The Ring Finders Blog | Page 334 of 1068

An evening swim in Lake 12, near Fredonia, Wisconsin resulted in the loss of Coty Becker’s white-gold wedding ring. It was later in the evening Coty realized, to his horror, that his ring was missing.

His wife, Kayla, discovered my forensic metal-detecting services when she stumbled upon The Ring Finders directory of metal-detecting specialists online. I was visiting family in Michigan when I received a text message from Kayla asking if I might help solve Coty’s lost-ring mystery. I arranged a drive up to Fredonia on June 28th, a week after the ring’s disappearance. My wife, Kathleen, accompanied me and provided emotional support to Kayla while I searched. Coty was working at the time.

Underwater searches can be challenging. As so often is the case around boat docks, the lake bottom was heavily populated with metallic debris, leftovers from decades of human occupation. The area where Coty had been swimming was no exception.

Using a similar ring, I was able to calibrate my XP Deus ll multi-frequency detector, tuning it for the presence of 14 Karat gold. About 15 minutes later, a promising signal in my headset invited further investigation. As the mud and silt washed out of my scoop, Coty’s ring suddenly appeared amongst the remaining pebbles. Case solved!

I finished searching the area and retrieved an old penny, just what I hoped to find. I handed the coin to Kayla under pretense of it being a ‘good luck’ penny. Then I proceeded with a verdict. I said, “I am confident the ring is not in the water.” The disappointment in Kayla’s face was immediately evident. But I quickly followed by explaining, “I say this because your husband’s ring, is in fact, in my scoop!” I then invited Kayla to retrieve it from my scoop. A myriad of emotions followed, mostly in the form of Kayla’s huge smile.

As for Coty, Kayla texted me the next day saying, “He was very happy and relieved and loved hearing about you finding it! He’s so thankful!”

Coty’s underwater ring search was not a particularly technical experience. The usual challenges were easily overcome and in a relatively short amount of time. However, this ring search goes down in my books as very memorable. It marks my 100th documented recovery as a member of The Ring Finders directory of metal-detecting specialists! What a privilege it has been to have brought such joy and relief to the hearts and lives of so many people. The smiles say it best, « It’s more than a ring! »

June 13th, found Lake Mills, WI resident, Robert Rehm spreading mulch on his one-acre property when his tantalum wedding ring went missing. He and his wife, Miriam, searched everywhere but could not locate the love token.

I received a phone call from Miriam asking if I might help. I was travelling in California at the time but arranged to conduct a search shortly after my return to Wisconsin.

Tantalum is a rare metal used “in high-temperature applications, such as aircraft engines, electrical devices such as capacitors, surgical implants and when handling corrosive chemicals.” Its use in jewelry is only recent. In fact, Robert’s is only the 2nd tantalum ring I’ve searched for.

Upon arrival at the Rehm’s residence on June 20th, Robert gave me a tour of the property as we reviewed his timeline of activities on the day of the loss. I noted the newly installed mulch in several garden areas and decided to begin searching at one end.

Knowing just where to begin searching is sometimes a random choice that can have significant time consequences. Had I started at another location, the search at Robert’s large property could have taken a few hours. But as it turned out, only a few minutes later, Robert’s tantalum ring registered its presence in my headset. It lay buried under a couple inches of mulch.

The smile on Robert’s face tells the rest of the story.