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Custom Wedding Ring Lost at Venice Beach, CA…Recovered and Joyously Returned.

  • from Redondo Beach (California, United States)

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We know each ring has its story, and each one so very important to its owner, and when it is lost that story ends, that is why we search, to renew the story. I received a call from Bill yesterday concerning his wedding ring he had lost just a couple of hours earlier in the sand. He had taken the ring off to apply sunscreen, and placed it on his shoe so it would not be lost, but was then asked by a worker in the area to move so they could do some work. Without thinking about his ring, he picked up his shoes, and got out of the way. As soon as he got to the new spot, he realized the mistake, and started to search for it. The sand at this beach is very fine, and the ring was swallowed up instantly. We agreed to meet about 1 1/2 hours later, as he had already gone home, and my wife had just made me a meal. He also asked if a sifter would help, and I told him nothing would hurt, but trying to find a ring with a sifter could lead to a significant amount of frustration, and despair.

When I got to the beach with Bill, he showed me the area, and I could see that it was a pretty good size. He also had a sifter in a bag, but said that when he got there, he realized it would be a job to sift the entire area, so he waited for me. Well, I got right to work, and began my grid from the widest point inward. After a couple of passes and a few coins, I got a good solid nonferrous hit in my headphones, and dug. Up comes my scoop with a bright and shiny ring in it, I gave out a shout, and almost did a little dance. I turned and showed Bill, and could see a wave of emotion come over him. When he was holding the newly recovered ring, he shared its story with me, and I understood his reaction.

He had been with his future wife for 7 years before they were to marry, and when he decided to ask her, he decided to approach her father first. Apparently his future Father in Law thought a lot of him, and offered to make his wedding ring, as he was an artisan in making jewelry. At this time Bill had been married for 11 years, and his Father in Law, passed away just one month ago. I could tell that this became a double loss to Bill, and it grieved him sorely to have lost this precious reminder of his bride’s father. I was certainly glad to have made his day.

If you lose your ring or other metal item of value, call as soon as possible. I will work hard, using the most up to date metal detectors, to help you find what you thought might never be found again. I search,  Beverly Hills, Hermosa Beach, Huntington Beach, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, Newport Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Santa Monica, Seal Beach, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Torrance, Venice Beach, and all parks, yards, gardens, and ponds (to 5 foot depths) in all of Orange County, all of Los Angeles County, and Ventura County.

10K White Gold and Rose Engagement Ring Lost in the Sand – Found Myrtle Beach

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

On July 6th I had a missed call from an out of area number while I was cleaning up from looking for a previous lost engagement ring that I’d been looking for. I called back and talked to Pat who stated she had been behind one of the Dune’s hotels in North Myrtle Beach on July 3rd with her fiancé and had lost her engagement ring. She went on to say that she wasn’t sure what her fiancé wanted to do as far as whether he’d want me to look for it or file an insurance claim. We talked about my cost for finding it, which I told her I work on a reward basis, etc. I could tell she definitely wanted “her” ring back and although a replacement would be great it wouldn’t be her ring. While talking to her I had another call from an out of area number which I’d call back shortly. Continuing to talk with Pat I told her that she can always replace the ring but not the memories that go along with it. I also assured her that given the right information I’m confident that I could find it since she told me she had not gotten into the water and the ring was in the dry sand. She gave me a few more details, one being that they sat very close to a life guard chair, and then we ended the call with her saying that she wanted to talk with her fiancé and she’d call me the next day with a decision.

I noticed the missed caller left me a message so I listened to that and then called back. The second caller stated his name was Branden and that he and his fiancé were in Myrtle Beach behind the Dunes Village resort on July 3rd when she lost her engagement ring. This sounded too familiar so I asked him his fiancé’s name which he said was Pat. I started laughing saying I was on the phone with Pat when he called. He wanted to know what Pat had said and I told him she was leaving it up to him on the decision. I went on telling him the same thing I told Pat about not being able to replace the memories of her ring and I felt she really wanted her ring back and not a replacement. It almost sounded like a sales pitch but that wasn’t my intent. We went on discussing my price and other details about the location of the ring. I finally asked him what he wanted to do and he replied he wanted me to find it. Two details he gave me was that 1-they had sat next to a life guard chair and 2-they were in the dry sand and directly in front of a group of rental chairs that were chained and locked together at the top of the beach. He also gave me the address of the resort which turned out to be in Myrtle Beach and was TRF member Matt Fry’s area. I told Branden that either Matt or I would call him back. We ended the call with me telling Branden to call Pat and let her know what was going on. It was around 9pm by now but I called Matt and gave him the details asking if he wanted to take it, he told me to go ahead since I had gotten the call. I texted both Branden and Pat saying I was on my way to look for it.

