Service Call July 2013
The client in this case believed her mother may have buried Gold and Silver Coins on her property. An initial search revealed nothing, although we maybe looking at a few other locations in the future.
The client disclosed documents from several years ago indicating purchases of the Gold and Silver.
The mystery continues.
John
Service Call July 2013
Wedding Ring Recovered in Conroe, Texas (Lake Conroe)
Details of lost ring:
It is three bands that have been soldered together. The inner band is yellow gold and the outer bands are white gold. It
is about 3/4 of an inch wide and a size 10 (as mentioned, it is a pretty big and heavy ring).
I will be traveling back to Houston so I can meet you at my grandmother’s house to supply details of the location it was lost. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Thank you again for your services and optimism!
Sincerely,
Christopher
Christopher reported he lost his wedding ring while in Lake Conroe, you can see by his smile it was another good day.
John
Good Day Today
John
July Service Call
Strike 1 for this month
Service Call on the Texas Coast
The client provided the following information on the lost ring:
The ring has an antique look with the largest diamond in the center and
two smaller diamonds on each side of the largest. There are also
numerous tiny diamonds in the design of the ring wrapping around the
three center diamonds mentioned above. The ring is white gold.
The ring was lost in a specific area on the Texas Coast, neither the owner or I have given up hope of a recovery. Planning another trip soon.
First attempt
June Service Call
Received the following e-mail on 06/27/2013 from John B in Victoria Texas
John read a recent story on the internet and was glad to hear you may be able to help. My wife lost a small gold ring about 8 years ago in a small park here in Victoria. The ring belonged to her Grandmother on her mother’s side and had been in the family for over 100 years. It occurred at a small park while she held a den meeting with Cub Scouts.
She believes she placed it in her pocket and when she bent down it must have fallen out. We think someone probably found it and kept it but who knows, maybe it is there two three inches under the ground.
Follow Up email 06/27/2013
Yes she was sitting down at a picnic table holding a Cub Scout den meeting and working on arts and crafts. This park is behind a church and near a fire station; I took a detector out there once but found a lot of trash. She really believes it fell out, someone found it soon after and kept it. It was a small, small gold ring. What cost is involved? Do we pay you for looking or only if you find it? Thanks for getting back to me.
The ring had been in her family since the 1930’s, and was engraved with initials MD
I found John’s story very interesting and opted for the challenge. I made the two hour trip to Victoria, and started searching the area in question. The Texas weather was no help on this day 98 degrees, it was just plan hot.
I dug holes until I was dizzy from the heat, lost track of how many, but just couldn’t find that little ring.
A couple of photos of the park upon my arrival, Looked pretty hot and dry, I was hoping for large oak trees and lots of shade.
Tuesday.. July 09,2013
Today was going to be my day to catch up on my emails and surf the metal detector websites. I got a call from Mathew at 8:30am. His wife, Lindsay had lost her ring last night near the fire rings at Corona Del Mar City Beach. When she took off her sweater she felt her ring fall off into the sand. They had spent the evening sifting the sand with a house window screen without success. He had found The RingFinders on a google search for lost rings and after calling one of our members in Delaware. He found my name in the California cities of our directory. After telling me what had happened and the general area it was dropped, he wanted to know how our service worked. I told him not to worry. I was only 2 miles from where the ring was lost. He seemed to be concerned if he could trust me. I told him I have found and returned many valuable pieces of jewelery and I don’t need another ring. The most important thing is to get over to the location before the sand sifting machine or another detectorist finds the ring without having his contact information. Mathew gave me a more detailed discription of the location and I jumped in my truck and was at Corona Del Mar Beach within ten minutes. Another ten minutes of swingging the detector and I had a beautiful platinum diamond ring in my scoop.. Ring found 30 minutes after phone call.
I sent Mathew a text message with a picture of Lindsay’s platinum ring. He drove 25 miles to meet me on the beach to pick up the ring. I got to metal detect around the rest of the fire rings on this beautiful morning with people asking me if I found anything good today. Of course I give my standard answer, » It’s not too good today, a few quaters, dimes and lots of pull tabs » I’m busting to tell everybody but it makes for too much attention..
When Mathew got there he came up to me and gave me a Big « John Wayne hug ».. I know now, what a « Real Thank You » sounds like. I told him a few other ring find stories and wished he and his wife Lindsay the best of luck. After he left I got a phone call from Lindsay thanking me for finding her ring.. I love meeting new people . I believe that people are put into your life for a special reason.
July 4, 2013.. 8:50pm
I was in Newport Beach sitting with a couple thousand people getting ready for a 4th of July fireworks display. I had rested up all day thinking I would detect the beach after the people left. That’s when Isaiah called saying he had just lost his wedding ring. I asked him where he was calling from and he told me Del Mar Beach which is near San Diego. He was in the water about chest deep and said he never went in water over his head. He didn’t feel the ring fall off, but he was certain that it was lost in the water. I told him that it was a long drive and he could locate another member of The RingFinders in our directory and if he couldn’t get them I’d come search.
