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Lost Family Heirloom!

On August 4th 2010 I answered an ad on Craig’s List for a missing ring in the surf at Stone Harbor. The ring was a family heir loom. dating back over 100 years. We exchanged a few emails and I said I would give it a try.

I arrived at the beach at 5:30 am the next morning. The tide was high and the water had dropped at least 10 degrees. Good thing I wore my wetsuit.

I started at the life guard stands working a grid pattern to the north. There were very few signals. about 50 feet out there was a drop off and moguls of sand. I was getting a bad feeling about not finding this one.

There was another gentleman hunting the dry & wet sand. He came over to me and told me about the missing ring. I told him I saw the ad on Craig’s List. He had spoken to the guys wife and got a slightly different story. This widened the search area. Not good. He said he searched last night and was trying again this morning. This explains the lack of signals. He explained he had to leave soon but would try again in the evening.

It was getting late, and people were arriving at the beach. It was almost 9 am and the life guards were bringing out their boats. I was ready to give up. I was almost 2 blocks away from my starting point and area the guy Tim said he lost the ring. I got a nice deep tone and was praying to Davey Jones that this was the ring. It was, a very large mans gold ring. Wahoooo!!! I put it in my pouch and left the beach.

When I got back to the beach house, I sent Tim an email saying I found the ring. The only this was the date on the inside of the ring was different than what he posted. Boy this could get Tim in big trouble.

We played phone tag for most of the day. When we did speak we arranged to meet in the evening so the ring could be reunited with its owner. Tim and his wife arrived around 7:30 pm. They are a very nice couple from Baltimore. We took some pictures and Tim gave me a very nice reward. He was so happy to have the ring back that his great grandfather, grandfather and father have worn. He will not be wearing it in the water anymore!!

Below is a note from Tim:

Dear Dave, August 7, 2010

You are truly amazing!!! Here’s my story for any of you naysayers out there………

I had been swimming in the late afternoon with my nephews in the ocean off of 103rd Street in Stone Harbor N.J.. It wasn’t until that evening when I looked down at my hand before dinner that I noticed my wedding ring was gone!!!! It wasn’t just my wedding ring, mind you, it was also an heirloom that had been in my family for over a hundred years. Originally, it was a signet ring that had been my great-grandfather’s, my grandfather’s, and my father’s. All of them had been named Lawrence P. Naylor (LPN Sr., Jr., and the III). When I was married I decided to have it double as my wedding ring because I didn’t want to wear two rings. My wife and I had our initials and our wedding date engraved on the inside. We had just had our twentieth anniversary last fall.

Well, I was despondent to say the least. I knew it had fallen off in the water. Just for the record, I had always worn it in the ocean, but the water had been unusually cold and I recently lost a little weight so I assumed it slipped off while I was rough-housing with the kids. At any rate, it was in the surf, probably fifty or more feet out, and I was sure it was gone for good. We did go to the beach that evening before dark, but the water wasn’t clear beyond six inches or so. Except for a few shells, there was nothing. I had heard those stories about rings washing up the next day with the tide but didn’t hold out much hope.

The next morning, after spending about half an hour searching the shore we decided to mention it to the lifeguards who were just coming on duty. One of them suggested the « lost and found » section on Craigslist. Yeah, I knew it would be a waste of time but figured I could sleep a little better knowing I had tried everything. I posted a note about a lost ring in Stone Harbor. It seemed to be within minutes that I got a response from a guy whose address was metaldetectorman@verizon.net. I was curious, and desperate, so I went ahead and opened his response. He seemed genuinely concerned and asked for any specifics such as when, and exactly where I was when the ring came off, so he could consider the tides etc. He said he wasn’t sure he could get there right away, but he would try. This guy was serious, he even had a website. After a few back-and-forths, I thanked him for his interest and crossed my fingers. I knew it was going to be a waste of his time, but I really did appreciate the fact that he, and a few others by the way, who had also seen the Craigslist ad, showed real interest. One respondent said she would try, but it might be a few weeks at best until she could get down to Stone Harbor. This was all around noon on the day after the evening when I realized the ring was gone. We went swimming later that afternoon and noticed a real northward under-tow around our feet. Now I knew the ring was Poseidon’s forever!

