how to find a lost ring in the ocean Tag | The Ring Finders

Man’s White and Yellow Gold Wedding Band Lost in the Ocean, Recovered and Returned North Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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Shortly after 11 a.m., I received a text from my son-in-law, Donnie who’s a North Myrtle Beach Police Officer asking, “Can you come to 23rd Ave South, ring?” I replied “sure.” He then added, “It’s in the water, kind of shallow but the tide is coming in. 2 hours before high tide.” He also sent me a name (Clete) and a phone number. I called Clete to get a few more details and told him I’d be there in about 10 minutes.

When I arrived at the beach, I met Clete as I was coming off the boardwalk. He walked me out to the area where he had marked the spot with a kid’s shovel buried in the sand. He said it was 50 steps out to the area. I looked at what 50 steps would approximately be, and I was prepared to get wet, but 50 steps would put me under water. Then he let me know it was 50 heel to toe steps, ok a little better.  I had him mark off the steps and he ended up about waist deep in the water. I turned my machine on and started my walk out to him. The water was cold!!! I caught a few waves that put me shoulder deep, but things were good. I did a couple of grid lines from shore to the spot with no luck. I then started at his spot and worked a grid around that spot. Suddenly, I got a good signal ringing up between 10-12. For the type ring he described, I was in the ballpark. I had to keep the coil on the target and butt the scoop up against the coil. Then move the coil out of the way to try and dig the target. After the third scoop, I had the target in the scoop. I let the waves wash the sand out of the scoop and Bingo; Clete’s ring was staring up at me from the bottom of the scoop. I removed the ring and clutched it in a closed fist as I walked back to shore. I looked up and saw Clete and Ashley, his wife, making their way towards me. Clete asked, “Did you find it?” I held out my fist and handed his lost treasure back to him. He was so relieved and grateful.

Donnie – thanks for the referral!

Clete – thank you for trusting me to help find and return your precious treasure. You and Ashley enjoy the rest of your family vacation!!

Jim

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Lady’s White Gold Wedding Ring Lost in the Sand, Found and Returned Ocean Isle Beach NC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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On Saturday night, August 31st at about 11:15 pm I received the following text, “Hi! I lost my wedding band today at ocean isle. Can you help tomorrow?” I responded with the normal questions, what time it was lost, where – soft sand or in the ocean, and if in the ocean how deep she was? She responded that it was in the dry sand. At that point I called her to make sure I had all the details and set up a time for the next morning for a search. This is when she told me that both her wedding band and engagement ring were stuck in a pouch on the beach chair. When she got back to the rental is when she realized the wedding ring was missing.

This morning, Sunday, I arrived at the address she gave me and met her in the driveway. She led me out to the area they had been sitting and I started a north/south grid search, extending the search area out on all four sides. She had told me when I started the search it was a white gold ring, so I knew I was looking for a signal between 6-8 on the machine. After completing the search area with no luck, I decided to start an east/west grid search. Now I’d be covering the area between where she was sitting and going across the beach towards the beach access point. On my second pass of the new grid, I got a solid 7 on the machine. Bingo. I dug out a scoop of sand and laid it on the beach, smoothing it out with my foot. I immediately saw her ring, reached down and picked it up. I held it up for her to see and she couldn’t believe it. She was so grateful and trying to hold back the tears of relief. This search ended with one happy young lady, a found ring and a hug.

Jessica – Thank you for allowing me to help find your lost treasure. Enjoy your last day of vacation and have a safe trip home.

Jim

   

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White Gold Wedding Band Set Lost in the Dry Sand, Found and Returned North Myrtle Beach SC (with Video)

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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This recovery started on Monday, Aug 27th about 1:10 pm, with a text message from Rachel saying, “Hi Jim. Am I able to hire you to search around our beach chairs for my wedding rings?” The text had her phone number, so I called her to get a little more detail. She told me that she took her ring set off and put them in her cover-up pocket to put on suntan lotion. A short time later she took the cover-up off, forgetting about the set. Within seconds, she remembered about them being in the pocket, and they were gone. She was sure they were around the beach chairs. Unfortunately, I wasn’t available for at least an hour or two, but she said she wasn’t going anywhere until she was sure the area was checked.

