Uncategorized Category | Page 629 of 674 | The Ring Finders

My detecting partner Dave B. and I were out today at Holland State Park detecting in both the water and the sand. It was a cloudy day and the rain had just stopped so the beach was empty of bathers. While I was in the water Dave started gridding an area in the sand and came across a Samsung S5 cellphone. The signal on his AT Pro indicated junk and he was not going to dig but dug anyway and about 4 inches down there was the phone. We continued to hunt for another hour or so and went back into Grand Rapids to find the owner. We stopped at a T mobile office as that was the service provider. Because of privacy matters they could not give us a name but told us the subscriber lives in Florida.They took my name and number and said the party would get in touch with me. About 2 hours after I got home I got a call from Anthony M. he ask « do you have my phone » and I told him the story and he said he was at the park Sunday and it fell out of his pocket and couldn’t find it in the sand. We agreed to meet him at his house tonight after he got out of work and exchange the phone.

Dave and myself met Anthony at his house  and he was very happy to get his phone back. He explained that his sister in Florida has the plan and he is on it, that cleared up the mystery of the Florida connection. We thought that maybe the person who lost the phone was vacationing at the State Park.

Here is a picture of Anthony and the phone.

Got a call Sunday from Roger R. telling me his niece, Kim C., lost her white gold diamond ring in the lake while throwing a basketball during a fun filled day  of festivities in the water. When you look at the picture below you will see that Roger and his wife Kathy have a swimming area designed for big, fun parties. My partner Dave B. and myself took the 2 1/2 hour drive to their house and got our wet suits on and entered the water on an overcast Monday and started our search. We got several hits on the way out to the basketball hoop that was set up to play water ball. Roger told us that he had searched with a snorkel for hours around the hoop and other places in the swim area only to give up and call me. Our target area was around the hoop and about 15 minutes into the search Dave B. pulled up the ring with his AT Pro. We continued to search while slowly walking up to the beach and asked Roger if he had some coffee we would like to give it a rest for a bit. In the meantime we gave him what we found. Dave B. handed him one at a time a dime, penny, a nickel, a quarter, another penny and Roger said « wow » there’s a lot of change out there. I then started the same thing with a handful of change and a needle and bottle cap. Roger, looking a little down with nothing to show other than change I said « Oh there is this too » and I put the ring in his hand and he was stunned. He could not believe we found it after all the searching he went through. We took some pictures and he sent them to his niece then we went up for that cup of coffee. After some great conversation with Roger, a retired special ed school teacher, we took a ride around the lake in his pontoon boat and then packed up and went home.

We stopped to eat on the way home and got a text while at the restaurant from Roger saying that Kim got the pictures and was so happy she said « she would do anything 4 you both ». The smiles, coffee, conversation, and a boat ride around the lake was reward enough. This service of theringfinders is the most rewarding job I have ever done in my 40 years of detecting. Thank you Chris Turner for your foresight with theringfinders.

Kim was not available for a picture so when I receive it I will edit this post

Ben S. called me today while I was watching my grandson, Chase, win the Junior Gold Bowling Championship at Westgate Bowl in Comstock Park, MI.

Ben who lives in Fort Wayne, IN, was visiting his grand parents who live in Kalamazoo, MI and they spent the day at Oval Beach in Saugatuck, MI. Ben was passing a ball to his brother while standing in 3 feet of water when all of a sudden the ball and his Tungsten wedding band went sailing. Ben was aware of the location of the ring and was able to give me a good description as to where it went into the water. The fresh water lake was relatively calm and cool so there were a lot of beach goers there, I figured it would be a nice day to search.

After about 10 minutes in the water I found a silver ring but not Ben’s so I carried on and the next hit was Ben’s Tungsten wedding band. I have included a picture of Ben’s ring and the small silver ring that I found just before his ring. Ben was not there but will receive his ring next Saturday so I will edit this story with a picture of him and the ring.

