Uncategorized Category | Page 522 of 586 | The Ring Finders

Lost Engagement Ring Found! – Menomonee Falls, WI

  • from Menomonee Falls (Wisconsin, United States)

IMG_1249 (2) A glorious fall day in South East Wisconsin was robbed of its joys for Krystal and Chris Schlegel when Krystal’s 1-karat solitaire diamond engagement ring vanished into a thick leafy carpet in the couple’s backyard. Renting a metal detector only turned their hopes to greater despair when all it yielded was a cacophony of squawks and screeches regardless where they searched—the ground was full of ferrous metal debris! That is when they discovered The Ring Finders website and learned of my metal-detecting services right in their hometown of Menomonee Falls, WI. An email and a phone call was all it took to make the arrangements.

I met up with Krystal on the afternoon of November 10th. She showed me the area where they believed the ring went missing. About an hour’s search using my XP Deus detector with its unique, all-wireless technology, was all it took to locate the ring’s hiding place amidst the rusty rubble. The smile on Krystal’s face was, well, her picture speaks for itself. So glad I was able to help you find your ring, Krystal! May its story continue for many happy years to come. IMG_1251 (2)

Milton Wedding Ring Found after Wasp Adventure

  • from Toronto (Ontario, Canada)

The second time this year I was called by a Ring Finders client to locate a lost wedding ring due to Wasps. We had lots this summer and those pesky black and yellow air bombers initiated lost rings throughout the area. While « shooing » away a wasp while relaxing in his back yard with a few buddy’s this Milton Gentleman watched his beautiful Gold and Diamond wedding ring fly off his hand and over the fence into the neighbor’s yard. After many hours with his friends on their hands and knees they gave up trying to locate the ring and decided to give me a call off of ring fnders. They were amazed when I arrived and located the ring within 45 seconds of turning on the machine. It was very funny because the first thing he said to me was « Is it okay if I hug you dude » …. LoL  I get that alot! It was a great recovery and I was more than happy to help this kind man.

Happy Milton Man with his lost Wedding Ring

Happy Milton Man with his lost Wedding Ring

Newlyweds’ Lost Wedding Ring FOUND at the Hilton Hotel, Big Island, Hawaii

brent and van - ring finding

SEE THE FIND-Movie!!! Finding Vans Ring

Van and Ellie called us with bad news and good news.

The bad news was that Van had been swimming in the Hilton hotel’s lagoon in Waikoloa and lost his new wedding ring! He’d put sunscreen on and within minutes of getting in, felt it fly off as he moved his hand through the water. The good news was that since he had felt it slip off – he’d marked the precise location, time and depth before calling us.

There were no waves in the lagoon, the deepest part of the lagoon was shoulder depth and within a controlled space (as opposed to a public one – so someone who may have seen them searching couldn’t return and keep Van’s ring if found).

We met them at the entrance to the main lobby where the hotel had also arranged security to log us in and bring us to the lagoon. We were relieved for the buggy ride as the hotel grounds are huge and we’d brought two underwater detectors as well as light scuba gear in case…

Van climbed over the rocks and went into the water with me while Sylvie gave me (and Van’s wife Ellie) moral support from the nearby shore. Sylvie didn’t get in as I thought it would be a quick find – since everything was going in our favor – it was almost an « ideal » location.

One and a half hours later, I was starting to worry… We’d gone over-and-over the square he’d marked the moment his ring was lost. I continued to expand the search at every pass. Sylvie called over, « Should I gear up and bring in the Sea Hunter? » We use the pulse induction Garrett Sea Hunter MkII with a big coil in clean sandy-bottomed areas.

« I think so… » I replied not sure how I – or my Minelab Excalibur could have missed the ring. I was getting cold  and frustrated that something seemingly so right had gone so wrong.

Just as Sylvie started walking over to get the other detector I suddenly heard the loud clear tone that tungsten makes in my headphones. « Cancel that! » I yelled over to Sylvie. Van looked up. He was holding the Go Pro and started filming. I stuck my head in the water, scooped and looked into the basket. « Does it look something like this?! » I asked, picking the ring out of the mud and stones.

Van and Ellie were so relieved to have their precious ring found!

