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Custom Made Gold Diamond Ring Lost In The Eliot, Maine Grass, Found With A Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)

On Saturday evening at just after 5:00pm, I received the following text message.

“Hello I lost a gold ring at my family party today. We’ve been looking in her yard for hours and can’t find it. We are in Eliot, Maine. Do you know if you can come this far south to help me find it.”

I immediately called back and was told that his name is Dustin. Dustin was at a family gathering of his parents, Aunts, Uncle’s, Cousins, etc.. Dustin had recently had Achilles Tendon Surgery and wasn’t able to do much, as far as walking far distances or running. There was a tent set up in the back yard and Dustin was sitting at the table, under the tent. Lobster was being served and Dustin removed gold ring, with a single diamond in it. He didn’t want to get the lobster, butter and juices, all over his new ring, of one month. Dustin took the ring off and put it in the pocket of his khaki shorts, along with his keys. Dustin had some gold necklaces melted down and had the gold ring with the diamond, custom made, for himself. He said he had it made with Jyotish Astrology, in mind, something that Dustin has an interest in.

Once the meal was over, Dustin and his cousins played some football. Since Dustin couldn’t run or move around much, he was the so called “Designated Quarterback”. He could just throw the ball to his cousins, while just standing there. Once the game was over, Dustin started walking to his car and reached into his pocket for his ring and car keys. He pulled his keys out, but his new ring was missing. The entire family started searching for the ring. The area was small, since Dustin had only been at the table, under the tent set, when he took the ring off, and the to the area where he stood to throw the football. An area of approximately 25’ X 60’ and the path he took as he walked towards the driveway, where he was parked. That’s the entire area and yet, the ring wasn’t found. That is when Dustin called me. I told Dustin that I was also at a dinner and that by the time I got my equipment and drove to Eliot, it wouldn’t give me much time to search, before it got dark. I asked if I could come and search, first thing in the morning, at 8.00am. Since the ring was on private property, no one else would be finding the ring. Dustin agreed and was happy to know that I would be able to help.

Cheryl and I left our home, in Saco, Maine at 7:00am and arrived at the search area at 8:00am. Dustin was there to greet us and show us the area, where he thinks the ring was hiding in the grass. I must admit, the grass was nice and thick, almost like a carpet. This grass could absolutely hide a ring. Dustin really thought the ring would be in the area, he took the ring off, and where he was sitting, under the tent. If not there, it would be in the area where he was throwing the football, just 25’ to 30’ away. I told Dustin that I would grid search the entire area, he had been in, yesterday. I would start in the area of the tent and the table. I would then work my way towards the area he had stood, throwing the football. I should be able to search the entire 25’ to 60’, in less than an hour. As I worked my way across the lawn, I wasn’t getting many non ferrous targets but when I did, I checked the thick grass with my pinpointer. Unfortunately the ring wasn’t found after approximately 45 minutes of searching. I then asked Dustin what path he took towards his vehicle and where was he when he took the keys out of his pocket. Dustin couldn’t remember the exact area but it was either along the wall of where the ten was or just another 5’ or 10’ to the right of that. I searched that area and came up empty again. Since I only had another 10 feet or so, to a large bush, I decided to grid search, over to the bush. As I kept going, I wasn’t getting many almost to the bush when Dusting said he never went that far over, towards the bush. I told Dustin that I just wanted to finish the area, so I would remember what has and hasn’t been searched. Just another minute or so and only one more grid line, from the bush, I received a very loud signal, showing 67 to 69 on my VDI screen. The VDI was also showing the target was on or very near the top of the soil. As I looked down, in the thick grass, I didn’t see the target. I reached into the thick grass and started pushing the grass away. I then saw a gold ring. I had finally found it. I then asked Cheryl to come over and bring the paper towel, so I could wipe away the sweat, from my face. It was just a ploy, to tell her I had found the ring. I asked her to start filming a video, when I asked Dustin to come over to me and answer some questions. When Dustin arrived to where I was , I asked him a question and as he answered, I reached down into the grass, picked the ring up and said, “I got it”, holding the ring up so Dustin could see it. I saw his smile break out and he said “Oh dude, thank you so much , man oh man” as he pumped his fists, high 5’d me and gave me a hug. Dustin was very happy to have his ring back. He couldn’t believe I found it so close to the bush. He said he was never that close to the bush. I told him that we always find rings where people don’t think we would find them. Possibly Dustin did go that far over and just doesn’t remember. We will never know. I do know that this ring was really hidden in the thick grass. It never would have been found, visually. Thankfully, my metal detector is my eyes 👀 and it may have taken an hour, but it was finally located. If I don’t find the lost item, in an area, I will just keep expanding the area. Everyone knew it was there, it was just a matter of getting my coil over it.
Once again, a successful recovery and a smiling client. I love helping others out, like Dustin, in their time of need. It’s just the best feeling in the world to see those smiles, when I hand over their very precious, sentimental item back to them. It the best job in the world ❤️🙏