Ben’s aunt Ellen and nephew showed up today to pick up his ring for him so I thought I would add to the travels of his ring. I asked her to give me a pic of Ben when he receives the ring so another posting will be coming with the end of the ring travels complete. After 3 weeks of traveling around Michigan and Indiana, the ring has finally been given to Ben and here is his picture.

Kameswari S. called me yesterday and said he lost his wedding ring while playing soccer with his friends at a local soccer field. I was across the state at the time and told him I would meet him Sunday afternoon at the field. He was wearing his ring on his right hand because he hurt his ring finger. Sek, as he is called by his friends was playing goalie and apparently stopped the ball and then threw it back out into play. After talking to Sek and going over all scenarios, I checked the back of the goal then the goal area itself. After about an hour in the hot sun I went to get a drink and then gridded off the playing area away from the goal where I figured the ring might have landed with a good throw from the goal. After several sweeps I got a good signal and hidden in the grass was the gold wedding ring with a diamond. His teammates helped him look for the ring yesterday but it was too well hidden to see it by the naked eye. Now Sek can tell his wife he lost his ring but recovered it to wear again.

Joan from Devon was holidaying in Swanage with her daughter and children having a great time at Ocean Bay Swanage.
The weather had been great recently and making the most of it Joan decided to play ball in the sea with the kids. However, trying to catch a ‘curve ball’ it hit her hand and off shot the ring! Joan who had been married for 47 years was obviously very upset as her ring rarely left her finger.
We knew the rough area, waist deep in sea water and level with a distinctive marker post. Detecting a careful grid within 5 minutes the CTX 3030 gave the reassuring hum of gold, a couple of scoops and up it came.
It serves as a reminder that although it could have ended up as a band of £50 scrap

gold these rings serve so much more and I feel very glad to have helped to advert what could have been a very memorable holiday for all the wrong reasons. Jean has promised to make a donation to the Air Ambulance when she returns from her holiday.

Due to problems with my voicemail I was very concerned as I learnt that someone had lost a ring earlier and left me a message. I consulted a random teenager on the beach who looked an Apple genius who very quickly retrieved my messages.
Mrs Susan Hopcraft and family had enjoyed a day on Studland Beach and just for safe keeping Susan had carefully placed her ring in her jeans pocket when she changed. Like some though she forgot she had placed it there so when it was time to slip her jeans back on…. out slipped the ring! We had a small area to search and wouldn’t take long- a small group also gathered eager to see the outcome.
After only five minutes searching but right on the boundary of our search area the distinctive hum of gold sounded and up came the ring.
A very happy and teary Mrs Hopcroft was delighted to see her ring back on her finger and made a very generous donation to the Air Ambulance. It was probably the prettiest ring I have ever recovered for one of the most generous people too! THIS is what it’s all about!

       This return is a reverse find, so, I don’t know if it counts in our total or not. Wednesday evening was very warm and humid and I couldn’t get comfortable, so, I decided to go down to the beach for a while to cool off and do some detecting. I got there around sunset and started searching over the blanket line area as people were leaving for the day.

     I was finding some coins and other misc. when I came across a good sized ring. It was dark and I didn’t have my glasses so I had to wait until I got home to see exactly what I had found. I left at 11:00pm, went home, and cleaned up my equipment and finds.

     Inspecting the ring, I found a name enscribed inside the stainless band. Not a common name (first name Guillermo) so I figured it was worth a try to find the person who lost it. I didn’t see any « Lost » ads on Craig’s list matching this ring but after a bit of internet surfing, I came up with a couple of possible leads. A call to one number got me a woman related to the Guillermo I was seeking and offered to have him give me a call. A bit later, I got the call from an excited Guillermo and we made arrangements to meet at a local shopping mall for the exchange. In talking with him, I discovered the ring was given to him from his girlfriend and he was uncertain as to where he had lost the ring. He just noticed it was missing at one point (three days before I found it) but didn’t remember actually losing it. He was happy to hear that there is a group called The Ring Finders and praised our efforts. It was a pleasure meeting you and thank you for the thirst quenching reward!