And so were we – Phew!

van ring closeup

DCIM100GOPRO

2015-11-15 14.48.44-1

 

Lost ring in Provo, Utah: Found

I got a text late one night from a young man named Daniel. He had been playing ultimate Frisbee with some friends in Provo, and had taken his white gold wedding ring off for the game. He had put it in his coat pocket and left the coat on the sidelines. After the game, he put his coat back on and spent a few more minutes playing Frisbee. Later that night, he found that the ring was no longer in his pocket, so he searched and found me on TheRingFinders.com

He was on his way out of town, so we weren’t able to get together for a few days. I didn’t want to wait too long and risk someone else finding the ring and keeping it, so he emailed me a Google Maps image of the field with a couple of possible locations marked. I got up early the next morning and started metal detecting on the field before 4:00 am. I started early because organized football and ultimate games start at 8:00 am or so, and I didn’t want to interfere with them. Daniel’s hunch about where he may have lost the ring was a good one. I found the ring after about 45 minutes of searching.

I met him for the first time tonight when he and his wife came to my home to retrieve his ring. They were very happy to have that ring back, and I was very  happy to be able to help them!

WP_20151114_003WP_20151116_001

Lost Mercury Cougar Keys in Kapolei…..FOUND!!!

  • from O‘ahu (Hawaii, United States)

aStu2

I got a call Saturday afternoon from Stu in Kapolei concerning his Mercury Cougar keys being lost. While he was outside his girlfriend Karlel threw his keys out to him from their second floor lanai. When Stu ran back to retrieve them they were no where to be found. They searched all through the ice plant land cover and the entire area around their condo. Giving up Stu asked if I could come by and look with a metal detector. I had plans for the next day and Stu really needed his keys so I went out that evening. It was quickly getting dark so I started my search immediately. Unfortunately the search area had numerous irrigation piping, drains and sprinkler heads. My Excalibur was going crazy. I used my hand held pin-pointer and we eliminated every target in a methodical manner but no keys. Nearby was a large Hawaiian Fan Palm and when I spoke to Karlel she never heard the keys hit the ground and while talking to her Auntie Amber on the phone Auntie told her the keys weren’t on the ground. In the islands I’ve encountered a few people that seem to be gifted and have a sort of psychic power. They can sense things others can’t. So Stu got me a chair to stand on and I stuck my Excal up into the trees branches. Low and behold way up in a branch near to the trunk I got a solid target. I couldn’t reach that high so Stu climbed on a cooler then a chair and got high enough to reach onto the top of the branch and there were the keys. Auntie Amber knew the whole time those keys weren’t on the ground. I can honestly say that was my first tree metal detecting adventure. Just goes to show people can lose things anywhere. Aloha to Stu & Karlel.

Dorm Key Lost in Riverside, CA…Found.

  • from Redondo Beach (California, United States)

imagepng_0IMG_2833

I received a call from Abner about his dorm key that was lost as he was out jogging around a local park. I had a commitment that kept me from going on the day of his call, but we arranged to meet the next morning. He told me that this was his dorm key from his university (UC Riverside), and he was told that if he did not produce the key on the day I came, that the school was going to charge him an exorbitant amount of money to get him a new key because they would have to change out the lock as well. I could hear his desperation when he called, and being a student, I realized it would be difficult for him to come up with the sum the school would require of him.

I had a 73 mile drive, and the traffic was good which allowed me to arrive at our appointed time. Abner showed me the area where he knew the key was lost, as he told me he felt it leave his hand as he was running. I explained that I would search the area he showed me, and if it wasn’t found, I would begin a search « outside of the box ». As I searched, I encountered quite a bit of metallic objects, but none of them turned out to be the key. Abner then sat down, and it seemed he was getting a bit discouraged, but I figured it was time to stretch the search area. I went out about 10 to 15 feet further when I got a good hit on the detector. I pulled my pinpointer out and started to reach down, when I was able to see the key slightly covered by some grass, but on top. It was surprising that even though I knew something was there, it was almost invisible.

Well when I came up with the key, I could see the relief come over Abner’s face. He was surely happy he did not have dig into his « starving student » fund to replace it. He and I just sat down afterwards and talked a while about school and life in general, as I have a son about his age in college as well. It was nice meeting him, and being able to make his day.

