Passed Down Heirloom Gold Necklace with Lion Pendant, Lost In The Beach Sand of Ocean Park, Maine, Found With a Metal Detector.
Thursday morning, Cheryl and I saw our 8 year old granddaughter off to her last day of 2nd grade. Once the commotion settled down, Cheryl and I decided to go on a bike ride, from Saco, Maine, through Old Orchard Beach, Maine and into the Town of Scarborough, Maine, via the Eastern Trail. This is just over 13 miles round trip and usually takes approximately a little over an hour to 1 1/2 hours, depending how long we stop at the Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center, while we rehydrate. While at the Scarborough Marsh, I checked my phone and saw I had a voicemail, from someone, this is his message
“So I don’t know if this is Dennis or not but I lost my grandfather’s gold necklace at Ocean Park, Maine, on the beach yesterday, it was like 3 or 4 o’clock, so if you can get back to me and help me with that thank you, bye…”
I immediately called back and my call also went to Voicemail. I told him that I could absolutely help him out but I was in Scarborough, Maine and would be home in approximately 35 minutes and if he could call me then, I will go search, in Ocean Park Beach.
As I was exiting The Eastern Trail, just behind Thornton Academy, in Saco, my phone rang. I immediately stopped and answered. The person identified himself as Dakota. When I asked him to explain to me what had happened, he told me that he had taken his gold necklace off, while at the beach, in Ocean Park. He was going into the water and didn’t want to lose his Grandfather’s necklace, in the water, so he took it off and placed it on his sweatshirt, which was just laying on the sand, next to his beach chair. Once out of the water and back in his beach chair, Dakota forgot about the necklace, on his sweatshirt. As they were leaving for the day, Dakota picked up his chair and belongings, still not remembering the necklace. He and his friend, then left the beach.
The next morning, when he got up and was getting ready for his day, he noticed he wasn’t wearing the Gold Necklace that had been passed down to him, after his Grandfather passed away. Panic set in and Dakota rushed back to Ocean Park, from his home, in the City of Westbrook, Maine. Once in Ocean Park, Dakota visually searched but was unable to locate the necklace. He then drove to Conway, New Hampshire and retrieved his father’s metal detector, to search the area, once he returned to Ocean Park. Dakota told me that he knew nothing about his father’s metal detector and thats why he called me. I told Dakota that I could be in OP in approximately 35-40 minutes as I still had to ride the rest of the way home. WOW, an inherited necklace, passed down from his grandfather. I just had to find this.
Once home, I loaded my equipment into my vehicle and Cheryl and I headed to OP. Once we parked and were walking up Randall Ave, I saw someone with a metal detector walking up the beach access boardwalk and yelled out to him. Dakota held up and the three of us walked onto the beach, where Dakota had been yesterday. Dakota pointed out the area his chair and sweatshirt were and we came up with a plan, where I would grid search an area about 30’ X 75’. He was certain the necklace would be in this area. I asked Dakota if there were any pendants on the necklace. He told me there was a gold Lion Pendant, on the necklace.
I told Dakota that he was lucky that the beach cleaning machine hadn’t gone through the area this morning, otherwise, the necklace would almost certainly be gone forever. I also conveyed a concern I had about the necklace already being found, by a passerby or another detectorist. It is my experience, over the last 25 years that a necklace usually does not just disappear beneath the sand when dropped. There is just too much area mass. Last summer I three necklaces were recovered and THEY WERE ALL STILL PARTIALLY VISIBLE, THE NEXT DAY. The same with most bracelets and watches. They usually disappear, if they get stepped on but until then, anyone walking by could potentially see the necklace and just pick it up.
As I started my grid search, horizontally, to the beach, I was finding very much of anything. Maybe 8-10 pieces of foil, pull tabs and small pieces of other non ferrous metals. After finishing the area, Dakota thought the ring would be in, I asked him which beach access path he had exited the beach from. He told me the same path, we entered the beach from. I then told him I would grid search the area towards the Randall Ave access path. I went approximately 50’ and nothing. I turned around and headed back towards Dakota. At about 20’-25’ , I received my best tone of the search and a reading of 12-13, on my VDI screen. Definitely a non ferrous, low conductive metal and definitely in the gold range. I looked in the area of my coil but couldn’t see anything. I pulled out my pinpointer and found the target. I scooped a handful of sand away and still couldn’t see anything. I didn’t want to damage the necklace so I hadn’t brought my beach scoop. I then took another handful of sand and threw it to the side. That is when I saw a gold necklace. I looked over At Dakota and said “ I found your necklace”. For the first time since I had arrived, Dakota had a smile and came right over. I still couldn’t see the lion pendant but I wanted Dakota to see the necklace, the same way I saw it and didn’t want to disturb it. Dakota arrived, looking at the necklace and said “That’s it”. Dakota just looked so relieved and thanked me again for helping him out and finding his extremely sentimental necklace and pendant, that had belonged to his grandfather. It’s such a great feeling to be able to help people like Dakota. Thinking his grandfather’s necklace was gone forever and now almost 18 hours of being lost, he is walking off the beach with it, along with a smile on his face.
