how to find a key in the sand Tag | Page 2 of 2 | The Ring Finders

Truck Key Lost in Church School Playground in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA…Found and Returned.

  • from Redondo Beach (California, United States)

I received a call from the pastor of a local church who explained that one of the staff of the attached school had lost her truck key while installing some new equipment in the school’s play area. The key had been lost for a couple of days, and the pastor and staff were in a meeting when the lost key was brought up. He mentioned the possibility of renting a metal detector to use in conducting the search. That is when Heather, a lady that we knew a few years back when our son’s played football together remembered I had told her about my metal detecting service. She found my number and gave it to the pastor. I was only about 25 minutes away, and agreed to come immediately to do the search.

When I got to the church, I met with Heather who brought me to the playground to show me what had happened. She explained how they had gotten sifters together, and planted toy dinosaurs and toy jewels in the sand to make a game out of finding things in the sand for the children, hoping that one of the children would dig up the key in the process, no luck. I started my search, and was getting too much interference from the screws holding the 2×4’s of the equipment together. We were able to move the pieces out of the way, which enabled me to conduct a thorough search of the area. It was then I received the tone I was listening for, and told Heather so. I took my sand scoop and had to scoop a couple of times, and then there it was. We brought it into Maureen who had lost the key. Needless to say Maureen was very happy to have her key.

 

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, Northridge, Pasadena, 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.

Mercedes Electronic Key Lost at Manhattan Beach, CA…Found.

  • from Redondo Beach (California, United States)

I received a call from a young man Wednesday evening, explaining how he had lost the electronic key to his Mercedes, and asked if I would be able to help. It had happened just a couple of hours before, so I knew the likelihood of a recovery was good. We arranged to meet within a half hour, and I was on my way.

When I got there he explained that he had left the key on his towel when he went into the water, and when he picked up the towel, the key vanished. He and his friends had searched the area quite thoroughly before I got there, as I could tell by the grid lines in the sand where he took me to. I began my search, and came up with numerous bottle caps and other metal debris, but no key. It was then when I got out of the search area, that I got a good hit in my head phones, and dug. There in my scoop was the key, which when seen, caused the young man to run over an greet me with shouts of joy and hugs. It must have been a sight to see. He did not want his picture taken, but his friend volunteered for a picture. A fun day indeed.

 

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, Northridge, Pasadena, 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.

Car Key Lost at Sunset Beach, CA…Recovered and Happily Returned.

  • from Redondo Beach (California, United States)

p1000180p1000179

I received a call from Maxim who explained to me that he had lost his car key as he was walking to the water to go surfing about 6:30 in the morning. I got the call about 11:00 AM, and he told me he had been searching for the key all morning. I told him I would be there quickly.

When I got to the location Maxim was waiting for me. I found out that he had lost his only key to his car, so there was really no where for him to go until it was found. He showed me the area where he thought it was lost, and I could see where he had searched by the grid lines in the sand made from his hands and feet dragging in the sand. I set to grid the same area, because he was so sure of where it had dropped, and I knew that sand will move things around when someone does a hand search making an item very hard to find. I did a grid, and then a cross grid; nothing! I proceeded to question more, and decided to grid towards the entrance to the beach. I searched about 10 feet when I had a good hit. I scooped once, nothing in the scoop. I looked at the spot to set the scoop in again when I saw the tip of the key sticking up.

I reached down raised the key, and Maxim could not believe it was where I found it. I told him it happens all the time, people don’t always have the perfect recall we would like to have, so we as « Ring Finders » have to ask a lot of discerning questions in order to help probe the memory. Just so happy to see his smile knowing he was going to be able to get back into his groove.

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.

Car Key Lost in Playa Del Rey, CA…Found.

  • from Redondo Beach (California, United States)

P1000126P1000125

Irene called today saying she had lost her car key at the beach. She knew where it was lost, so I figured I would be able to help her find it. I was able to get to the spot in about 45 minutes, and meet with her.

She showed me the spot, and I began my search. I went completely over the area she showed me finding numerous pieces of metal but not her key. I then asked a couple of more questions to be sure we had the right spot, she was sure so I began another search of the same area, and then found the key. Sometimes it is important to rework an area, because the position of the item being searched for might be turned in a particular way, that it can only be heard when crossed by the coil going a certain direction, another reason to cross grid when you know the area is certain.

