shandell Geyer were lost in an overgrown tangle of burdock bushes, vines and raspberry canes at the end of their garden. To make matters worse, the remains of a long forgotten chain-link fence lay partially buried in the mud next to a high-voltage electric cable. These conditions were a metal detectorist’s worst nightmare.

I received an email from Mark asking if I might help. He had rented a metal detector but the conditions proved futile.

My first search attempt was in the dark. After a few hours, it was clear to me that the area would need to be systematically cleared of the growth and metal debris. I arranged a second visit, spending the better part of an afternoon and evening pruning away the brush and extracting old metal pipes, fencing and rubbish. Once cleared, I was finally able to detect the area and adjust the settings on my XP Deus metal detector to minimize the electrical interference, but in the end I had no rings to show for my efforts.

Another week went by while Mark cleared yet another section of brush. I returned a third time to sweep the area. Mark’s hope was reflected in his text to me when he wrote, “Third times a charm!”

When a sweep of the newly exposed area failed to bring the rings to the light of day, I began to seriously entertain the idea that the rings may have been lost elsewhere. Construction of a new house close by threatened to cover the search location with dirt and rocks. The rings would be lost forever if that were the case. As impossible as it seemed, two faint signals on the perimeter of the construction site invited further investigation. And amazingly, Mark’s ring first came to light and then about 8 feet away Shandell’s ring appeared in the muck.

With the precious rings in my pocket, I explained to Mark that the rings were definitely not in the area we had cleared. The disappointment was visibly apparent in his face. While walking towards the construction site, I relayed how I investigated a faint signal beneath a partially buried sediment barrier. Then, pulling the ring from my pocket I said, “This was all it was!” Mark was speechless. I then told how another very faint signal beneath the newly bulldozed dirt pile some 8 feet away prompted another dig. “But,” I explained as I pulled the mud-caked love token from my pocket, “it was just Shandell’s ring!”

Perseverance pays. It was like Mark said, “Third times a charm!”

On my way to work today, I received a call from Josh K. about his wife loosing her heirloom ring (her mom gave it to her years ago). Jayne K. was raking leaves in the front yard and playing with her daughters in the leave piles afterwards. Shortly after they finished raking and playing, Jayne noticed her ring missing. Josh borrowed a metal detector and went over his front yard. Not being familiar with the detector he was unsuccessful. Josh had 11 bags of leaves that he searched one bag at a time with no luck. Josh went to the internet and looked up lost rings, detecting services and found The Ring Finders. He was a little skeptical about someone coming out and searching for a ring but after his call to me and telling him I would be out at 4pm he was very happy I could get there so soon.

My Ring Finder friend, Dave Boyer, and I showed up at their house at 4pm and proceeded to search the front yard. I made about 6 passes in a back and forth grid pattern and on the 6th pass I got a nice signal and saw her gold ring. I told Josh that I gave up and hesitated a bit and said « because I found it ». Josh’s eyes lit up and with a big smile and a bear hug he said « thank you ».  Jayne was not home at the time but I’m sure when she found out her ring was recovered she will have a very nice Thanksgiving.

 

  

Ganesh was enjoying a nice sunny afternoon with his wife while walking on the sandy beach of Picnic Point Park along the water when his gold wedding ring fell off his finger into the sand. After searching for a bit his quick thinking wife Googled « how to find a ring in the sand » and found TheRingFinders.com website. 

I received the call from Deepika around 4:30 PM on a Saturday afternoon just as the sun was about to set. She explained how her husband had just lost his wedding ring while they were walking the sandy beach of Picnic Point Park and they were unable to find the ring. I quickly looked up the tide tables for the area and was very pleased to learn that high tide was scheduled for 5:00 PM and low tide to be reached at midnight. This gave plenty of time for me to perform a night search without having to enter the water. So, I raced off to the beach and in total darkness armed with only a head lamp, my metal detector and sand scoop started a grid search. Under an hour and the ring was located buried just a few inches under the sand near the high tide water mark. This ring might have been lost forever if a metal detector was not used to discover its location, actually I’m quite certain of this.

I meet up with the two of them that evening and reunited the ring to a couple with very happy smiles! 

See the video:

I have to thank Deepika for her quick thinking to Google for a solution while still at the site. Once she got in touch with me over the phone I was able to talk her though some very important tasks. One of the most helpful request I ask her was to take some very specific photos of the area to include solid land marks and to txt them to me. I must say she did a super job on my request. By they time I arrived at the beach it was a small walk in near total darkness. With the aid of my head lamp and Deepika’s photos I  was able to easily find the drop zone of the ring and quickly got to work on the hunt.

We all hope this ring lives on with the two of them for a life time of great adventures.

 

Cheers,

Jeff Morgan

SeattleRingHunter

206-618-8194

I received a call from Angela on Thursday, Aug 23rd. Her husband, Hector, had lost his wedding ring in Lake Michigan at Port Sheldon Pier 4 days before.  When my wife heard where this search was to take place she insisted on tagging along.  Because the search area was within a gated community, Angela met us at a nearby park and escorted us into the lakeside community my wife’s grandparent’s lived in when she was growing up; she was SO excited just to be where she’d spent so many summers when she was little.  The search, however, would have to wait for a few more days; the waves were 5′-7′ high and it wasn’t going to get any better until the weekend.  I went back Sunday after church and started my search a little after noon.  It was REALLY foggy and I couldn’t see more than about 50 yards in any direction but the water was nice and calm and I was the only one on the beach.  It only took about 30 minutes to find Hector’s ring right where he said it had fallen off (about 30 yards off shore and about 30 yards from the pier).  It never ceases to amaze me how gold rings tend to stay right where they’re dropped even after 4 days of high winds and waves.  Angela had worked worked 3rd shift the night before and slept thru her alarm so it was about an hour before she and Hector arrived after I had texted her that his ring was safe and sound in my pouch :o)

I received a panicked text from Mo on July 7th saying he’d just lost his wedding ring on South Haven Beach and was in need of help finding it.  I assured him that I could help but it would take me about 2 hours to get there.  He and his wife Megan agreed to wait for my arrival and help me narrow down the search area.  It was a bright, beautiful day on Lake Michigan and just finding a parking space was hard.  I had never searched this beach before and it was really crowded.   Doing a grid search in the water with lots of people around is tricky but after about 40 minutes I saw silver in my scoop!  It was my first recovery with my new Xtreme Scoop and they were elated.  The smiles on their faces is what it’s about :o)