I got to the beach at 9:30pm and as I walked out on the boardwalk to the sand I noticed there was a life guard chair with a row of rental chairs directly behind it right in front of me. I remembered Pat had said when they crossed the boardwalk they went to their right and down the beach. I went ahead and checked out a 15X30 ft square where I was with no luck. Looking to the right down the beach, the next life guard chair was about a quarter of a mile south so off I went. As I was walking I’m also swinging the detector getting all kinds of junk targets. I also noticed another 5 chair rental spots along the way. I ended up doing an east/west grid from each chair rental to the high tide line. Finally on my 4th chair rental spot, third grid line and about half way up from the high tide line I got a banging 59/60 on my AT Pro. Two scoops and I had Pat’s beautiful engagement ring in my scoop. It was 11:30pm but I was sure that both Branden and Pat would be real excited when I texted them a picture of the ring even if I was waking them up. Branden was working and immediately texted me back not believing I found it. Pat called me as I was driving back home and she couldn’t believe it either. Originally they were planning on making the 4 hour drive back to Myrtle Beach to pick it up but those plans changed the next day so I got it in the mail.

I got a text on July 9th from Pat saying she had the ring back and on the 10th she sent me some fantastic pictures. As you can see Pat and Branden are one happy couple!!!

Pat and Branden, thank you for trusting in me to help find your lost treasure. Best of Luck to both of you on all your future endeavors. And Pat, don’t forget to save this memory to share with your grandchildren.

Jim

Pat n Branden 2 Pat5 Pat's Ring 2

Thank you for reading my blog.

Ring lost at Ocean Beach Found.

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Bradford and his wife were visiting from out of town and enjoying a day at the beach on the 4th until Bradford lost his wedding ring in the late afternoon in ankle deep water. It disappeared into the sand and no way it would be found with the naked eye.100_1456 100_1457 They returned the next morning hoping they could spot it, but, it was not to be. They saw several people with metal detectors searching the beach that morning, but, nobody had found it. Some even tried to help by searching the target area, but, the ring didn’t show itself. Disappointed, They went home.

I got the call for help on the 6th, and, even though I thought it likely someone had already found it, I heading down to the beach to give it my best, and ease their minds that it wasn’t still just laying there. After close to an hour of carefully gridding the area and not a single target (good or bad!), I figured my assessment was correct and the area had been hammered by other detectorists. Just then, my Excalibur gave me a nice big signal, and low and behold, it was Bradford’s ring! Surprise and satisfaction for me, and happiness for Bradford. He and his wife drove down today and were reunited with the ring. A pleasure meeting you both and thank you for the reward.

2 gold rings lost during July 4th celebration in Cass Lake, Keego Harbor, Michigan

  • from Manistee (Michigan, United States)
Contact:

I received an email from Noor M. July 6 to see if I could help her after she asked another Ringfinder to help her find a white gold band and a yellow gold band in about 2 to 4 feet of water. Because his water detector was in for service he was unable to effectively us his land detector from a kayak.

Noor was celebrating the fourth with hundreds of other boaters on a sandbar in Cass Lake. This is and area about twice the size of 2 football fields. While standing in the water she gave a High 5 to another celebrator and off came her rings. Noor immediately looked at the shore to get a point of reference as to where they were lost. There was about 19 people in her party and everyone started looking for them but just clouded up the bottom to no avail. I called Noor and said I could come out Thursday and help her out. She would be at work but her dad could take us by boat out to the sandbar.

My brother Doug and I arrived after the 144 mile trip and met Noor’s father Alla. We jumped on the pontoon and traveled a short distance to the sandbar. Doug and I got our scoops and water detectors into the water and I gave her IMG_2491dad my pin pointer. He started diving in the shallow water pulling up beer caps just like we were. There is a saying among water detectors that « when you find 100 caps and pull tabs you will find one ring ». The picture says it all. Noor gave us an approximate area where she remembered where the rings came off but wasn’t exactly sure. We covered at least a football field size area for about 3 hours. The water was warm, the sun was hot and the conditions couldn’t be better. After 3 hours+ of hunting, Doug made his final pass and jumped on the pontoon and I needed to make one more line based on Noor’s recollections. I got a signal like the 100 ones before but this time a shiny white gold band appeared. I searched the area more and about 3 feet away the yellow gold band appeared in my scoop. I yelled out to Dad and Doug then headed back to the boat. I feel I was guided by God’s hand as this was a needle in a haystack search.

