Uncategorized Category | Page 456 of 479 | The Ring Finders

Max had been playing volleyball with some friends at a North Coast beach. He was preparing to hit the ball when he felt the ring loosen on his finger but it was too late to react and he felt the ring fly off upon contact with the ball. He knew the ring had to be close by but after hours of fruitless searching he and his friends were forced to give up. After also unsuccessfully trying to find a metal detector to rent he said he was « very happy » to find me on the internet. We met up and after a 15 minute hike we found ourselves on one of the beautiful, remote beaches this whole coast is known for. I know this area very well having explored and fished this coastline extensively for many years . . it was very nice to be back..

Max told me he and his wife were from Belarus, Russia and had purchased the rings in Europe before moving here. The ring obviously carried a huge sentimental value for them both, they had all traveled a long way together and I was determined to keep that journey going. Max located the markers he had put down earlier in the week when the ring had been lost. Searching out in a square/spiral pattern I was 10 minutes into the search when I got a solid hit. The reading was somewhat different than what I was expecting but you have to check every signal on a search so I scraped the sand down about 2″ with my shoe. . . when the sun caught the band poking out all I could do was smile. I looked at Max and when he caught sight of the glint he couldn’t get to it fast enough. The journey continues . . .

The view

Jake’s lost Tungsten Wedding Band – Corn Festival.

I got a call from Drew during my lunch break last Monday night. He had lost his ring into the sand after surfing that afternoon. I could hear in his voice that the loss was weighing heavily on him. He was especially concerned that the tide was coming in and he feared what that might mean. After discussing the details of the loss, the location, etc. I told him he could rest assured that the ring was not going anywhere. Drew was not going to be able to meet me there the following morning so he gave me a great description of the location with landmarks. He also said he’d leave a marker on the beach at the last known location of the ring.

I arrived at the beach first thing the next day with all the gear nescessary should this turn out to be a hard battle. All I could think of was how badly I wanted to find this ring and turn this around  for Drew. I found his marker, a pile of stones, and got set up for the search. I keyed off of the marker and planned on gridding toward the incoming tide as far as possible then work my way back inland. I set the coil of the detector on the sand and ‘ »bing » I insatntly get a signal. This is not uncommon as there is a LOT of trash under the sand. After checking out the signal the information said this looked like it could be exactly what I was searching for. I wouldn’t even allow myself to think I could be so fortunate as to set my coil down directly on the ring  but as I pawed at the sand, down about 3″-4″ lay the beautiful gold band Drew had described.

       When I turned my phone on this morning, there was a voice mail message from Ken about some lost keys. I called him back but was told that he already found someone else to search for them. I told Ken that if they weren’t found to give me a call back. Sure enough, a couple of hours later, he called back and told me that the other guy with a metal detector (not a ring finder) couldn’t find the keys and had left. Ken wasn’t quite ready to give up yet and wanted to be sure the keys were truly gone before buying new ones hence the call back. I told him I’d be happy to search for them but in my mind, I was a little skeptical that they could be found as the search area described wasn’t very big, Halloween trick or treaters had been all over the search area, and someone else had already given it a shot.

       When I arrived, I was warmly greated by Ken and got the story on how they were lost. Seems he arrived home late afternoon on Halloween after getting some groceries and had them in one hand and his keys in the other as he went to his front door from the driveway. When he saw a palm tree seed husk laying across the path, he reached down with his « key » hand and tossed the husk over to the side. Well, the keys went with it and even though he searched until dark and the next morning, they were nowhere to be found….at least by the naked eye. After I had him reenact the husk throwing, I started with the most likely area they should be. There was some landscape wiring, sprinklers, and rebar inside the concrete so it wasn’t the easiest place to hunt but after about 15-20 minutes, I found them under the short palm on the left in the photo and down inside the long leafed plant shown in the other photo. Ken was now a happy man as he was able to lock up the house and run (drive) away from home! I’m glad I was able to help you Ken and thank you for the reward. It helps keep the ring finder and keyring finder service going. Now repeat after me…..do not call brand X when you can get a genuine ring finder!

Fall Festival – Dave’s 3 Gold Bands linked as one – Recovered.

Fall Festival – Andrew’s lost Tungsten Band – Recovered.

Fall Festival – Jillians Platinum Diamond Wedding Ring Recovered.