The next day, around noon, I checked my e-mail. I still can’t believe what it said!!!! Dave had found my ring, more or less right where I had said it should be, in chest-deep water!!! He had shown up at about 5:00 in the morning and spent three hours searching before he found it. I will never be able to truly comprehend how he actually did it. Yes he did have a fancy, totally submersible detector, but he was looking in an area of about forty Olympic swimming pools, with surf and current to boot! Yeah, life would have gone on without that ring, but Dave saved me from a lot of regret over the years. Thanks a million! -Tim Naylor

Jan 6th 2003 I received the following email:

I am in a horrible jam. I lost my wedding band between my house and my car….I looked for hours and I can’t seem to find it. I wonder if someone from your group could possibly help me find it…. I can’t offer much but I would be happy to give 50 bucks. I know this is not much but we just got married and still kind of hard to make ends meet. I live in Stratford NJ ….if you could possible help me or maybe point me to somehow could….

I contacted this person and planned to meet the next day. Around 930 am in 20 degree F temp and snow on the ground we met. I knew he didn’t trust me because he wanted to follow me all around. I asked the usual questions, when, where and how do you think you lost it. He said he was late for work and ran out of the house. He said he felt the ring coming off his finger while he was running from his house to his car, so he closed his fist to keep the ring on. When he got to the car the ring was gone. He said it was white gold. He showed me his path of travel. I told him I would do a grid pattern of the whole front yard. I search up & down finding everything under the sun except the ring. He was questioning all of the target registering on my XLT. I was trying to explain the different targets, like this is probably a penny at 6 inches. I could see the skepticism in his face. No ring in that direction, so I said I will do the same thing going back and forth. Still no ring. I told him I would try a different coil. He said he had to go make a few phone calls.

So I went to my car to switch coils from my 6 inch to the 10 inch coil. At this point I was there for about an hour and even though I had gloves on my hands were frozen. So I was attaching the new coil when I looked down and saw the ring sitting there so nice and pretty. It was sitting less than 2 inches from a sewer pipe (no wonder my XLT didn’t find it). So I picked it up and put it on my finger. I knocked on the door and held my finger up. You would not believe the look on his face!! I showed him where I found it, there was still a depression in the snow where it was located. I explained why the machine didn’t find it. I had a smile on my face the rest of the day.

Private Beach!

Dave,

I just wanted to formally thank you for the great job you did finding my platinum wedding band. The ring was lost on 100 sq yds of beach for 6 weeks but thanks to your persistence you were able to find it in only an hour.

Losing that ring was a difficult experience due to it’s cost and intrinsic value but thanks to the professionalism you showed during our correspondence and the search process, I knew that I was in good hands. I’m attaching the photo that we took right after the ring was found.

Thanks again for your help.

Good luck in your future treasure hunts!

Troy Kelley

Little Silver, NJ

To Dave and Larry,

To lose my wedding band in the Ocean on the 10th street beach in Ocean City, N.J. was devastating. If it was in the sand on the beach, I would have held onto a shred of hope, but not in waist deep water during the height of the tourist season! The only people to ask « what to do? » were the lifeguards. They referred me to the South Jersey Metal Detecting Club. We had a laptop with us so we went back to the house and shot you guys an email. You replied instantly with some questions, and it gave me hope of retrieving my wedding band 2 weeks before our 10th Anniversary! A week or so went by and I figured it was time to be realistic. Then came the phone call from Larry! He had found my ring! Under water amidst the crowds of swimmers and boogie boarders, he found my ring! He mentioned it to the lifeguards and they remembered me and my family and told him he may know whose ring it is. I described it to him and I couldn’t believe it! Dave, you and Larry and the rest of your club that enjoy searching and reuniting people with such sentimental objects such as wedding bands are beyond a shadow of a doubt some of the classiest guys I have ever had the privilege to know. Thank you for all that you have done! Thank you from my wife as well. Meeting you guys on that same beach was quite poetic and a real pleasure! I will NEVER forget what you guys have done for me! You’re going on the Christmas card list, but I’ll bury yours on the beach somewhere around Thanksgiving and give you another « heads up »!! Just kidding, ha-ha! Thanks again for everything Guys!!