I called her back about 1:45 pm saying I’d be there in 30-45 minutes. When I got there she was in the parking lot talking to friends. We walked out on the beach and across the sand to where her husband Rob was sitting. The search area was maybe 1.5X1.5 ft.  I had my Equinox 800 with me, turned it on and started swinging. With the ring set being white gold, I knew the VDI (Visual Display Indicator) would show between 8-12, depending on the size of the rings. Within seconds I had an 11 VDI and a strong signal next a beach chair. I asked Rachel if she’d move the beach chair so I could be sure I wasn’t getting interference from it. I swung my machine back over the spot and BINGO! I had to take 2 scoops to get the target out of the hole. I didn’t ask, but I assumed that Rachel and Rob had tried to find the ring set and moved enough sand to bury the ring a little deeper. When I spread the sand out on the beach, Rachel spotted her ring before I did and quickly picked it up. There were a few very happy tears of relief and a big hug from Rachel, who didn’t think she’d get her precious treasure back.

Special thanks to my son, Mike, who’s visiting from CT and took the video for the story.

Rachel and Rob – Thank you for trusting me to help find your lost treasure. Have a great rest of your vacation!!

Jim

   

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LOST GOLD & DIAMOND RING FOUND & RETURNED AT HUNTINGTON BEACH

  • from Santa Monica (California, United States)
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I got a text Sunday morning from Bill who told me he lost his gold and diamond wedding ring in the ocean on Saturday afternoon at Huntington Beach . I called him right away to get the details. He was visiting from New Jersey he was in the ocean with his wife about waist deep, when a wave knocked her off balance when she grabbed for his hand to avoid falling, his ring slipped off his finger and into the surf, another wave came along and covered up the ring which prevented him from retrieving it. After the whole family searched for the ring with no luck. He texted me. We arranged to meet at 6 am on Monday morning at low tide, with the best chances of finding the ring. I got up at 3 am, so I could get ready and leave early to beat the morning rush hour traffic. I arrived before 5 am. It was still dark out, but I walked onto the beach to the spot Bill had described and began my grid search. I hunted for almost 2 hours with no luck. I walked back to my car to grab my phone and touched base with Bill. He was only 20 minutes away, I waited in the parking lot till he arrived, when Bill and his wife met me in the parking lot, we walked out to the beach together, so they could narrow down the location of the loss. In less than 25 minutes, I got a good signal and dug 3 scoops and there was Bill’s sparkly gold ring. They were ecstatic to have the ring back with lots of emotion and hugs. They never thought they would see his ring again, but they entrusted me with the task. I was happy to come through for them. They were such incredibly nice people. I was happy to be able to reunite them with their sentimental wedding ring. They were so nice, they took me for a delicious breakfast before my long drive home.

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Gold Coin and Yellow Gold Wedding Band Lost, Found and Returned Oak Island, NC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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This little adventure started on Thursday, Jul 25th about 9:30pm when I got a text from Megan. Her text said, “Hello we are inquiring about a lost ring, chain, and coin in Oak Island NC. What is your pricing and are you available tonight or tomorrow.” Her phone number was on the text message, so I called her. She told me, in so many words that her husband Tyler and his brother were having a brotherly love moment when things escalated a little. It continued to escalate across the top of the beach in the dry sand, down the slope and into the ocean. When they finished, both brothers had lost their gold chains. The chain belonging to the brother had a cross pendant attached and Tyler’s chain had a 10-dollar, 14 oz gold coin and his yellow gold wedding ring. Unfortunately, Megan and Tyler were leaving to go back home the next morning, and the tide wasn’t right for a search until the next afternoon. Megan arranged for her father-in-law, Jim to meet me the next afternoon.

