Lost Class Ring Recovered From Farm Pond, Tappahannock Virginia
Rob Ellis: Underwater Ring Recovery Specialist. Call or text 703-598-1435
November 19th, 2019
John, who recently returned from an overseas deployment, had lost a lot of weight. He was fishing on his farm pond with a young friend. While helping his friend remove a fish from his line, John’s Virginia Tech ring slipped off. As you can see from the photo, this is a treasured reminder of his beloved alma mater and he rarely took it off his finger. John had the foresight to immediately take note of where he was when the ring fell off.
Due to other obligations, it took a several weeks before Mrs. E and I could make the trip to Tappahannock. After a two hour drive we met John and his friend Billy. We immediately bonded with these awesome patriotic Virginians.
John decided to drain half the water out of the pond. He and his friends developed an ingenious method and spent many hours nursing the home-made pump. The depth was about 15 feet lower when we arrived. John and Billy placed a ladder so I could get safely get in and out of the water. John also launched his boat to give me a platform from which to work. I’m so grateful for his ingenuity and thoughtfulness.
Setting up in the woods
Half Drained & Boat
The pond had steep sides, zero visibility, and is over 25 feet deep. John and Billy helped me get my SCUBA gear into the boat and I snorkeled over to the opposite bank. As you can see from the photos, there were tangled branches interfering with the potential search site. I explored the area around, under, and through the tangle as best I could using my Excalibur detector.
To search in the water under the tangle I realized we would have to remove the branches. I decided to search the bank before undertaking the difficult task of removing the branches. It was a slippery, but there was little trash and the search went quickly. It felt wonderful to hear that beautiful tone when I located the ring and dug it up from the mud.
John’s help in draining the pond and putting me so close to the drop was extremely helpful. His generous reward was much appreciated and I donated a portion to Fisher House.
For help to recover your item, please text or call 703-598-1435
Two weeks ago my good friend Mr. Jack lost a pocket knife and single key while playing with our neighbors young dog. Mr. Jack and his dear wife are winter volunteers here at our retirement center and willingly work daily to help out on the grounds maintenance and cleaning. Mr. Jack has years of experience mowing lawns, trimming trees and taking care of plants in general. And he has a habit of always carrying two pocket knives in his pockets and his trailer key and when he lost those two items he was a bit concerned. 
February 12th, 2018 Kyle wrote, « This is less of a review and more of a testimony. After an evening with my wife and some friends on the beach, tossing the football around, I realized after we had left that my wedding ring was no longer on my finger. To say panic set in, would be an understatement as this was the ring my wife and I had picked out together just over a year ago and she had put it on my finger at our wedding shortly after. After searching as thoroughly as possible, all hope was lost. How could I replace something that was irreplaceable? Turns out I wouldn’t have to! Thanks to some quick searching online by my wife, we found Mike’s information and I quickly contacted him. You would have thought his services would cost more than the ring I lost by the amount of detailed questions he asked, trying his best to narrow down the most likely location of my ring. After a few emails back and forth late in the evening, Mike put my mind at ease and said he was on the job. I thought, surely this was a lost cause, a ring lost on the beach….good luck with that! But Mike didn’t need luck, he’s a skilled veteran and within an hour of setting foot on the beach, he recovered my lost ring and saved my wife and I both heartache and money. There is no way I can thank him enough for his services. He’s living proof that miracles happen and sometimes you have to lose something to find them. As I told him before I left, I’d hoped I’d never need his services again, but you can bet that if the occasion ever arises, I’ll be calling Mike, The Lord of the Rings, to bring my precious back home to me! »
