Sentimental, Inherited Gold Wedding Ring Lost, In The Water, At Sebago Lake State Park, Maine, Found With A Metal Detector
On Friday, July 19th, I started getting some Facebook Messages and I was also being tagged m in a post, about a lost ring, at Sebago Lake State Park, in Casco, Maine. I replied to my followers, on the lost ring post, that I would try and contact her, to see if she needed The Ring Finders of Maine help. A few hours, after I had left her a message, I received a message back, from her.
“Hi this is Mary D****👋🏻
I don’t have a picture of the ring. I know where ish in the water where we were. I believe it got covered in sand. Are you familiar with Sebago Lake Park?
My dad would always bring us to the East area beach”.
Mary and I started texting each other and she was definitely interested in getting her ring back. She asked me how The Ringfinders of Maine thing worked. I told her that I do not charge for my time or service, but do require a transportation fee, thats it. This is to cover my gas, tolls, wear and tear, etc.. Mary then agreed to use my services.
Mary also told me that the lost ring, was actually her Father’s Wedding Ring and really wanted to find it. Mary’s father had passed, fairly recently and in fact, she had just received his ashes, a few weeks prior. Mary then explained that she had inherited her father’s wedding ring and wore it, sort of as a fidget ring,always touching and turning it around her finger. Mary had always taken the ring off, prior to entering the water, because it is to big for her. However, this time she forgot and while in the water, she felt it come off, dropping into the sand below. Mary, and a few others spent an hour, with snorkeling masks, looking and searching the sandy bottom, but no luck.
I then sent Mary an aerial view of the beach area and asked her what section she thinks she lost the ring in. Her reply, Section 5, was the section she was in. We then made plans to meet at 8:50am, near the entrance to the park. I would make the, just over an hour drive, from my home in Saco, Maine. The park opened at 9:00am and we wanted to be there, for the opening, of the park. We met at the prescribed time and I followed Mary, into the park and down to the parking area, next to the beach. I got my equipment and followed Mary, to the beach. Mary showed me the approximate area of where she thinks the ring, fell off her finger. It was approximately a 100’ X 100’ foot area and the bottom of the lake was nice and sandy. No vegetation or muck, just the way I like it.
I told Mary that I would go out, into the water, about mid stomach deep and perform a grid search, horizontal to the shore. I would complete the approximate 100’ length, take a 1/2 step over and search, going back towards the area, I had started in. I would continue searching this way, while working my way towards the shore. I had made 5 or 6 such passes, thinking to myself that this beach was extremely clean. I hadn’t had any targets of either Ferrous or Non Ferrous, other than a few, barely audible ferrous items, I didn’t bother digging. About 15 minutes, into the search, I finally received a very loud, low tone and it was a repeatable target. A very solid low tone. I immediately smiled, plunged my pinpointer into the water and sand and found the target. I scooped up a handful of sand, but nothing appeared. I grabbed another handful of sand and this time, I spotted Mary’s ring. Mary was in the water, with her Father’s sister, her Aunt. They were approximately 10 feet, further out in the water, from me, watching intently. As I brought my hand out of the water, I held the ring up and said, “I have found your ring “. Both Mary and her Aunt, rushed right over and I received a big hug from both of them and a high five, from Mary. They were both in a mild shock, that I had found the ring. Mary’s Aunt is her Father’s sister and she was very happy and may I say, a little emotional, that I had found her brothers ring. Mary was also very emotional, as I could see it, in her eyes and on her face.
Rings like these are worth so much more than money. These rings are family and blood. Nothing can replace these very sentimental items and now Mary can continue fidgeting with her father’s wedding ring, once she gets it resized. The ring was made, for her father, by someone that he knew. Mary said she would take it to that person and see about getting the ring resized.
I am also on cloud nine. There is no greater feeling, than to return a lost item, seeing the emotional reaction and the smiles. As we say, “Every Ring Has A Story “. Now Mary’s ring has just had another chapter, added to the story.
Received a text from Christa stating she lost her wedding ring this morning in her front yard. Arrived early afternoon and she told me the story of they were having a birthday party for her 3 yr old son and she was playing with the kids in the front yard when she felt her ring fly off. Losing the ring kind of put a damper on the party. She was in the grass area to the left of the driveway and that is when her ring came off. She had searched that grass area and the driveway and the street but had no luck finding the ring. I set out searching that grass area and came up with no ring. I told her the ring is not in this grass area and I said, « did you search on the right side of the driveway in the grass area »? She walks over to that side of the driveway and in about 10 seconds she spots the ring in the grass about three feet from the driveway. She beat me to it. The birthday party is back on in full swing!
On my way home from work I received a text from Habib. He was very anxious to see if I would be able to find his wife’s beautiful diamond earing she accidentally lost at a large family party the day before. He sent me some pics and I was relieved to see the size, due to the fact many diamond earrings are extremely hard to locate. We agreed on a mutual time to meet later in the day, and for him to bring the other earing so I would be able to scan it with my metal detector, which helps tremendously, knowing exactly what tone to listen for. With that information I am able to block out most of the other tones I will receive in a backyard setting. Once on location I met with a gentleman who showed me the entire party setup, and the main areas Saba, Habib’s wife had spent most of the time that day. I decided to begin the search, as Habib was going to be about another 15 minutes due to some heavy traffic. I had quickly covered an area where the tables were set up, especially where Saba was sitting. The yard area was quite huge, and there were many food stations, and activities going on throughout the day. Once Habib arrived I listened to the other earring, and was quite pleased with the solid low tone it gave off. With that information I was able to move quite a bit faster, due to the fact that not may signals of that type would be present. I of course would check anything fairly close. I had changed direction after the first location was done, simply due to the fact the foot traffic would be moving in the direction I was working. I made one pass, and just after I turned to make another one, BINGO, my metal detector emitted a tone that I was almost certain was Saba’s missing earing. After moving the grass around a bit, there it was pressed down even with the dirt, just out of human sight. Luckily there was no damage to the earing. I looked around to find Habib, and he had walked way over to the neighbors house, where there was valet parking, and another possible area the earring could have been hiding. When I showed Saba’s earing to him, he was it total shock, as this recovery could be labeled “a needle in a haystack” Once again all parties involved knew the tiny details to narrow down this vast search area, to just the areas where his wife had spent most of the day.