Lost ring in creek in southern France

Had a great time today as a member of TheRingfinders.com. I was asked to find a lost man’s ring in a small Creek in a remote area. After about an hour, with hopes dimming, I was finally able to return to an unsuspecting man in front of a great wife and friends. Of course, I couldn’t help a little pranking during the returned of this great ring purchased by his wife.

 

Saint Christopher’s Medal Lost in the Ocean, Found and Returned Holden Beach NC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

On 7/20/25 around 9 pm, I was enroute to finish up a prior ring search when I received a text from Christine. Her text read, “Hi Jim. My husband lost a St Christopher necklace today at Holden beach while swimming about 10 feet from shore. It was his father’s necklace who passed away last summer – and had an inscription from his mother to his father on the back. The necklace itself isn’t worth much of anything, but the sentimental value is priceless. Is this something you might be able to help with? I’m not even sure of the chances of finding it, but we are Desperate. Christine” I immediately called her and told her I was on another search but could come up after that. I told her it might be late and asked her what’s too late for them. She didn’t have a problem with it being too late.

I was able to finish off the previous ring search successfully and pretty quick and called Christine. I asked her for her address and plugged it into my GPS. I told her I could be there at 11:11 pm and she was good with that. After the almost 2-hour drive, I arrived at their rental and met both Christine and her husband Brent in the driveway. On the way out to the beach in the pitch blackness of night, I was told the back story of the St Christopher medal. Brent’s mother, Roberta had given the medal to Brent’s father, Mark roughly 50 years ago when he took the Bar Exam and Mark had worn it since. Mark had passed away last summer, and Roberta gave the medal to Brent who’s worn it since. Brent was out enjoying vacation, doing a little body surfing when a wave took the necklace right off his neck. Brent, Roberta and Christine   had been devastated all day. I think Christine made it her mission to find a way to get it back. I had Brent give me an east and west boundary line and started on the east side. Hearing about what time this happened, which was about high tide, and looking at the current situation which was right at low tide I thought we had a good chance of finding it. This area had a high sloop so I was thinking the medal would be just about in the middle of the slope and out of the water. Brent thought I needed to go out deeper where the surf was braking on the sand bar, which in the dark at 11 pm wasn’t going to happen. I was going from just off the top of the sloop out to about thigh deep. The tide was coming in pretty quick, and thigh deep was getting more like waist deep. I was just about halfway across the search area when I hit a solid 30 on the detector’s VDI (visual display indicator). The medal was Sterling Silver which would hit upper 20s to lower 30s. I knew I had Brent’s St Christopher’s medal. I carefully dug out the target so I wouldn’t mess up the chain. Had the target on the beach, spread the sand and St Christopher was looking up at me. There was no chain attached nor was it still in the sand. I picked up the medal, and walked over to Brent, cleaning the sand off it. Christine had gone back to the rental, so it was just me and Brent. When I got to Brent, I held out my open hand so he could see it. He was overcome with every emotion. He hugged me so tight and lifted me off the ground. About that time Christine had made her way back and got the word and she got very excited. Next, we had to let his mom know. As we’re walking back to the house, his mom was on the back porch of the rental, I’m not sure if she’d been there the whole time but when she heard the news, I’m sure happy tears flowed. It’s such a great feeling for me when I can help make these kinds of things happen.

Roberta, Brent, and Christine – Thank you so much for trusting me to help find your truly lost treasure.

Jim

 

 

4 Yellow Gold Rings Lost at High Tide – Found and Returned Murrell’s Inlet SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

On 7/20/25, just before 4:30 pm, I received a call from Michele asking if I could help find her 4 rings she had lost. She stated that she had taken the rings off to put on suntan lotion and put them in her beach chair seat. She had forgotten about the rings until she went up to her room, ate some lunch, took a shower and then realized she didn’t have her rings. Her and her husband, Kraig went back down to the beach, where they had been sitting. By then, the tide had come up and water was covering the area where they sat.  During our conversation, she told me this happened about an hour prior. Looking at the tide tables, this all happened about an hour before high tide. I told her that we could meet at 7:30 pm, which would be 2 hours after high tide. After we hung up, I got to thinking that 2 hours may be too long. I called her back and set up a meet time of 6:30 pm, she agreed.