After finishing the call, I went to my tide chart app on my trusty iPhone. He lost it only a couple minutes before calling me which was approximately 5 ft high tide begining to fall to a minus tide at 3 am. I called Isaiah back and told him the tides would be perfect to try to search for his ring tonight and I would be there at 12:30am. He said he could be there about a half hour later and was going to try to rest because he had to work in the morning. After arriving in the dark of the night, I began my grid search as the tide reseded. He had given me a good idea of where he was when he lost the ring but I extended the search area 50 yards each side . At 1:00am Isaiah and his brother in law showed up. He pin pointed the location where he had been and I changed my grid search towards the water and away from the water. They went off with their flashlights looking in the surf. After 10 or 15 minutes I got that special gold tone and there was a beautiful gold ring in about 3 inches under the wet sand. I walked up to Isaiah and asked him how big was the ring and if it was gold. Then, asked him to hold out his hand. He looked at me puzzeled, but he held out is hand. That’s when I dropped it in his hand. I did not expect him to be so emotional, it must have ment a lot to him. After gaining our composure all three of us started shaking hands and celebrating the find. Another special night and meeting people I will not forget..
Friday, June 28..
I received a call from Brett asking me about The RingFinders and if I’d be able to search for a ring lost in a swimming hole out in the country.. He told me the water was no deeper than 5 ft., which is right at the limit before requiring diving gear. I told him that I’d be willing to give it a try hoping it would be in shallower water. His wife Natalie called me had with a few more details. Her daughter Amanda was wearing her grandfather’s 55 year old wedding ring. While swingging from a rope swing over the water her friend threw a ball at her. Well, she tried to bat the ball away with her hand and the heavy ring went into the murky water.
We set up a meeting place for Sunday morning and took off for this secret swimming hole. It was about 12 miles out in the boondocks. A real pretty country swimming hole including the rope swing. I was using my Excalibur Minelab waterproof detector and waded into the water. Amada and her friends were there and explained how it happened and the direction she hit the ball. Well, the water was up to my neck and retrieving the targets was next to impossible with my scoop. So, the guys offered to dive down to get the targets. I would put the handle of the scoop on the target and they would grab a hand full of sand. After about 20 minutes we started finding fishing weights, coins and sunglasses. An hour or so later, the young guys took a break and Brett, Amanda’s dad took a few dives. It was looking like everybody was giving up hope.. Then I got a nice signal and told Brett we aren’t leaving until we recover this target.. He went down and came up with a big smile saying it’s a ring.. We had 20 or more onlookers and there were cheers and tears, also smiles. It was certainly a family affair with Mom setting it up, Dad making the great dive and all the friends helping. I could not of done it myself.. On my web page I say. « I’ll try anywhere » .. I’m starting to have second thoughts about that.. The search is a challenge, the real experience is meeting such nice people and being able to help them..
It happened in an instant. A routine boat docking turned to dissapointment when Dave Mayland’s Rolex watch caught on a mooring fixture and flew off his wrist into the dark waters of Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin. To make matters worse, the watch was a 10th anniversary gift from his wife.
I received a phone call from Dave telling me of his loss. The question uppermost on his mind was, “Do you think it can be recovered?” After reviewing the details and looking at satellite maps together via the internet, I determined there was indeed a good chance of locating and recovering Dave’s lost property.
The morning I arrived on location, I had only just gotten started when a thunderstorm forced me to retreat to my car for safety. Once the worst of the storm passed I resumed the search while a gentle rain peppered the lake’s surface.
The lake bottom was not friendly to my Minelab Excalibur detector. It encountered evidence of former cottage-country visitors and ice fishermen–Old Blatz beer cans. These were summarily returned to their resting places, this in concert with Wisconsin DNR regulations [any artifact found in the ground or water that is 50 years old or older is deemed to be an archeological relic]. Coontail aquatic plants likewise impeded my search efforts. But after three hours, a promising signal proved to be that of Dave’s treasured wristwatch.
Dave, thank you for allowing me the joy of locating and recovering your fine Rolex. May its story continue many more years. Thanks too, for your kind reward.
I got a call this afternoon from a gentleman who’s ring went flying off his finger while playing tetherball in his front yard with his daughter. We searched the garden along the front of his house and found the ring under a very ‘bushy’ bush.
It was a great time for dad, daughter and me – especially because the ring was found!
I received an email last weekend from a young man who asked me if I could help find his fiancés lost engagement ring in about 3 feet of water. I said absolutely if she knows where the approximate area where that ring came off at, and he said that she had a good idea.Then he went on to say that she lost it at Green Lake…That would be a 900 kilometer return trip…630 miles north of Vancouver. After a few email and figuring out the day of the trip ,we set out at 3am Sunday morning. It took roughly 5 hours to get there and I was in the water searching within 10 minutes of arrival.After the young lady showed me the area where she was hitting a volley ball I started the search. Unfortunately I ran into what we call hot rocks… mineralized rocks that messes with our Detectors and gives us a good signal. After slowing down the grid search I received a solid signal and after just 30 minutes I found the hiding spot of the young ladies beautiful diamond engagement ring. 
Here are to two high school sweethearts! Have a great wedding and thank you so much for the kind reward ! It was nice meeting you both and spending 10 hours driving together. I have the greatest job in the world with the most beautiful office anyone could ask for and the most incredible scenic landscapes.If you have lost something and need it found… call me ASAP You can watch the video of the search on this link…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5pxl8wKrAw