My daughter, Lisa and her family were in town visiting and she loves to go on my ring calls with me. I’ve shown her how to use the Equinox 800 and she’s gotten pretty good at using it. When we got there, we met Jim and Nia, the brother’s younger sister. Both Jim and Nia filled in some blanks and showed Lisa and I the approximate route the boys went to get to the ocean. I had Lisa doing a grid line in the soft sand and I started working the slope down to the ocean. At some point Nia had told Lisa that she had lost one of her earrings while taking the family portrait a few days earlier. While I’m detecting, I see Lisa and Nia all excited and jumping up and down in the dry sand. Lisa had found the earring. We both continued our grid lines with no luck. A very short time later a big storm was moving our way with lightening, thunder, and heavy rain. We made it to the car just in time and waited out the storm. There was still lightning and thunder out over the ocean, but I got tired of waiting. Continuing my grid line, I finally hit a solid signal which showed up as an 18/19 on the Nox. Dug out a scoop of sand, spread it out with my foot, and Bingo! I had the 10-dollar gold coin. Lisa joined me a short time later and she continued her grid in the dry sand. I took a quick picture of the coin and sent it to Megan. About another 5-8 yards I got another 18 on the Nox. I dug a scoop and Boom; I had Tyler’s wedding ring. Sent another picture to Megan and then called her. She and Tyler were very excited. I gave both the coin and ring to Jim who was going to get it to Megan and Tyler. Lisa and I continued looking for the chains and other charm with no luck. The next day, I took a buddy, who uses the Deus II back up and we both searched for the chains and pendant and weren’t able to find them.

Megan/Tyler – Thank you for calling me to help find your lost treasures. Best wishes to you both.

Pictured below is the Obverse and Reverse of the gold coin.

Jim

     

 

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Yellow Gold Anniversary Ring Lost in the Sand, Found and Returned Garden City SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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Right around 11:30 pm on Friday, July 19th, I got the following text, “Good evening, I lost my anniversary ring 2 days ago, out of my pocket. It could be on the beach or on the walk or at our rented beach house. I’ve looked over the house so likely at the beach. I just saw info about your services. We leave tomorrow morning; would you be available to search by chance tomorrow?” We text back and forth for a few minutes about the area so I could get an idea of where I’d be looking and then I asked her to call me. When she called, we discussed some other details and I found out they had to be out of the rental by 10 am the next morning. I agreed to meet her and her husband at 9 am. When I arrived, I met Melanie and her husband, Wes in the driveway of the rental. We walked the block down to the beach access and out on the beach. It was early but the beach was filling up quickly with tourist excited about starting their vacation. Melanie said when they were there Wednesday, the day she lost it; they had set up in front of the umbrellas and chairs that were put out on the beach. At some point the lifeguard told them they’d have to move behind the chair line, which they did. Melanie also pointed out another portion of the beach where she had run to pick up trash that had blown away.  We said our goodbyes and I started a grid search behind the chair line that had already been set up. As time went by, more and more people were showing up and detecting was getting difficult. I did about an hour and a half and called it, there wasn’t much more I could do at the time and the heat was unbearable. I planned to be back out there the next day, but had to play the crowd, the tide and the heat. As I was in the car typing up a text to Melanie, they showed up to check on me. We talked but I didn’t mention I was planning on coming back out.

The next day, Sunday, I showed up about 4:30 pm. I know this is about the time people start leaving the beach to get cleaned up and figure out dinner. Also, the chairs and umbrellas usually get picked up around 4:30-5 pm. The beach looked a lot different than the day before. I started a north/south grid search parallel to the tide line and about halfway up the slope. The closer I got to the chair line; more and more people were leaving. Melanie described her ring as a yellow gold anniversary ring, so I knew that would show up as a 13-14 on my Nox 800. Unfortunately, 13-14 is exactly what pull tabs show up as. Saturday, I must have dug up 7 or 8 pull tabs. So, as I’m walking along my grid line, I got a 13-14. I dug up the target and had it in the scoop. As I’m shaking the sand out of the scoop, I saw a glimmer of yellow gold. I shook quicker and emptied the scoop, reached in and pulled out Melanie’s beautiful ring. It was 5:27 pm when I sent her a picture of her ring and a text saying, “BOOM!!!!! Came back and just found it!” She couldn’t believe it. I put it in the mail and sent it overnight to her and she got it Tuesday afternoon. I love finding people’s lost treasures and returning something they thought was gone forever. Melanie shared with me that she got the ring on her and Wes’ 25th anniversary; they’re now on their 27th. She just added another chapter to the ring’s story. Wish you two many many more anniversaries.

Melanie/Wes – Thank you for allowing me to help find your lost treasure.

