Arnie lost his 1958 class ring, and read an article about us in the local paper and wondered if we could help him find his lost ring from 4 years ago. Check out the write up below, which includes video of the actual ring hunt … did we find his ring? You’ll have to read it to find out … wait, of course did, why else would I be posting this … check out the size of that ring!
Link to Complete Story:
Direct link to video:
Andrea removed her rings and placed them in a sweater pocket while at a picnic with her friends. Since it was too hot a day to actually wear the sweater, she had it tied around her waist. When she was told about some crabs coming ashore, she sprinted down to the waters edge to see them. This entailed running across a short section of grassy park, scaling a sea wall, and then 100 yards or so of sand. After a while, she returned to the picnic table in the park. A 1/2 hour later, she discovered that her rings were gone out of her pocket. She remembered that the sweater was falling off as she ran but didn’t think to check the pocket until now. So, it could be in the grass or short bushes in the park, by the sea wall, in the dry sand, or at the waters edge. The park has real short grass, so, if lost there, it was probably spotted and picked up by someone. Same with the park side of the sea wall as it’s a paved walkway. I decided to hunt the football field size area of dry sand first. After about 45 minutes to an hour of gridding, starting from the sea wall and heading to the wet sand, I got a nice strong and shallow signal about 3/4 of the way to the water that resulted in both rings in one scoop. A stunned and happy Andrea had her rings back as a roar of cheers came from her church group when they heard the good news. Now she could go back and enjoy the party! Pleasure to meet you folks and thank you for the reward.
I just got home from work on Friday when the phone rang and Hiroko asked if I was immediately available to recover a ring in Kailua at Lanikai Beach as the couple was flying out that evening. I told her I could be there in 30 minutes or so and she explained the situation. Her friend Mariko had guests visiting from Japan and her lady friend Yuko dropped her Gold Wedding Band in the sand. Mariko was going to meet me at the beach access lane and would show me the approximate location the ring was lost. I asked my wife Wendy if she wanted to come along and she did as their is a really nice shopping mall on that side of the island we hadn’t been to in ages. So off we went. Another helpful tool my wife has GPS on her smart phone and helps me get to the out of the way locations. We arrived in record time and Mariko introduced us to Yuko and her husband who had been looking for the ring for several hours already. When we arrived on location the area was half sand and half leafy rooted plant cover. This was going to be a challenge. Yuko boxed off the area and I began my search. I think every pull tab and bottle cap on Lanikai Beach ended up in this ground cover. After about twenty minutes and numerous tabs, caps and 11 cents I got an unusual growl on my Excalibur. It sounded really weird. As I made a scoop I noticed a bottle cap loose in the sand where I just dug in. I bent down and picked it up. As I made another scoop to the other target a glint of Gold could be seen in the scoop. As I reached into the scoop and pulled out the ring I glanced over at Yuko and tears were streaming down her face. Her husband was bowing at my feet saying « Arigato » over and over. Actually, I was overwhelmed and said please stand up and just give me a hug Hawaiian style. Their appreciation was over the top. I won’t soon forget this find. Aloha to Yuko and her husband!
While doing some detecting for fun in the water, I found a gold 1965 class ring from Central High School in Saint Paul, MN. with the initials of ‘JSL’ inside the band.
I did some searching on the internet and Classmates.com was where I learned the owner’s full name. After ‘googling’ his name, I was sad to see that he had passed away one year prior. This news made me realize that it was very important that I find the next of kin. I knew that it would mean a lot to them.
The obituary listed several family members and I was able to contact both the man’s wife and one of his sons, who both live in Idaho. They said that Jeff had enlisted to serve our country right after high school and moved to Idaho immediately after his service – so he must have lost the ring shortly after high school back in 1965!
I was thrilled to talk to Jeff’s wife and her son, Ty; and I mailed the ring to them immediately. Here is what Janet wrote to me:
« Reese, Ty and I want to thank you for returning Jeff’s class ring. Such a kind and wonderful thing you do. Jeff was very athletic through high school and college. He was your typical gym rat. Jeff earned his college degrees in Special Education. He was a teacher & administrator for 37 years. We have 2 sons – Ty and Brady. I am so grateful to have them in my life. Thank you so much for your time and research into the rings origin, it’s a reminder that there are great, kind people out there. – Janet Lang »
Below are some pictures that Janet and Ty sent to me. The first picture is of Janet and Ty. The other two are of the ring with Jeff’s actual 1965 Central High School year book and the ring next to Jeff’s yearbook picture.
It was very evident to me that Jeff was deeply loved, respected and missed.