It didn’t end there however. I texted Noor and I got back an « OMG ». She immediately left work to come home. We got back to the dock and we met Noor’s mom and she said I have lunch almost ready. Wow! It was delicious I have never had this meal before. She made white steamed rice and an eggplant dish with colored peppers, onions, jalapeno peppers, spices and more. After hugs where made and pictures were taken we jumped in the car for the 144 mile trek back home. I want to say that Noor’s father is one of the nicest men I have ever met. He is soft spoken and has a real story to tell. He is surrounded by 5 women who manage to keep him humble.

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Wedding band recovered at Oval Beach, Saugatuck, Michigan

  • from Manistee (Michigan, United States)
Contact:

Thursday June 30 2:00pm, on my message machine: « This is John J. and I lost my wedding band at Oval beach and the Park ranger gave me your number ».

Thursday June 30 10:00pm, I listen to my messages. Feeling heart broke that I didn’t get this message sooner I called John right away. John explained to me that he was playing catch with his young son while John was standing in the sand and his son in the water. John felt the ring slip off his finger but didn’t see it land . He remembered not seeing any ripples in the water so he assumed it fell into the soft sand by the water. After searching to no avail he mentioned it to the ranger and the call was made. The water that day was very calm but a storm was brewing that evening, this is why I was heartbroken, had I answered his call when it came in I could have searched right away.

Friday morning 10:00am, we made plans to meet at the spot the ring was lost. There John and his young family sat with their coats and a blankets wrapped around them as the storm came in and made the weather very cool. The waves were 4 to 6 feet high and the place where John was standing the day before was now under 2 feet of water. I did a grid search of a small area where their blankets were the day before but I knew the ring was now under churning waves. They had to leave that day and go back home to Illinois so I told them I would be back tomorrow when the lake calms down.

Saturday morning 10:00am, my brother Doug and I went down to the water and in the area where the ring should be the water now receded and the sand was wet from the waves rushing to shore. About 10 inches down I recovered John’s platinum wedding band. Inside the ring was inscribed « All our dreams and wishes ». I called John and said « your dreams have come true ». I made arrangements to send it to him and the smiling John is proof that he has it with him again. I love this Job, thank you Chris Turner for making it possible.

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Diamond wedding ring found in the Okanagan Lake returned.

  • from Kelowna (British Columbia, Canada)

Heidi and her family from Victoria were spending the Canada Day weekend in Penticton. The weather was hot and perfect for a swim in Okanagan Lake, which is what Heidi and her family did. Heidi reached out to her son and was filled with terror as she realized her wedding ring an 18k yellow gold, marquee diamond was missing. The marquee in the centre of the ring was her grandmothers and the smaller diamonds were her mother`s, all the kids on the beach joined in the treasure hunt, to no avail. Heidi contacted me on the Saturday evening, so I responded at 5am the next morning. Usually there is no wind in the mornings, this day the wind was blowing towards the beach and made it difficult, I did not find it that day. I had gone out as far as I could and also swept the whole beach with no success. I knew the ring had to be there so I planned to return when the wind died down. I returned on Tuesday morning in my wetsuit to complete the deeper water. Once I got a hit, I knew it had to be the ring, and success I had the ring in my scoop. Heidi went through tears of sorrow to tears of joy.

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14K Woman’s Wedding Band and Engagement Ring Lost in the Ocean – Wedding Band Found North Myrtle Beach

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)

I got a text message about 9:30pm on July 4th stating they had lost their wedding band/engagement set in the ocean earlier that day and to please call when I had the chance. I immediately called back and talked with Lyndsey who said her and her husband Joshua have been married for just two weeks and they were on their honeymoon and it’s now officially a disaster. She gave me the hotel name and the address and I was on my way. With it being the 4th of July I knew the beach was going to be packed with both locals and tourist watching the firework displays and parking was going to be a big problem. Surprisingly I think I found the only remaining spot on the whole beach in one of the hotel parking lots and snatched it up hoping my car would still be there when I was done.

