A Tearful Call and a Surprise Recovery at St. Paul Beach
A Tearful Call and a Joyful Reunion at St. Paul Beach
On a busy Friday evening, I was just pulling into work when fellow Ring Finder Darrin Gray called. A young woman in St. Paul was in tears—she’d lost her ring at a local beach and needed urgent help. I was only 6-8 minutes away, so I agreed to meet her, despite not having my usual gear with me.When I arrived, I remembered a small handheld detector tucked behind my truck’s seat. With traffic heading out of town at a standstill, driving home for my full setup would’ve taken 2-3 hours—time we didn’t have. The handheld unit hadn’t been used in two years, and I had zero expectations the battery would even work. To my surprise, it powered on!I waded into the water in my jeans, armed with the little detector and its 6-inch coil. The search area was about 60×60 feet, and covering it with such a small coil was slow going, sweeping a path just 6-7 feet wide. Back and forth I went, determined to give it my all. After two and a half hours of meticulous searching, I finally got a solid signal—and there it was, her ring!The woman had left to take her toddler home, just three blocks away. I called her with the good news, and she was overcome with joy, to say the least. She rushed back to the beach, tears streaming down her face again—this time from happiness. The look of relief and gratitude as she was reunited with the ring she thought was gone forever made every minute of that search worthwhile
Jason asked if I could look for his wedding band that he was sure was lost forever. Gave it a 3% chance of finding but had me look anyway for closure. He estimated it was lost on a sandbar in the gulf about 50 feet off shore and within a 250 linear foot sandbar. I Started a grid and found it just about in the center of the area. Jason was attending to his baby back at the condo when I found it but the rest of his family and in-laws were watching my progress from the beach. Everyone was impressed with the recovery thinking that the search was a folly. Jason was extremely happy and I’m sure the rest of his vacation was regret free. Glad I could help! 
Jason lost his wedding band in the sand at Pensacola Beach on Sunday. He called that evening and i said I would help and agreed to meet first thing Monday morning at the beach. Jason had a fairly large area identified as the target area. There wasn’t anyone on the beach and the weather was comfortable. I started a grid and searching it pretty fast while Jason was working the phone lining up his days business. Fortunately his ring was in the area he designated. I found it in record time and it was back on his finger and he back to work on time! 
Found this ring while looking for another. Asked around and heard of a fellow who lost a ring about two week before. Was able to get his name and contact him for a return. He sent me a picture of his lost ring and that is indeed the one I found. Ring was mailed back to him. Some times we just get lucky.