It took me about 40 minutes to get to her condo, and I text her saying, “I‘m here” after I found a place to park.  As I’m walking across the parking lot, I heard my name and I got to meet Michele and her husband Kraig, As we’re walking out to the beach, Michele explained what I was looking for. She told me that 1 ring was her grandmother’s wedding band that she wore for more than 50 years. Her grandmother gave it to her when she and Craig got married 38 years ago – priceless! The 2nd ring was her mother’s mother’s ring – again priceless. The 3rd ring was her own mother’s ring, and the 4th was the engagement ring Kraig had given her many years ago. All 4 rings had significant sentimental value and importance to Michele. Michele and Kraig pointed out the area they thought they were in. They were close to each other but far enough apart, so I started a north/south grid line. Probably on my 4th line, I got a signal, but it wasn’t much to go on. All 4 rings were Yellow Gold, so I knew I’d be looking for numbers on the detector in the 13-16 range. I kept running the coil over the area to get something clear and finally dug a scoop of sand. The signals were a little better but still not clear enough to give me a good feeling. I dug a couple more scoops out of the hole and dumped the sand on the beach. Ran the coil over the area and got a solid 16 signal. Found the ring in the pile of sand and held it up for Michele to see – Bingo, grandma’s ring is in Michele’s hand. Took another scoop or two and Michele’s mother’s mother’s ring was now in hand. Two down, two to go! Another couple of scoops out of what is now about a 15–18-inch hole and got Michele’s engagement ring. After about 30 minutes of pulling out more sand, spreading the sand around on the beach, running the coil over the sand and all 3 of us trying to eyeball the ring, I just couldn’t find it. I asked Michele if she had had the ring sized and if the solder could have come apart making the ring not a whole ring. She told me that the ring is unique in that the top of the ring comes to a fork on both sides and the stones set on top of the forks. So, the top part of the ring does not connect to the other side. Now it’s time to come up with a plan B. I told Michele and Kraig I was going home to get a different detector and would be back in an hour and a half. I decided to get my White’s PI, a great machine but it’s heavy and does not discriminate. So basically, the machine sounds off on any metal under the coil. Before I left, I paced off and had a landmark to get me back on the spot.

When I got back, I text Michele and went to work to find my mark. I turned my PI on and waved the coil over the filled in hole and got a faint signal. Ok, this is working. I kept taking scoops of sand out and the signal got louder. After 4 or 5 scoops, the target was on the beach. By now it was dark, so I turned my headlamp on and started looking through the sand. Boom, I saw gold and pulled Michele’s mother’s ring out. I started walking up to the condo so I could get a decent picture and got to the door about the same time Michele. She was speechless; all 4 priceless and irreplaceable rings are back where they belong.

Michele – Thank you for allowing me to help you get all your rings back safe and sound!

Jim

 

Trying not to lose it, but lost it anyway. But then it was found.

  • from Mount Pleasant (Michigan, United States)

This guy called me about a ring that his Grandmother had made for him that included ruby’s from his Grandfather’s ring. He put his shirt on a picnic table and laid the ring on the shirt in an attempt not to lose it. He forgot that the ring was on the shirt and when he picked it up, the ring went flying. When I got out to the river to meet with him he pointed me in the right direction. After about 5 minutes I got a 19 on my equinox 800 and when I shook out my scoop, I saw the ring.

Heirloom wedding ring lost in Lake Michigan

  • from Manistee (Michigan, United States)
Contact:

I was contacted Sunday evening, July 20, by Sonny B. about a lost wedding ring. « my grandparents were married on May 31st, 1943. My grandfather passed away in January of 2011 and my grandmother in November of 2016. She gave my grandfathers ring to me in 2016 for my wedding on June 11th, 2016. Another cool fact is today, the day we found the ring, is my Grandmothers Birthday. You can’t make that up. Thank you so much! »

Sonny was on a boat and when he got off going to shore he caught a football from a friend in about ankle deep water. Just as he caught the ball he felt his wedding ring fall off. The ring was immediately swallowed up by the waves and fresh beach sand. As an IT tech he had the smarts to search the internet and coming across the Ringfinders.com. he gave me a call. After his call we agreed to meet at his family’s cottage on Portage Lake in Onekama MI. The following morning we parked our cars and took a long walk on the Pier leading out to Lake Michigan and another long walk to a friends private beach. Once in the water I was directed to an approximate area where the ring fell off his finger. I started my search about 10 feet to the left of where Sonny was standing and detected the water line. When I got in front of him in ankle deep water I got a good gold hit on my CZ21, got a scoop full of sand and as it filtered through scoop the ring appeared. Sonny lifted it out of the scoop in amazement and couldn’t stop thanking me as he talked about how much the ring meant to him and his wife. After some pictures were taken and more thank you’s, we walked back to our cars and said our good byes. This helping people in their dark hours never gets old.

