Man’s White Gold Wedding Band Lost in the Ocean, Found and Returned Sunset Beach NC
I got a text message at 10 p.m. Thursday, July 27th saying, “Hi Jim! I found your info on the Ring finder’s website. I lost my husband’s wedding ring at Sunset Beach this evening. Are you available to help search?” I called the number on the text and spoke with Ashley. She explained she had put her husband, Jonathan’s ring in her phone case for safe keeping. At some point she took the phone out of the case and was pretty sure the ring fell out into the ocean. I asked what time and she said about 3 hours ago. The timing was good because the tide had just reached low tide so now was the time to try. She asked if it’d be better to search in the morning. I told her that there’d be a good chance the ring wouldn’t be there because of all the early morning detectionist out hitting the beach. I also told her I didn’t need light, per se because I had a head lamp and the machine beeps when I hit a target. I told her I’d be there in about 30-35 minutes and she agreed to meet me. It just happened that my youngest daughter, Lisa, her husband and my grandson were in town visiting, so I asked my daughter if she wanted to go. She quickly said yes so we were on our way.
When we arrived, Ashley and Jonathan were on the beach with flashlights hoping for the best. Ashley showed me a big hole that her brother had dug to give us an idea of the line the ring was lost on. Ashley moved me over a few steps east of the hole and I started a perpendicular grid line to the surf. I made my way down to the low tide line, which had now shifted and was coming back in. I made the turn to come back up the slope and got to about the mid tide line. All of a sudden I got a solid signal that rang up a 15 on the Equinox 800 VDI (visual display indicator). It was a little higher number that I expected but it was within the range of a white gold man’s wedding band. I dug 2 big scoops of sand before I got the target out of the hole. I spread the sand out with my foot and started feeling around in the sand. Bang! I felt the ring and the big hole in the middle. I walked down to the water line and washed the ring off and walked over to where Ashley, Jonathan, and Lisa were standing and asked Ashley, “Is this it?” She handed the ring to Jonathan who checked the engraving and said, “It’s it!” Think they were all a little shocked that it was found, in the dark, and probably within 5 minutes. Ashley and Jonathan were so grateful and happy.
Ashley and Jonathan – thank you for allowing me to help find your lost treasure.
Jim
I was called late in the afternoon to find a lost wedding and engagement ring in the sand at Pensacola Beach. The beach this day was packed with folks enjoying the weekend and fine weather. Sarah and Ron had their umbrella and beach chairs set with an extra shade tent for the infant baby. Sarah took her rings off and set them on the cooler while applying sunscreen on the baby. The baby squirmed about and somehow kicked the ring that when flying through the air, landing in the sand and burrowed in out of sight. At this point Sarah didn’t know the ring was missing but after taking care of the baby and getting him settled she soon discovered the rings were missing. Sarah and Ron frantically looked around for the rings, sifting the sand as best they could with no success. People were weaving their way through the crowded beach and impacting the area where the rings could have been buried. When I arrive I first surveyed the area they thought was the most likely spot. There were beach chairs, umbrellas, coolers and towels laid out every where. I politely asked everyone it I could move there property so I could check for the lost rings. Luckily everyone was cooperative. It didn’t take long to locate a couple of targets, the first was a aluminum can pull top that sounded surprisingly similar to a gold ring that had been soldered together. The second was the ring! Their beach neighbor had a tent set up with fabric sides. Apparently the baby sent the ring flying which hit the side of the tent with a little bounce and settled in the sand that may have been stepped on sending it a little deeper in the dry sand. In any event Sarah and Ron were overjoyed the ring was back on her finger. They were all smiles and grateful. 
A local surf shop in Pensacola, Waterboyz, celebrated its 30 year anniversary since opening its doors. They celebrated by having a special ring make for the founders. Since the founders surfed, one of them lost his ring in the water at a break west of the Pensacola Pier. The ring was solid silver and my detector literally screamed when I passed the coil over it. The ring was found and returned to its happy owner who was amazed it was recovered from the surf. I was more than satisfied to have been of service, and had a long shot recovery success. 