I met Lyndsey and Josh on the beach and we walked down to the water where she showed me about where she lost it while playing catch, as she put it, “with a stupid little yellow ball they bought”. Lyndsey said she was in water up to her thighs when she felt the ring fall off after catching the ball. She showed me a picture of her beautiful ring that was a two piece set where the engagement ring sits inside the wedding band. I was faced with a little bit of a dilemma because the tide was still high and my go to machine for water hunting is my White’s PI which is in the shop for repairs, and my back up machine is an AT Pro which can’t get wet much above the coil. The AT PRO is a great machine in the wet and dry sand but not so much in the water especially with heavy surf conditions. I was making the best of it but getting a lot of false target hits and not making any progress. After about 30 mins I got out of the water and moved back to the wet sand and started another grid search following the tide out. After 3 hours of searching I came up empty and called it a night at 1am. After staying up most of the night trying to figure out a better game plan for finding her ring at the next low tide I sent her an e-mail asking for a little help. Looking at the tide tables for the 4th and 5th, I asked her if she would go into the water at 10:55 that morning and walk out to waist deep water and then mark off the number of steps to a stationary item on the beach, which happened to be the beach access sign. She gladly compiled which ultimately got us in the right spot. Around 10am I got a call from Matt Fry (TRF Myrtle Beach) saying he’d received a text from a girl who had lost her ring in North Myrtle Beach and passing it off to me. After comparing the text messages we realized both came from Lyndsey who was trying to cover all her bases to get some help. Talking with Matt I told him about my PI and he offered up his Minelab CTX 3030 which I quickly accepted.

The temperature for the day was going to be above 100 degrees and looking at the area that needed to be searched I talked to Jim Brouwer to see if he would be willing to help thinking we could cover twice the area in half the time getting us out of the heat quicker, things don’t always work out as planned!!!  As always, he was raring to go, GOD bless him!!! We met on the beach at 1pm and I marked off the 105 steps (baby steps for me) that Lyndsey had done earlier. This put us 10 feet from the life guard chair that was sitting in the middle of our search area. Jim and I grid searched in all 4 directions for a good 3 hours with very few targets and no ring. Finally Jim moved closer to the life guard chair and bam. I heard him holler at me and as soon as I looked over at him I immediately recognized his expression. I walked over and he dropped the ring in my hand – oh oh, he only had the wedding band and not the engagement ring which had fallen out at some point. We figured the engagement ring had to be within inches of the wedding band so we expanded his 5 inch round, 3 inch deep hole into a 3-4 foot round by 2 foot deep hole. Nothing!! We did another 10X10 ft grid search around the hole that included moving the life guard stand with the life guard’s permission, then expanded it to 20X20 and still nothing. We rechecked all the low, water filled (runnels) holes close and still nothing. We know the engagement ring is there somewhere but after another hour we came up blank. We figured the engagement ring separated from the wedding band and settled in the sand while the wedding band rolled around and then settled. So now it’s just a matter of finding where the engagement ring settled. I’m hoping there’s a part 2 to this story real soon and plan on going out this afternoon with my AT Pro and see if I can come up with it.

After finding the wedding band I took a picture and sent it to Lyndsey and got a response of “oh my gosh!!!!” We met up later and although we hadn’t found the engagement ring she was still extremely happy saying the wedding band signifies the married and is what it’s all about.

Lyndsey and Josh, I’ll continue to search for that engagement ring and hopefully come up with it soon. Thank you both so much for trusting in me to help find your treasure and for the very generous reward.

Matt, thanks for the use of the 3030, it looks like a great machine in the right hands. For me though, it was like buying a new car – I know how to drive but it has too many bells and whistles which with time and practice I’m sure I could learn.

Jim, what can I say buddy – Thank you again for your help!!!!

Lyndsey and Josh  Lyndsey's wedding band

Thanks for reading my blog.

Jim

Ring recovered at North Beach Park, Spring Lake, Michigan

  • from Manistee (Michigan, United States)
Contact:

Got a call from Sarah C. today asking if I could help her find her ring. She and boyfriend Scott A. were at the park, while playing around with her ring it popped out of her hand and into the sand. They frantically searched to no avail and told the Park Ranger about the loss and was referred to me. After a call to me and me eating my Fourth of July steak dinner, I  proceeded to drive the 45 minutes to North Park.

I met Sarah and Scott  at the park and proceeded to search the area with my Fisher F75 after the second 10 foot grid search I found her ring. It was a pretty silver ring with a heart shaped pink stone, a promise ring to a future for Sarah, Allan and a baby on the way.

Happy Fourth of July to all and one Sarah and Scott will always remember.

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Luck of the Irish – Returning a lost ring on an Hawaiian Island beach!

It didn’t take us long to meet up with newlyweds Paul and Barbara on the beach after we’d gotten their call.

Paul was an Irishman with a new American lass for a wife – but Barbara had done all of the talking on the phone as Paul’s Irish accent was so thick. « Are you Ring Finders? » she asked.

As soon as we heard that Paul hadn’t seen his ring all day we knew we’d have a challenge. And they didn’t know where it could have been lost…!

Paul and Barbara had been married just five days earlier and were enjoying the restaurants and shops near their hotel here on the Big Island of Hawaii. As Paul tried on some Maui Jim sunglasses, he looked as his hand to admire this wedding ring – which was missing!