Sincerely,

Jeffrey W. Richardson

Audubon, PA

My parents took my 2 kids away to Canada for a long weekend. It just so happened to be my weekend off, so me & the Mrs. headed for Ocean City NJ. We found a nice place to stay Fri & Sat nite, 1 block from the beach. So we headed down early Fri morning. Stopped at Atlantic City on the way down to catch the Titanic Exhibit. Wow some really nice jewelry there. Sure wish I could find something like that.

The life guards leave OC beaches at 5pm on Fridays, so guess who was on the beach at 501pm. I took my XLT because low tide was earlier in the day, so I decided just to do the dry sand for now. No sooner did I step on the sand and turn on my XLT, I was approached by a crying 12 y/o girl. She asked me if I had found anything today. I explained that I just got here, and asked here what she lost. She explained that she lost a silver chain and a charm of St. Mary. I asked her if she had an idea of where it might be. She said yes. She had taken it off and put it on her towel, so she wouldn’t lose it in the water. Well she forgot that she did this and when it was time to leave she lifted her towel and shook all the sand of it. Oooopppppps.

I followed her to the spot. Searching in the sand were her mom, dad, sister and friends. I started to work a grid pattern. Boy the people who visit NJ beaches are SLOBS!! I found a ton of trash and 12 cents. We started to draw a crowd. After about 30 minutes the family thought I would never find it. They were going to leave the beach. I told the dad to give me the address of the place they were staying and leave a phone number. I told them I was only going to be there for 2 nights, they were leaving the next day. He did so, but I could see it in all their faces, they thought they would never see me or the necklace again. He offered me $5 for searching. I declined.

After they left I enlarged the search area. About 10 minutes after they left, guess what I found!!! If St. Mary wasn’t attached, I would have never found this chain. It was so thin!! Well I ran over to my wife and showed her. We left the beach, got changed and went to the boardwalk to make the phone call to meet up with the family. Darn, no-one home just and answering machine. I left my pager number.

The Mrs. & me were starving, so we decided to head to Mack’s & Manco Pizza on the boardwalk. Just as we were entering the building, I was approached by a man. He wanted to thank me for searching for the chain, it was the dad. I could only recognize him by his shirt. I said, we just called & left a message, as I pulled out the chain from my wallet. Well the girl was ready to cry again. Everybody was happy. They couldn’t believe I found it. We traded names, and phone numbers. I told them I might do a small article for one of the hobby magazines. We took a few pictures. The chain was from the girls 1st Holy Communion. She won’t be wearing it to the beach again!! Boy never had such a good feeling. This was my 1st returned item!!!

Yard Work!

Hi Dave,

I wanted to send a note to thank you again for coming out to find my wedding ring.  It is a horrible feeling loosing something that means so much to you.  On the other hand it was an incredibly joyous moment when you found my ring.  It was definitely a priceless moment!  If I ever lose my ring again or know of someone who does I will know who to call.  Take care and keep up the great work!

Thank You,

Joe Piotti

A Night At The Ball Game

Dave,

You must be an angel.  An angel with a mean metal detector, that is.  I lost my wedding ring at a local spring baseball game.  We searched several times and could not find it.  My husband told me don’t worry about it so much, but I was devastated.  During a frantic internet search, I found the Metal Detecting Man website and shot you an e-mail.  We met at the baseball field where I’d lost the ring.  My heart dropped when I saw you walk in to the parking lot from the field in less than an hour.  I thought, well, that’s it, he thinks it’s hopeless.  I said, « No luck, eh?  That’s OK, I am really grateful that you’re doing this. »   I just hoped whoever found the ring was using it for good purposes (paying bills, etc.) or it was helping to keep a very lucky bunch of baby robins warm and safe this summer.