 

Lost TINY Diamond and Gold pendant found in Annapolis, Maryland!

  • from Baltimore (Maryland, United States)
Contact:

I was contacted today by Lauren who informed me that she lost a pendant from her necklace while in her barn preparing food for her livestock. She mentioned it was quite small and that it was most likely somewhere in the hay on the barn floor. She went on to say it was just lost that morning and that after searching for a while in the hay she realized that it was going to be near impossible to find it without professional help.

We made plans to meet in the afternoon. Upon arriving, Lauren took me down to the barn and led me to the specific area that she felt it should be.  Luckily the area was small and fairly undisturbed other than the searching that she did earlier. I immediately got to work and after getting a few false signals, I got a hit and…………….. …………BOOM! Can you see it in the picture?

I know Lauren told me it was small, but wow………………….this was by far the smallest recovery I’ve made in 20+ years!

Lauren ventured by up to the house prior, so I texted her to come back down to the barn. The joy and relief I saw on her face I will never forget. It was plain to see how much this tiny little cross meant to her! I’m happy to say it is back where it belongs!

Gold Wedding Band Found and Returned in Smithfield, VA

  • from Virginia Beach (Virginia, United States)

Another lost gold ring in the water! This ring was lost while the couple was training their dog at the waters edge. The ring came off while lifting the dog in and out of the water. The dog did fine but the ring did not! The husband ended up in the dog house while the dog roamed free! In the end we got him out of the dog house and  put the dog back in! Smiles all around!

 

Another Heirloom Ring Lost & Found On The Shores of Lake Michigan

  • from Grand Haven (Michigan, United States)

I received a text from Sam on a Monday afternoon because his girlfriend had lost a ring the Saturday before that he had given her 6 or 7 years before while they were in college.  The ring had been his grandmother’s and he was hoping I could help.  I was at work then and couldn’t help until the next day but, knowing the state parks groom the beaches every morning, I suggested he contact one of the other Ring Finders who could get there right away.  He had already waited a couple days before contacting me so he had pretty much resigned himself to the fact that it was probably lost forever.  With just a photo he had sent me to approximate where they were on the beach I tried the following Friday to search for the ring.  After about 20 minutes I was surprised to see a gold ring with a beautiful green peridot in my scoop.

2 Rings Lost, Wedding Band and Engagement Ring, in the Sand, Found and Returned Garden City SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

On 7/20/25 just before 11:30 am, I got a text message saying, “Hi Jim, my name is Eric. My family is staying in Garden City beach and I am reaching out to you for help because I lost my wife’s engagement ring and wedding band on the beach this morning. Please let me know if you are able to help. « I called the number attached to the text and talked to Eric. I found out the rings were lost in the dry sand and told him I’d be there in about an hour. I also ask him to text me the address. Once I plugged the address in the GPS, I text him letting him know I was on my way with my ETA.

When I arrived, it took me a few minutes to park and then make my way out to the beach. Eric saw me and waved, so I made my way over to their spot. Eric explained that his wife had taken her rings off and put them on top of a bag. Eric moved the bag, along with some other items and the rings disappeared into the sand. He told me both rings were yellow gold. So I turned my detector on and knew I was looking for numbers on the detector in the 11 to 13 range. I checked where the bags were originally and its final resting place with no luck. I moved a couple of chairs under their umbrella and swung the coil. The first signal I got was an 11, so I knew I had the wedding band. I reached a little farther under the umbrella and got a 13, the engagement ring. I took a scoop of sand for the wedding band and then scooped up the engagement ring. I gently shook out the scoop and both rings were in the bottom of the scoop. Unfortunately, Eric’s wife, Liz was up in the room taking care of their 1 ½ year old. Day 1 of their vacation came to a happy ending.

Eric – Thank you so much for contacting me to help find your wife’s lost rings.

Jim