Wedding Ring Lost in Lagoon, Loveladie’s NJ, LBI, recovered by Edward Trapper, NJ Ring Finder
Donna reached out to me about a lost ring in their lagoon. Her husband, Joe, had been working on their boat when their dog suddenly jumped into the water. Joe immediately followed, jumping in to help the dog back onto the dock. At some point during the process, either when he hit the water or while lifting the dog his wedding ring slipped off. He didn’t realize it was missing until he had gotten out and dried off.
Joe was certain the ring had to be somewhere between the back of the boat and about 20 feet along the bulkhead toward the neighbor’s dock. After searching on their own for a while, Donna, who was familiar with my page, decided to reach out to me. Since low tide was early the next morning, we arranged to meet then for the best chance of recovery.
When I arrived, Joe showed me exactly where he had entered the water and where he had lifted the dog up onto their dock. Even at low tide, the water was chest-deep, which made detecting tricky without a weight belt. Just a few feet from the bulkhead, the lagoon dropped off quickly to chin-deep water, too deep to work without diving gear. I had to be careful navigating the area, as barnacles on the bulkhead could easily cause cuts with just a slight brush against them.
As expected in a boating dock, there was a lot of debris, screws, bolts, nuts, washers, and even remnants of the old bulkhead, including cinder blocks, or some type of concrete. Each signal had to be checked carefully, as many of those objects sound similar to a ring. I worked all the way to the neighbors dock, the farthest point Joe had gone to rescue the dog, but had no luck.
Deciding to retrace my steps, I moved back along the bulkhead, where there the water much shallower. About halfway through, I got a solid low-tone signal that didn’t waver. Since the ring had only been lost the day before, I knew it would be right on top. I took one shallow scoop and there it was!
At first, Joe couldn’t see what was in my scoop. But when I held up the ring, he was completely amazed. He immediately called up to Donna, who was upstairs, and she was just as shocked. Their neighbor, who had been watching the recovery, was equally impressed.
Despite the deep water, debris, and difficult conditions, I was able to recover Joe’s ring in about 40 minutes. It was a tough search, but seeing their excitement and relief made it all worth it.
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On day one of the vacation, what is the number one priority for most at the Jersey Shore ? You guessed it, head to the beach. And thats exactly what Eric and his family did. What almost ended in tragedy, ended up being a memory that will last forever. Eric was playing with his daughter down where the waves push up onto the beach, when things took a turn for the worst. His absolutely stunning wedding ring slipped off his finger and into the water, and within seconds disappeared out of sight. they searched for what seemed like hours, without any luck. Thats when Eric figured he better call for some help, knowing it may be his last chance of ever seeing his wedding ring again. He gave me all the details, and I agreed to be on location ASAP, as the tide was going to turn, and start coming in. Eric also marked the exact location with google maps on his cell phone, which is a huge benefit, especially when he was not able to meet me on the beach. I quickly searched down the slope to about knee deep without any signs of his ring. The water was ice cold, so rather than using my wetsuit, I ran back to the truck and threw on my waders. I knew it wasn’t that deep, as Erik assured me he was holding his daughters hand when the ring slipped off. I made a few more passes going just a bit deeper. Eric showed up just about then, and we confirmed the mark was right on the spot he was sitting all day long. Just a few more passes and the ring was in my scoop. Nothing better than turning tragedy, into memories.