Lost Gold Hawaiian Heirloom Bracelet at Aulani Disney Resort…FOUND!!!
This Bracelet find begn this morning at 5:45 AM while eating my breakfast when the phone rang. I thought for sure it was going to be one of the recent prank calls that have been plaguing the island. But on the other end was Elizabeth from Makakilo on Oahu who was calling on her granddaughter Lexcy’s behalf. The previous day while doing back flips off a paddleboard in the lagoon the heirloom gold Hawaiian bracelet Elizabeth had given to her came off in 4 feet of water and disappeared. The high surf on the west side was making the water in the lagoon so turbulent and murky you couldn’t see the bottom even in shallow water. After a few futile attempts snorkeling to find the bracelet they contacted a relative that works at the resort and she put them in contact with Aloha Security who gave them my number for recovery. My fear was that at low tide the water would clear up enough for someone to spot the bracelet and then not return it. I decided to go that afternoon. Lexcy sent me a description and a few pictures of the location. 10 feet on either side of the rope line and 30 feet out. When I arrived the tide was high and the water was rolling way up onto the beach and I was getting pushed about pretty well. I did the entire area with only finding a single cent. I stood on the shore and watched the water roll in and noticed it was pushing hard to the right. I decided to try woking 30 feet to the right then through the original grid. When I got out to neck deep water I got a gnarly sound in the Excal and it really sounded strange. There were a few sweeps of the coil that were solid then the gnarly sound would return. I started scooping in the sightless water. Missed the target. Missed again and again and again. This was getting frustrating. Finally after about the 20th try I put my foot in front and pushed the target into my scoop. Up it came and as the scoop broke the surface of the water there was a gorgeous Gold Hawaiian Bracelet inside. Whoa! No wonder, the bracelet was nearly the circumference of my scoop. I immediately went ashore cleaned up then called Elizabeth. I asked her if the word « KUULEI » mean’t anything to her? You found it? That was her name in Hawaiian. I could hear her sobbing and it was joyful. We decided to meet at a nearby McDonald’s parking lot where I was able to give the bracelet back to Lexcy. There were a few hugs all around and many praises of thanks. These are the moments we enjoy the most about this wonderful hobby. Aloha to Lexcy & Grandma Elizabeth!
Elizabeth wrote « My husband and I were snorkeling in a crystal clear spring, when my husband decided to swim down deep to check out a small cave looking space. While he was coming back up to get air, he pushed off a rock and his wedding ring slipped right off his finger. Panic mode took full force! After several hours of searching for the ring, we thought the ring was gone forever. And by the time you swam to the bottom (at least 15 feet) you had only seconds to search due to the limited air. The ring meant allot to us and it was very hard to accept the fact that it was gone.
Sunday evening Morgan was on her back porch and threw a ball out the door and into the yard for her dog to fetch. But not all dogs have learned the fine art of fetch and retrieve. As is the case with Morgan’s dog! So Morgan and her young son ran out to help demonstrate the skill of fetching a ball when thrown. They played with the dog for awhile in the yard and then retreated inside to the cool air conditioning. An hour or so passed before Morgan noticed that her diamond engagement ring and her wedding ring were not on her finger, where she has worn them for the last 7 years! A bit of panic set in and she began thinking of where they could be and remembered throwing the ball for her dog and being as she throws with her left hand, it made sense that her rings could very easily have slipped off at that time. And sure enough there in the yard, close to where the ball had landed, she found her diamond engagement ring in the grass. So she continued looking for her wedding ring but could not seem to find it. As she contemplated what to do next, Morgan thought about buying or renting a metal detector and decided to purchase a cheap detector at the local sporting goods store. On her way to the store she remembered seeing theringfinders.com web site and thought of giving me a call to see if I could help her. I assured Morgan that there was a very good chance of finding her lost wedding ring and we made arrangements to meet the next day. It was interesting that Morgan thought she had not thrown the ball very hard, maybe 10 to 15 feet, as the ball only landed a short distance from the back door and her diamond engagement ring was found very close. So I searched high and low, in the bushes, under the bushes and rechecked all signals carefully to be sure a large deep signal was not masking her ring…but I could not find it! An hour passed and Morgan’s husband came out to see how I was progressing and he offered to trim two sago palms that were at least 30 feet from the back door. It was an excellent idea, because there at the base of the first prickly sago plant, down in the leaves was Morgan’s beautiful lost wedding ring! It was a tear jerking moment for all of us when we showed Morgan her ring and even her little son kept saying, « Mommy is crying! » And we all assured him those were tears of JOY! Lost your ring? Call, text or e-mail ASAP! Mike McInroe…proud to be a member of The Ring Finders!