I got a call from Andrew who had lost a pendant in his yard. The pendant had been lost for a week before he went surfing on the web. He came across ring finders and saw I was a member. This pendant was passed down and mean’t the world to him. It was particularly hard to find because there was a lot of metallic material in the ground. Another very happy ending,
23 September 2025. Yesterday I received an email from Lesley inquiring whether I might be able to search for her husband John’s lost wedding ring. She had read a story in the Boston Globe Magazine about the RingFinders in which I was mentioned, and she knew me from past times as we both worked for the same employer. She wasn’t very confident that a search would be fruitful because the ring had been lost about a year and a half ago, presumably ‘somewhere in their yard’. I said I’d be happy to do a search and we made an appointment for me to search this morning.
The good thing about a loss on someone’s property of course is that there are no other detectorists who might have found the ring during the interval since it was lost, as can easily happen if a ring is lost on public property like a beach. The bad thing is, ‘somewhere in the yard’ is a pretty vague basis for doing a search.
Before I began the search, Lesley showed me her wedding ring, which was a match to John’s. Fortunately John had a pretty good idea that his ring might have come off his finger sometime when he was checking the irrigation system under a long row of evergreen trees. I began my search in the area John described, deep under the low branches of the trees and along their perimeter. This turned up nothing but some of the usual yard trash. I then searched the remainder of the back yard and down to the edge of a depression where brush was discarded. Brush piles are a good candidate for lost rings because rings can come off as debris is tossed, but John indicated that these piles had accumulated after he had lost his ring, so I didn’t dig into them.
After nearly two hours of searching, the remaining likely candidate was under evergreens upslope of the irrigation system, where John might have done some other poking around or cleaning. Sure enough, within a couple of minutes John’s ring turned up under mixed dirt and leaf debris 10 or 12 feet from the initial search area!
I walked over to John and Lesley who were sitting on a nearby porch. Their expressions were something to the effect of ‘well, at least you gave it a good try’, but that quickly changed to ‘I can’t believe it’ when I handed them the ring. We were all delighted that ‘somewhere in the yard’ turned into a successful recovery. Best of all, John and Lesley will be celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary next month, and it’s great to know that their matched wedding rings will be part of the celebration!
John and Lesley celebrate a successful recovery.
John’s multicolor gold wedding band.
I received the following text message on Sunday, just after noon time.
“I have a lost mailbox key, I live in the Town of Wells, Maine. It’s in my driveway or front yard. Is this something you can help with?”
To make things quicker, I called her back just a few minutes after receiving the text message. I was able to talk with Kim. Kim told me that the previous evening, when she came home after work, she checked her mailbox, at the front of the property and next to the driveway, of the complex. After checking her mailbox, Kim walked across the driveway and lawn, to her front door. When she arrived at the front door, she went to unlock the door and she noticed that the mailbox key was no longer on her keychain, next to her house key. Those were the only two keys, on this particular keychain. Kim told me the keychain had broken recently and she had fixed it but it was now broken again and her mailbox key was no where to be found. Kim told me that she had searched for almost 1 1/2 hours, the previous evening but could not find it. She told me that there were lots of leaves, tall grass in a few spots and the key was gold colored and would blend in with the dead grass. I asked her how big of an area she had walked across and she replied that it really wasn’t a large area but she just couldn’t find it. So, I told Kim I could help her and Kim told me she was at work and she had a friend that was going to look for the key,this afternoon. Kim also wanted to search again when she got home, around 5:00pm. If Kim or her friend were unable to find the key,b she would call me, around 5:30pm.
Neither Kim or her friend were able to find the key and Kim called me, as planned. I told her I could be there in 30 to 40 minutes, with my metal detector. Once I arrived, Kim was standing in the driveway waiting for me. I surveyed the area and saw lots of leaves, around the mailbox. Kim told me that she had moved some of the leaves around but still couldn’t find the key. I came up with my plan of action and would start the search, next to the mailbox. If I didn’t find it there, Kim would take the same route she had taken the previous evening, to her front door. I would follow her and search along the way.