They’d seen a detectorist in the early morning combing the beach and didn’t want to loose their ring forever – so looked us up online to find and return their ring. We got to their hotel as soon as possible and decided that the small bay they’d spent the morning swimming in was a good place to start. Again, they weren’t sure if it was lost in the water, the sand, the hotel or the shops…!

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Brent Madison of Big Island Metal Detecting explains the basics of the Excalibur II metal detector and how small, lost gold rings can turn into big, found signals for recovery. Big Island, Hawaii.

Paul wasn’t a strong swimmer so we were confident that scuba wouldn’t be necessary though we’d packed our dive gear in the car.

I looked where Paul had rented a stand-up paddleboard while Sylvie searched the sandy bottom where Paul had remembered swimming in the warm, tropical waters of the bay.

Sylvie and I started our grid pattern searches with our metal detectors.

Beaches on the Big Island of Hawaii are so heavily searched by treasure hunters that neither of us hit any of the trash often found on other beaches around the world. We were well into our search pattern – at least 45 minutes – when I heard my name called and saw Paul and Sylvie « high-five’ing » nearby.

Sylvie had been carefully following her search pattern and talking to Paul as he snorkeled and bobbed around her. Suddenly she’d hit a « huge target » in her underwater headphones – then as suddenly, lost the signal. She was so deep in the water that she couldn’t hold the target under her detector and dig the target at the same time.

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Sylvie Madison of Big Island Metal Detecting gears up with her Garrett Sea Hunter metal detector to look in the water for a lost, men’s wedding ring. Big Island, Hawaii.

« Hold the detector here! » she told Paul, handing him her Garrett SeaHunter II, after she’d reacquired the signal. Sylvie dug and nothing. Then dug in the sandy bottom again.

In her scoop was Paul’s lost ring straining out of the sand. Barbara had been watching from beachside and rushed into the water when Sylvie pulled it from her scoop.

We all stood in the water admiring their newly found wedding ring, delighted together in Sylvie’s find. We laughed that Paul could start relaxing again on his honeymoon!

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A platinum wedding ring which was lost and found on the beaches of the Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii.

Not knowing where they’d lost it, it seemed it had been the luck of the Irish to reunite them – a small ring in such a large world! Barbara was quick to qualify the reason – she’d been praying to St. Anthony, her patron saint, since they’d discovered the ring had been missing.

God knows the reasons some rings are found or not – and in the end, Paul, Barbara and us at Big Island Metal Detecting are all thankful that we could be part of the discovery of their lost treasure. Especially so early on in their new marriage!

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Sylvie, Paul, Barbara and Brent give the Hawaiian « shaka » after their successful recovery of Paul’s lost wedding band. Big Island, Hawaii.

Engagement Ring Lost at Santa Monica Beach, CA…Found and Returned in Happiness.

  • from Redondo Beach (California, United States)

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I got a call from Chantal today hoping I could help her find her engagement ring at the beach. I was able to go, but I knew that on a weekend, the day before 4th of July, parking would be horrendous. I told her I would be on my way. I was right about the parking, and had to park about 1 1/2 miles away, and lug my equipment to where they were; fortunately there was a concrete strand to walk on.

Chantal told me she had taken two rings off to apply sunscreen, and laid them on the towel. Later not remembering the rings Chantal picked up the towel and shook it, and then to her horror remembered the rings. She and her husband Ty searched for the rings, and were able to find one of them, but the continued search proved unfruitful for the other one. That is when they found me on theringfinders.com. I met Ty on the way to the spot, and he informed me that they had just celebrated their 2nd wedding anniversary in April. I checked the area Ty showed me, and decided to start my search where they had found the first ring. I completed each line of the grid working my way back towards where the towel had originally been, when right in that area I got a good clean foil sound in my headphones. I dug once, and looked down to see that I had just missed the ring when I scooped as it was partially showing in the sand. I reached down, then held the ring up for all to see, because the people next to them were waiting and watching as I searched. Ty then broke out in a very loud voice saying, « That’s what I’m Talking about! », « Thank God for Social Media! » This was a great recovery, I am glad I was able to be a part of it; smiles all around.

If you lose your ring or other metal item of value, call as soon as possible. I will work hard, using the most up to date metal detectors, to help you find what you thought might never be found again. I search,  Beverly Hills, Hermosa Beach, Huntington Beach, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, Newport Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Santa Monica, Seal Beach, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Torrance, Venice Beach, and all parks, yards, gardens, and ponds (to 5 foot depths) in all of Orange County, all of Los Angeles County, and Ventura County.