Uncategorized Category | Page 518 of 599 | The Ring Finders

There is nothing more I can add, except for my thanks for getting me involved with your misfortune.
Rick Browne

Testimonial and picture attached
Thanks so much again Rick for everything

On July 18, 2016 after I climbed into bed, my wife turned to me with tears in her eyes and said « I lost my parents wedding ring today. »  Her parents had been married with that ring almost exactly 50 years ago in 1966 and we had gotten married with the same ring 15 years ago in 2001. This ring had a tremendous amount of sentimental value to my wife as her beloved mom had passed away 20 years ago. Needless to say she was devastated.  My wife and children and I had been at the beach on Nantucket and she was playing in the water with our youngest child. I knew within a relatively small area where it must have happened, the water was shallow, and that beach only has small waves. But how could I find it under the water buried in the sand? I started researching waterproof metal detectors online but soon came to realize that the real and right equipment for the job cost a fortune, there was no guarantee I could find the ring anyway, and I really didn’t know what I was doing. Plus, even if I ordered the right equipment and had it sent overnight, I would still lose a day significantly reducing my chances of finding it.  I started looking to see if I could rent the equipment locally or if there was a someone I could find to hunt for the ring for me.  Fortunately in my search I happened upon Ringfinders.com, a directory of treasure hunters willing to help people search for lost valuables on land or in water. I saw that a highly experienced detector and treasure hunter named Richard Browne lived on Cape Cod, and I sent him an email that same night and told him what had happened.  He called me first thing the next morning and said that he would be willing to come to Nantucket and give it a shot.  I sent him a ferry ticket and then picked him up at the ferry terminal early that afternoon the 19th.  We headed to the beach and we mapped out a search grid which was tougher than I thought it would be because the tide was lower than it it had been.  This made it more difficult to judge where exactly in the water my wife had been. Then Rick went to work searching the grid. Vertically, horizontal, and finally diagonally. Every time he stopped we would hold our breaths but after 2 hours all he had found was 12 cents and a used CO2 cartridge.  Given he had covered our grid pretty exhaustively by that point, my wife and I began to lose hope.  Just then he stopped again, and I said to myself, that’s exactly where it should be.  He turned around and looked at my wife and she ran down to the water. He asked he what the ring looked like and when she looked in his scoop there it was, her parents ring. Success!!!! My wife was overcome with emotion.  We all went back to our house and had a celebratory drink with Rick on our deck as we watched an incredible sunset.  A little while later we dropped Rick back off at the ferry and he headed back to the Cape. Nobody we tell this story to can believe it. We went from despair to the top of the world thanks to our hero Rick Browne and to TheRingfinders.com.  

Jon J- 

Tom Caldie was helping a friend with an art gallery near Fish Creek in Door County, Wisconsin when he received a call from a Milwaukee resident who had been visiting over the weekend.    She brought her two young sons swimming for their first time in a lake, and the experience was saddened by the loss of her 14k diamond engagement ring.   Even though the family purchased a metal detector, their inexperience and lack of a water scoop meant the ring was probably lost for good.

A Google search brought up Tom’s name, and Ringfinders came to the rescue.  By coincidence, Tom was only minutes away from the beach where it was lost, and quickly started a grid search as soon as the gallery was closed for the day. After a few hours of sweeping the area, and a phone call  to the owner to pin-point the probable location, this beautiful diamond ring and its memories were finally  recovered.    It was shipped overnight to Milwaukee and back on her finger in no time.

Not much later, on July 4th, Tom received a call from a man who had lost his palladium art carved wedding band near Sturgeon Bay.    After a joint effort involving scooping and moving several large rocks and gravel,  the ring was found.   Another happy ending!   I don’t have a pic of that one because of a phone glitch, but the memories and feelings that went with it will always be unforgettable. 

On June 15th, Tom Caldie received a call from a homeowner in Appleton, Wisconsin, who had been burglarized.    The alleged thief was spotted running out the back door with a laundry bag over his shoulder.  He burst through a hedge, scurried down a retaining wall, and darted downhill through a neighbor’s heavily wooded lot to the Fox River.   911 was called and the police arrived shortly to find a man attempting escape by swimming across the river.   He refused to come to shore, and a police boat was launched to apprehend him.  No trace of the loot was evident because he had stashed it with the hope of recovering it later, and he would not reveal its location.

That night, two young men from the neighborhood found bracelets and necklaces in shallow water along the shore by shining lights into the river, but not much was recovered.   A few days later, the homeowner found Tom Caldie’s Ringfinder information through a Google search and called him.  She couldn’t believe such a service existed, especially in water.  Tom packed his wet suit, Garrett AT Pro, and Titanic water scoop and arrived at the site within an hour.    He followed the burglar’s track precisely, detecting under plants and brush, and found a few pieces of jewelry on the hillside leading down to the water.   Once in the river, he discovered a trail leading downstream of pearl necklaces and bracelets,  and some silver turquoise pieces.  They were mixed with weeds, between rocks, and in the muddy river bottom.  A   Then, a sudden tornado-like squall arrived with lightning, heavy rain, and high winds, and the search was cut short.

The next day, the river was only four inches higher because of the storm, and the water, which is normally a root beer color, was muddy, so Tom brought a compost rake to move debris.  Resuming his sweep, he followed the trail of dropped pieces to a loud signal submerged three feet under the surface and tangled under a large fallen willow tree.  Reaching in with the rake, he found laundry!   The third pair of shorts had two gold chains on it, so he knew he  was close.  Then, the rake pulled out a large purse with an assortment of necklaces and earrings in it, and some appeared to be gold.   A few more tries and the laundry bag was recovered as well, with watches, necklaces, and more clothes mixed in.  (Later, the police estimated the theft at $40,000.)

After cleaning up more loose pieces off the river bottom, Tom brought the two bags to the homeowner, who was ecstatic to recover her platinum engagement band, wedding band, and ten-year anniversary rings!   She was quite happy to retrieve the other items as well, but those three rings brought tears and smiles.   It would have been a shame if they would have been lost forever on the muddy river bottom.

Jasmine H. from Okemos, Mi. lost her wedding ring (3 rings soldered together) about a month ago.  Driving down the road, she tossed a cigarette out the car window and the ring went with it.  Since it was at night, she searched the road with a light but came up empty handed.  After over 20 years of marriage she and her husband replaced the ring with a new one, assuming the original was gone forever.  In one last chance she searched Facebook and found the RingFinders site and called Gregg Larabel who is registered for the Lansing area.

Today, Gregg and I met Jasmine at 10:00AM in the area where she lost her ring.  The sides of this rural, two-lane road had been mowed recently which concerned us initially, but it turned out the short grass made hunting for her ring a lot easier.  After about an hour of searching I got the signal of her ring about 5 ft. off the blacktop under some sand and pebbles.  We called Jasmine over and had her check in the sand right at that spot.  She was overcome with emotion when she uncovered her ring.  After a month of being lost and being run over by mowers, the ring had come thru with no damage.  With hugs and high fives it was a sight to be seen.  And you wonder why we love this job!