Uncategorized Category | Page 560 of 586 | The Ring Finders

June Service Call

Received the following e-mail on 06/27/2013 from John B in Victoria Texas

John read a recent story on the internet and was glad to hear you may be able to help. My wife lost a small gold ring about 8 years ago in a small park here in Victoria. The ring belonged to her Grandmother on her mother’s side and had been in the family for over 100 years. It occurred at a small park while she held a den meeting with Cub Scouts.

She believes she placed it in her pocket and when she bent down it must have fallen out. We think someone probably found it and kept it but who knows, maybe it is there two three inches under the ground.

Follow Up email 06/27/2013

Yes she was sitting down at a picnic table holding a Cub Scout den meeting and working on arts and crafts. This park is behind a church and near a fire station; I took a detector out there once but found a lot of trash. She really believes it fell out, someone found it soon after and kept it. It was a small, small gold ring. What cost is involved? Do we pay you for looking or only if you find it? Thanks for getting back to me.

The ring had been in her family since the 1930’s, and was engraved with initials MD

I found John’s story very interesting and opted for the challenge. I made the two hour trip to Victoria,  and started searching the area in question. The Texas weather was no help on this day 98 degrees, it was just plan hot.

I dug holes until I was dizzy from the heat, lost track of how many, but just couldn’t find that little ring.

A couple of photos of the park upon my arrival, Looked pretty hot and dry, I was hoping for large oak trees and lots of shade.

It happened in an instant. A routine boat docking turned to dissapointment when Dave Mayland’s Rolex watch caught on a mooring fixture and flew off his wrist into the dark waters of Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin. To make matters worse, the watch was a 10th anniversary gift from his wife.

I received a phone call from Dave telling me of his loss. The question uppermost on his mind was, “Do you think it can be recovered?” After reviewing the details and looking at satellite maps together via the internet, I determined there was indeed a good chance of locating and recovering Dave’s lost property.

The morning I arrived on location, I had only just gotten started when a thunderstorm forced me to retreat to my car for safety. Once the worst of the storm passed I resumed the search while a gentle rain peppered the lake’s surface.

The lake bottom was not friendly to my Minelab Excalibur detector. It encountered evidence of former cottage-country visitors and ice fishermen–Old Blatz beer cans. These were summarily returned to their resting places, this in concert with Wisconsin DNR regulations [any artifact found in the ground or water that is 50 years old or older is deemed to be an archeological relic]. Coontail aquatic plants likewise impeded my search efforts. But after three hours, a promising signal proved to be that of Dave’s treasured wristwatch.

Dave, thank you for allowing me the joy of locating and recovering your fine Rolex. May its story continue many more years. Thanks too, for your kind reward.