If you lose your ring or other metal item of value, call as soon as possible. I will work hard to help you find what you thought might never be found again. I search,  Beverly Hills, Hermosa Beach, Huntington Beach, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, Newport Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Santa Monica, Seal Beach, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Torrance, Venice Beach, and all parks, yards, gardens, and ponds (to 5 foot depths) in all of Orange County, all of Los Angeles County, and Ventura County.

Lost Diamond Engagement Ring at Sheraton Waikiki…….FOUND!!!

  • from O‘ahu (Hawaii, United States)

aZak1

aZak6

I got a call from my fellow ring-finder Don saying that Zak & Heidi from Minnesota staying at the Sheraton Waikiki lost her White Gold & Diamonds Engagement ring in the water while floating on a cushion. They were leaving the next day and Don had to work. I had some free time so I looked at the Tide & Surf Chart and gave Heidi a call. We arranged for a low tide Thursday AM around 9:30. This hunt didn’t start off on good footing so to speak. As I was putting on my felt bottom dive booties that I like to walk in the water with I felt something unusual. Thinking some stones & sand remained in my bootie from the previous hunt I started to take it off when something bit the tip of my big toe. Ouch! A damn 5 inch centipede fell to the floor. I grabbed a razor knife from my desk and cut it in half. Both halves remained alive in my office until I returned 3 hours later. I phoned my wife and let her know in case I went into some type of allergic shock she could tell the paramedics what happened. Nothing ever came of it other then it felt like I had a piece of sharp glass stuck in the tip of my big toe.
At the Sheraton I met Zak & Heidi and they got me parked and we proceeded down to the beach. We marked off the extreme East & West points of the grid and I started my search. Zak and Heidi took turns being my seaward marker. The area was really clean except one bottle cap and three tungsten carbide rings two were Koa Wood inlaid. This wasn’t fun I was finding rings but not Heidi’s. I could see the look of despair coming over Heidi’s face. After no luck doing the entire grid ever so carefully I talked to Heidi and decided the only way to go would be a little more to the East. BINGO! On about the third leg I got the Gold ring growl tone and one scoop down was Heidi’s ring. What a beauty! I told Zak and he shouted to Heidi on the beach, « Joe found it! » Heidi was bee-lining for us crying from being emotionally drained. She gave me the biggest hug and thank you. This vacation was going to end on a high note. Aloha to Zak & Heidi!

aZaktrio
aZakcenti

Time Capsule found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Tracey contacted me about a time capsule that she and her father had buried back in 1997. Inside were various « treasures » from various members of her family, including photos and letters from loved ones now deceased. Tracey knew the approximate location and had attempted to find it a year ago, but, without a metal detector, she was just guessing as to the exact spot and came up empty. The container was supposed to be a small steel box, maybe a foot squared or so. She was uncertain as to the contents other than the photos and letters. One of the interesting parts of this is that it was buried in a remote area of a public park! No telling if it was still there or not. Parks get relandscaped from time to time or maintenance crews might accidentally dig it up or bury it further, so, this was anyone’s guess.

We hiked to the spot which turned out to be just above a drainage ditch. The ground was on a slope, very rocky, and covered in leaves, branches, and other debris from the eucalyptus trees and various trash from park goers over the years. There wasn’t any obvious sign of where it might have been buried, so, I began my search systematically from one end of the search area to the other. Not a big area, maybe 10 X 20 feet, but, LOTS of target sounds, both ferrous and non. I started with the ferrous since it was supposed to be a steel box. After a couple of promising sounds that turned out to be chucks of pipe, I couldn’t find any large targets with my E-trac/ NEL 15″ Attack coil combo. I started in on the smaller ferrous targets. Just junk iron. Next was non-ferrous with similar results at first. I finally got a low conductive signal next to a tree. It was reading 12-09 on the E-trac. That normally is a wad of foil or similar. It didn’t seem like a large target, but being next to the tree it was hard to tell for sure. I started digging…..down a foot and still there…….got out the hand digger…..poked down a bit more and hit something that sounded hollow. Hmmm, could be, or maybe just a pie tin. Kept clearing the dirt and roots away until I could find the edges of the object and got the top cleared off. Yup, looks like a metal box to me! I carefully worked my digger and my fingers around the edges of the box until I could just reach under it. Ooops, nothing left of the side of the box. My fingers just went into a cavity. Not a good sign, as this indicated to me that the box had gotten flooded and rusted out. I finally worked it out of the ground and my suspicions were correct. Even though the box had been wrapped in plastic, the bottom was almost completely gone along with most of the sides. Since the lid was in pretty good shape, I flipped the box up side down on the ground so we could carefully pick through the contents without them spilling all over the place. Most items were water damaged, but, some may clean up. The photos and letters were wrapped separately in more plastic, but, they were waterlogged as well. The photos didn’t look to good, but, the letters might clean up. Tracey has a bit of work to do in that area! With careful rinsing and drying, they might survive. Even with the damage, Tracey was very happy to find the time capsule and recover the contents. I was happy to be a part of it and thank you for the reward.