As I was searching around the mailbox, I received quite a few targets, in the leaves. Unfortunately, once I pinpointed the targets, they were all in the ground, other than a Stinking Lincoln penny and the key would not be under ground. Once I finished the mailbox area, I started across the gravel driveway and received a very nice target, with the VDI screen showing it was on the surface, to two inches deep, in the ground. As I ran my pinpointer over the gravel driveway, I found my target. Unfortunately it wasn’t the key, just another Stinkin Lincoln penny. Once on the grass, of the front yard, Kim told me that she didn’t remember the exact route she took but it would be within a 10’ to 15’ wide path. I told her I would perform a north to south grid search and expand it to about 20’, just to be safe and who knows, the key may have been kicked, while kicking the leaves away. My first grid pass had me closer to the street and I searched towards the house. Nothing found above ground and a few targets, pinpointed, were under the surface. I stepped over and headed back to the south and the road. After a few steps, I received a loud repeating signal and when I looked down, THERE WAS THE SMALL MAILBOX KEY. Totally visible now that the few leaves that had been on top of it, were knocked away, by my coil. I turned to Kim said, ‘ Come and take a look at this.” As she walked towards me I pointed to the ground and said, “there it is.” Kim couldn’t believe that they hadn’t found the key earlier. I told her it was hiding, under a few leaves. Kim was extremely happy to have her key back. She didn’t has a spare key and who knows how much it would have cost to get a locksmith to come out and make a new one. Possibly the management company of the complex could have another key made but again, how much would they charge her for losing it? So Kim is going to be buying a new keychain and get a spare made, of her key. After the thank you’s and hug, I left with a nice big smile, knowing that Kim won’t be stressed out this evening, like she was the previous evening. I love my job.😃❤️🙏
This ring find began when I got a text from Skylar saying I lost a ring in Waikiki how long would it take you to arrive? I was just a few blocks from my home so I told her I could grab my gear and head right over in about 20 minutes depending on traffic. They are from San Francisco and were on vacation. After a little back and forth, I determined they were at the Royal Hawaiian Beach. My daughter agreed to drop me off as it was getting towards dusk and time was of essence. When I arrived, I met Skylar at the beach entrance and she introduced me to Will whose ring was lost. It fell out of his shirt after coming out of the water. Will showed me the dry sand area to hunt and thought his ring was silver but after finding it with the Manticore as a #31 on the VDI it was heavy and gold! Vacation saved! Aloha to Will, Skylar and the gang!
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We got a call from a young man who said he was playing Football with a friend, just passing the ball around. When they finished playing he realized his coveted Aggie Ring was gone.
He jumped on the Internet and found « The Ring Finders » and gave us a call. We responded immediately and boy was it hot, over 100 degrees. Ellen and I covered the entire football field and on my next to last pass I saw His Aggie Ring sparkling in the dirt and grass, no detector needed on this one.
I let Ellen know I found it and we went walking towards the young man. As we got closer I told him we needed to get some water and ask him to hold this and I handed him his Aggie Ring. I wish you all could have seen his face, it was priceless. So much fun, I love what we get to do to help people in their time of panic.
We got a call from a gentleman who said his wife had placed her hearing aids on top of her phone and walked out the front door to open the gate. Somewhere along the way across the yard the Hearing Aids fell into the deep St Augustine grass. She and her husband searched and searched even buying a magnetic bar on wheels to try and find the Hearing Aids. After 3 days of searching and panic began to set in. These were new Hearing Aids and not insured.
The husband began to search the internet and found « The Ring Finders » and called us. Luckily we were on our way back into the Dallas area and were able to reroute to the Gaston Street area downtown. The hearing aids were so small out Garrett ATPRO’S bearly picked up a signal. I had to get on hand and knees and use our Pinpointers to find them. It took a while but we had success, the Hearing Aids had fallen just inside the flower beds and they were brown in color so very hard to see.
Another happy customer for the « Dallas Ring Finders ».
I received a text on Friday the 19th front Cindy that she thinks she lost her wedding band while walking her dog. I spoke to her about the incident and met her that afternoon. After searching for a little over an hour it got dark and I told her I would return on Sunday to continue the search. This was a large area about 200 feet by 50 feet. I returned on Sunday and also lent her husband a spare detector, my son also helped in the search. After about 1 hour and 30 minutes I was beginning to think she didn’t loose the ring here. Then bang a very good signal and there it was. She was not there and had just left so I showed her husband and he was very happy. Thank You Cindy for the opportunity and thank you for the generous rewards.
I was detecting on New Smyrna Beach this past Saturday. It was a quiet day — not much action, just the usual hum of waves and the occasional curious glance from beachgoers.
A woman came running up to me, carrying a baby and looking flustered. Her name was Tracy, and she said her son had just lost his wedding ring out in the surf. Moments later, I met Oliver, the unlucky groom. He told me he’d been out in the deeper water tossing a football with his friends when the ring flew off mid-throw. He felt the exact moment it slipped away.
I prayed and asked for God’s help. Unfortunately, I wasn’t set up for deep water detecting. Still, I waded out as far as I could — the tide was coming in fast. I told Oliver I’d come back the next day at low tide and give it a proper shot.
The next day, I returned. The tide had pulled back, revealing a whole new stretch of beach. This time, I came prepared: Aquatec headphones, and my trusty Manticore detector in hand. I stepped into the surf, scanning the troughs.
Almost immediately, I got a hit. My heart skipped — maybe this was it! I dug carefully and pulled up… a gold earring. A good find, but not the one I was after.
Not long after that, I caught another strong signal — a deep, clean tone. I dug in again, and this time, out came a shining wedding ring. I knelt and thanked God for guiding me to the spot. I called Oliver and later returned his ring to him and Sasha, his bride of one year. Another happy family!