While I was on my lunch break eating Spicy Ahi Don with my daughter Asti I received a call from Andrea in Waikiki. She told me her husband Nick lost his White Gold wedding band in the sand at Waikiki Beach right behind the Police Station. Knowing how many detectorists prowl the beach my getting there quickly to find their ring was of the utmost importance. I had my Excalibur in my truck so I told Andrea to guard the spot on the beach and not to dig looking for it. I told her I could be there in 30 minutes. Lunch hour traffic and road construction tried hard to keep me away but we managed through it all. Since I know some of the Waikiki HPD Officers I was able to park in their stall directly in front of the lost ring location. Asti stayed in the car and I went to the beach with Nick. It was a relatively small area and the first target was Nick’s ring. They admitted digging for it as it took two healthy scoops to reach their ring. It’s always neat how all the tourists watching the search applaud and say « How Cool is that? » when the ring is found. As you can see Andrea & Nick were all smiles. Aloha to Andrea & Nick.
06/05/2015
Lost Wedding Band Houston, Texas (Recovered)
I was contacted by Damian regarding his wife’s lost wedding band. Damian reported his wife had been playing in the backyard with her young son when she lost her wedding rings.
Damian’s wife Mary, had reportedly placed her rings in her pocket while playing with her son in the backyard. Mary said after playing with her son she discovered her rings had fallen out of her front pocket. Damian said they searched the backyard on their hand and knees and were able to find the diamond engagement ring, but not the diamond wedding band.
We made arrangements to meet the following day and search for the missing wedding band.
Equipment Used:
CTX 3030
TRX Pin-pointer
The Ring Finders Metal Detecting Service
We can search virtually any location, some of the most common places are parks, lakes, beaches and even your own front yard…If you lost your “Ring” or other precious item…We can find it!
We train regularly and use the best Metal Detecting Equipment available insuring the greatest possibility of finding your lost possessions.
www.theringfinders.com/john.volek
Don’t wait… Call now!
John Volek
06/09/2015
Lost Car Key Houston, Texas (Recovered)
I was contacted by Josh regarding a lost car key. Josh reported the metal key part of his key FOB (the actually key) had broken off the FOB and possibly landed in the grass in front of his residence. Josh said he had back tracked his steps, and the only other possible location the key could have fallen was in the grass between his driveway and front door.
Josh said a replacement key at the dealer would be several hundred dollars without the other key to serve as a duplicate (a re-cut) versus the dealer having to make a new one from the Vehicle Identification Code.
I met with Josh at his residence today and searched for the lost car key.
Equipment Used:
CTX 3030
TRX Pin-pointer
GoPro
The Ring Finders Metal Detecting Service
We can search virtually any location, some of the most common places are parks, lakes, beaches and even your own front yard…If you lost your “Ring” or other precious item…We can find it!
We train regularly and use the best Metal Detecting Equipment available insuring the greatest possibility of finding your lost possessions.
www.theringfinders.com/john.volek
Don’t wait… Call now!
John Volek
Don Bryant & I were returning from a ring find when a young gentleman approached us and asked if we could help them find a ring in the water. He took us over to where Andrew was painstakingly trying to find the ring in shallow water with his hands. Andrew showed us the general location and because I still had my scuba gear on Don went to work. 30 seconds later and the first target Don nailed the ring. Nice way to end our day hunting. Andrew said he wasn’t afraid of losing the ring he was afraid of his new bride. Smart man, very smart! Aloha to the newlyweds!
A guy named Guy sent me an email last month about his lost wedding band. He was participating in a mud run on ski hills and lost his ring. Lucky for him he had a GoPro camera on that day because he was able to determine on what hill the ring slipped off.
At the top of a hill called Abby’s Alley (coincidently his wife’s name is Abby) he had his ring on, when he got to the bottom and got a glass of water he noticed it was gone. Today he had his children along and we all went about halfway up the hill. He said he thought when he lost it he was sliding down the hill in mud and using his hands to slow himself down.
So I started my search in the middle of the path, my first hit was a penny type signal, my second hit was his ring! I looked down and could see an edge of it in the dirt. Man I like those quick hunts. He couldn’t believe I found it so fast and was very happy to have his ring back.
Best of luck to all the ringfinders,
Norm Slaymaker
A Lovers Quarrel…..
During a heated argument last Thursday a future husband throws his future bride’s 2 rings into the back yard.
They find one of them but not the other. He called me from PA where they are moving to.
Bride to be is in shock because they had to leave the house in Michigan soon. Mother-in-law, pictured with ring, and I search the suspected area. We had lots of rain over the weekend and I told them it may have pushed it down in the ground. Using my older but trusty Garrett metal detector I searched for about half hr and got lots of signals, junk and coins….but then I got a double beep repeatable with very slow sweeps from all directions. Coming up in the ring range on the detector meter the depth registered on the surface and was in the direction of how they were thrown. This was also in the vicinity of where the main ring was found previously. A quick check with the pinpointer and moving the grass revealed the ring laying flat just sunk into the earths surface. Mother in law screams in excitement as I lifted it into the sunlight.
Quite a little beauty and look at all those diamonds! Everyone is happy and another great find!
Jon