100_1379 100_1380

Lost Men’s Wedding Ring Found at Makalawena Beach, Big Island, Hawaii!

IMG_2912ring closeup

I got a phone call in the late afternoon from a woman asking if I were « that Ring Finding guy ».

« That’s me! » I replied and another lost-ring story unfolded…

Marina and Sergey had been down on the remote Makalawena Beach taking photos while on their honeymoon. The couple, visiting from Oregon, had only been on the Big Island of Hawaii for a few days.

After applying sunscreen, the two posed for fun photos, playing in the wet sand near the water. One photo Sergey had his ring on – then the next –  he didn’t! They literally showed us photos in the series on-and-off!

« My ring!, » he’d exclaimed. A heavy, tungsten ring, it had vanished without a trace in the deep sand. The group spent the rest of the afternoon digging for it to no avail.

The next morning Sylvie and I picked up Marina and Sergey and their cousin in our truck and started the long, bumpy 4×4 trail that headed down to the remote beach.

Once we’d hiked to the spot along the beach, my heart fell. Though we’d checked the tide charts, high tide was on its way in force – washing higher and higher over the spot Sergey had noticed the ring had gone missing.

Switching the detector on right away I got a target signal but digging the spot only hit lava rock below a thin layer of sand. Sylvie scanned the beach above the tide line in case the ring had been washed up there during the night’s high tide. I came back and back to that same place where I’d gotten the signal, fighting the water and waves as they got higher.

Sergey had tried digging with his hands while I showed him the place. Our long-handled scoop was useless as it was blocked by the lava rock buried beneath the sand – the water came in waves too strong and too rapid to have a chance to get to it. Sergey was on his hands and knees. « Try to feel under the rock and in crevasses for anything that moves, » I told him as both his arms were buried in sand.  Almost two hours had passed at this point and we’d all lost hope that we’d find it.

Suddenly, Sergey stood up and yelled, « I got it! » – He’d felt under the rock and took hold of what moved in his fingers. If it had slipped, the ring would have been sucked out into the now-heavy surf.

All of us jumped around and celebrated. « This ring couldn’t be replaced, » explained Marina. « It was blessed by the church and we believe that we can only get one of these in our lives! »

Better get it resized!

 

IMG_2913 IMG_2912

bimd-sm-biz-card--with-bleed-legAlso check out www.BigIslandMetalDetecting.com for more photos!

Click here for a Google link to pics of the beach.

Wedding Rings Found in Seekonk MA

  • from Charlestown (Rhode Island, United States)
Contact:

Last Tuesday, Christine was walking a trail through a wooded area in Seekonk MA with her two daughters.  In a clearing near the path, she bent to brush off her daughter’s jacket, and her wedding band and diamond ring flew off of her hand.  They were lose as she had lost some weight.  Christine thought the rings had flown into leaves and brush that surrounded the clearing.  After searching the area, she couldn’t find either ring.  That evening, Christine and her husband, Bright, located me on the internet at theringfinders.com, and Bright called me for help.  The next day I met the couple in the area and had Christine reenact what had happened the previous day.  I determined that the rings had probably not flown into the brush and leaves but were on the ground in the clearing where they were lost.  Sure enough, Bright found her diamond ring on the ground in the clearing.  Immediately after, I was able to locate her wedding band.  It was a pleasure to help this couple and to see the rings back on Christine’s finger where they belong.

DSCF0522DSCF0521