Well Irene told me that if I was unable to find her key, it was going to cost her about $400 to replace because of the type key it is. I am glad to have been a help to her, and happily send her on her way; nice smile.

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.

 

Surfer lost car key at 17th St. .. Newport Beach, CA. .. Found in sand

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)

I just returned from a trip to Honduras. I was checking some of my local beaches for recent sand erosion when I was approached by one of our local lifeguards. He asked if I had time to help a surfer that had dropped his car key in the sand. I told him I was always available and clued him in about TheRingFinders.com on our way to meet Michael.
Although Michael didn’t realize when or where he dropped the single key he was confident that it had to be around the top of the beach, which we refer as the towel line.

Here’s Michael’s story:

FOUND KEY
Plodding through the sand after a surf, my automobile key somehow slipped out of my wetsuit. After continuously retracing my steps and searching on hands and knees in the sun for over an hour, I was ready to throw in the towel by asking a lifeguard for a phone. We spotted a person, about two-hundred yards away, waving a metal detector left to right, Mr. Stan Ross.

I have always been skeptical of the people who invest hours sifting through the sand; however, Stan made a believer out of me. He was jovial, yet professional, patiently asking questions and easing a stressful situation with understanding and confidence. He was methodical and took the time to interact and explain his strategy. In less than fifteen minutes, to my jubilation, I had the key in hand! If he showed this determination with a key, I would definitely want him on my team if I lost anything of sentimental value. I am very grateful, Mr. Ross, for your generous service.

Michael asked me if he could write me a testimonial. It’s letters like this that make my day. When I started metal detecting back in 1971, I had no idea that I could use my hobby to help people.. The internet also makes this possible.image

image

Lost Key at Santa Monica Beach, CA…Found.

  • from Redondo Beach (California, United States)

P1020682P1020680

I received a call yesterday from Kelly, saying she had lost her car key at the beach. I told her I would be there in an hour, and headed out. When I got to the site Kelly and her friend Eric showed me the general area where they thought the key had been lost. At that time I began to ask them questions, going through a logical progression in order to narrow down the search area. Because searching the right way with a metal detector is a very slow and methodical process, it is important for us to probe as much as possible to see if we can pinpoint the search area. Sometimes the person may have thought it was lost in one place, but as I question, I can figure that it was in another area, so questioning is a very important part of our searches. I am thankful Kelly and her friend were patient with me.

After my questioning, I figured out that it was under the parkour bars that Eric had been using, and it took all but about 3 minutes of searching to find the key. They were happy, because they had a way to go to get home, and everything was in the car. I am so glad to have met them, and made their day.

If you lose your ring or other metal item of value, call as soon as possible. I will work hard 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.

House Key Lost in Sand .. Balboa, Calif. .. Recovered

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)

 

Monday June 1, 2015

It was about 3pm when I got a call from a guy I call John Doe. I call him John Doe because I forgot to ask him his name. Then when I ask him to pose for a photo he declined. I just got through with a doctor visit. My detectors were in the car and I was a couple miles from where John lost his only house key in the sand at the Balboa Penensula, Newport Beach, CA.
When I arrived John met me at on the boardwalk. We walked out to the beach where he showed me where he had picked up his shirt forgetting that his single brass house key was wrapped in the shirt. When he picked up his shirt the key dropped into the sand. After a half hour searching by hand John gave up. He went to the Internet after his neighbor told him about TheRingFinders.
We walk out to the to the towel line where he pointed to the area where he had been. I left my Minelab CTX 3030 on discrimination setting not to be bothered by bottle caps, pull tabs or other trash. It was a small area, but I could not find the key. John had another brass key with a large metal ring (ferrous) . When he threw it in the sand my detector could not give me a signal. The ferrous ring was nulling out the smaller brass key. A lesson learned for me.
I put my detector into all metal mode and reworked the area I had gridded. No Key to be found. When I looked at John, he had that look of doubt on his face ready to give up the search. I asked him again if he was sure this was the location.. His face dropped saying positively, « it was right here » I moved 5 feet up from the where we were and got a good signal which turned out to be his key. John was glad to have his key because he would have had to replace 4 locks if we didn’t find it.. It was another special day on the beach at the Balboa Peninsula.

image