« Well, there was a lot of junk on that field, » you said, as you opened your hand to reveal my wedding ring.

And that, my friends, is when I hugged a total stranger several times and cried for joy.

Because of your generosity to help a stranger on your day off, I am wearing my wedding ring again.  I think I will weld it to my finger.  Even if you hadn’t found it, the world is a better place with you in it.  I hope I can « pay it forward » to others in some way.  You asked for nothing, but I insisted you accept the meager contents of my wallet that day.  It is truly priceless what you’ve done.

I’m attaching a picture of the found wedding ring for your website.  Thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Elizabeth
Burlington County, NJ

Back Yard Tanning

Dear Dave,

I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you helped me to find my wedding ring in my back yard. I never dreamed that after 3 and a half years, I would ever see it again. The fact that you came back all this way with your friend a second time and didn’t give up was wonderful and your persistence definitely paid off. I just want to thank you so much for helping me because without you, I know that I never would have found it. You have made me very happy and I will absolutely recommend you to anyone I know who ever loses jewelry. Thank you and your friend again so much!!

Kathy Moncelsi

On The Way To Cape May

Dear Dave,

Thank You so very very much ! 🙂 « You » are « The Man » !! Without your kindness and understanding, as well as, your thoughtfulness, caring and love of metal detecting that ring would have been history! 🙁 I wrote a little blurb in the Capemaytimes.com « forum » webpage section under vacation tips requesting any help finding that ring before I found you. That area of the beach was probably not very « used » since I left from my vacation. It is a bit away from the concession stands and such. No one to date has answered that « help » request. Maybe, someone nearby read it and went to hunt for the ring but came up empty. Luckily for us, you didn’t! When you told me you were going to search for the ring, I broke down and told my girlfriend (Beth) since she was still quite upset about it. It gave her hope and the knowledge that I wasn’t going to give up on finding it somehow. Besides, there’s no way I could really wait until Christmas to return it to her. I would have no problem driving to your house or somewhere nearby if you would feel more comfortable that way to pick up the ring. I don’t want to take any chances losing it once again (mailing it/etc.); besides, I want to thank you in person. After all, you went out of your way, spent time, money on gas etc. You are a lifesaver! I would « really » like to get it Saturday if at all possible. I work 2nd shift so I wouldn’t be able to be up, awake and ready to drive there until 11a.m. at the earliest. I look forward so much from hearing from you I hope I can sleep some tonight! I best go and leave a message for Beth ! Thank you again, Dave.

Sincerely,

Jack

Dear Dave,

Beth and I figured that the money was a fair days pay for a job « well done »; although, we wish we could have done more for you. We’re happy you’re pleased with it.

Although you didn’t see Beth cry when you returned her ring, she did on the way home. She is very thankful she has it back. Thanks again for all you did. There’s not many people in this world that would have taken the time nor the trip to search for a ring that a stranger from the Internet lost.

Most sincerely,

Jack

ps: although you were « The Man » for finding her ring …. »I » reaped the benefits! 😉

Wedding Party

July 30, 2010

I woke up to a desperate email. A couple in Cape May lost an expensive engagement ring. We sent a few emails back and forth. I couldn’t get there until 5:30pm. Joe manned the post not allowing anyone near the suspected spot where the ring could be.

He was there from 2am till 5:30pm. My son and I arrived around 5:30pm. 3 ladies, who were not related but heard the story, stated they have been praying to St. Anthony all day. They said St. Anthony will help us find the ring. They were asking me how good is my recovery rate. My answer was pretty good.

I did advise Joe that a lot of the time the lost object is nowhere near where you think it is. I said lets get started. He took me to the spot. I turned on my Minelab Explorer made a couple of swings and had the very nice low tone of platinum. I had the ring in my scoop in less than 30 seconds. And what a beautiful ring it was. Joe was amazed. He said he was ready to cry.

Joe phoned his fiancée and told her the news. She was at a wedding rehearsal dinner. She came running onto the beach. Joe placed the ring back on her finger. Hugs and pictures were in order.

Another happy couple.