Jim

   

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White Gold Wedding Band Lost in the Ocean, Found and Returned North Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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Thursday night about 9 pm I got a text from Kayla saying, “Hello! Sorry for the late text but I just found your phone number online – I lost my wedding ring today at North Myrtle, would you be able to help us try to find it tomorrow?” I text her back asking her to call me and included my phone number. I didn’t hear anything else until this morning when I woke up to the following voice mail. “Good morning, Jim, my name is Kayla. I had texted you last night. I thought you could possibly help me find my ring that I had lost yesterday on the beach. We are staying at the Tide Master Condos here in North Myrtle Beach and the ring was lost yesterday while I was kind of in very very shallow waters. I was with my daughter, and it just slipped off my finger. So, I was hoping maybe you could help us. I don’t know it might be lost forever, but if you wanna give me a call back, thank you.”  I checked yesterday’s tides and saw low tide was around 11 am and high tide a little after 5 pm. Today’s tides would be around noon and 6 pm. It was already a little after 10 am when I called her, and I asked her two of the three more important questions. She already told me how deep she was, so I asked about what time she lost it, and did she know the area. She responded she lost it about 2 pm and she knew the area. I told her I’d be there about 11:30 pm. Two pm put it right about mid-tide. We’ve had some horrible surf conditions, with strong sea breezes, and rip currents. I knew that a lot of sand would have been pushed up on the beach, making any targets buried deeper than normal.

I actually arrived a little early, and as I made my way out to the beach, I called her and told her I was there. We met on the beach, and she showed me the suspected area she lost her ring. I started an east/west grid search just below the slope on the beach working perpendicular to the beach. I was finding very few targets and as expected they were deep. She told me her ring was white gold with diamonds. Ladies’ white gold can range from low single digits to low teens depending on size, on my Equinox 800. After a couple of hours, I had detected the entire lower portion of the beach all the way out to the south end and wasn’t finding her ring.  I decided to change course and started a parallel grid search starting from my perpendicular grid at the bottom of the slope working towards the high tide line and covering the entire area behind the resort. At some point, a young gentleman came up and started talking to me, who I learned was Kayla’s husband Matt. Matt told me he had a metal detector but hadn’t brought it with him. In the process of our conversation, I asked him what he remembered and what time he thought she lost it. He said he thought it was around 3:15-3:45 pm. Good info because that would put it a little higher on the slope. Kayla had joined us, and we talked a little bit and they both went back up to their spot on the beach. A little while later I got an iffy and faint signal that was jumping from 9 to 13. Ok, I’m in the zone of white gold. I dug four to five big scoops of sand out of the hole, each time checking the hole. Which the hole had grown to close to a foot deep before I finally got the target out of the sand. I spread the sand out with my foot and ran the coil over the area. Boom, I had a solid 10 reading and looked through the sand. There it was, just lying there waiting to be found. I hollered at Kayla who didn’t hear me the first time, so I yelled again. When she heard me and turned around, I held her ring up in the air. She flew down the beach! I asked her what her ring looked like, and she explained it as I held it closed up in my hand. Then I showed it to her and asked, “Look like this?” Her happy tears started flowing and I got a huge hug. Matt followed shortly and shook my hand. I heard loud applause coming from the upper beach from the people that had been watching me for the last 3 hours. A few ladies even came down to see what was going on.

Kayla and Matt – So happy I was able to find and return your lost treasure. Thank you for trusting me to help.

Jim

   

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2 Rings, Rose Gold and Signet Rings Lost in the Dry Sand, Found and Returned North Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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On Tuesday at 5 pm, I got a call from Klint asking if I could help find a ring in the dry sand. The ring had been placed in the cup holder of a chair, forgotten until the chairs were folded up and slung over a shoulder. The ring quickly disappeared in the soft sand.

I told him I needed to run by the house and get my gear and would be on my way. About 5:15 I sent him a text saying I was on my way and would be there in 13-14 minutes.

When I arrived, Klint was waiting for me in the parking garage, and we made our way out to the beach. He showed me the 10X10 foot area and I started a north/south grid. Shortly after I started my grid, Klint’s son Johnny and Johnny’s girlfriend Addy showed up. At that point I learned I was looking for two rings, one was a Rose Gold ring, and the other was a silver-colored signet ring. I was a little out of the search area when I got a strong signal and looked down and saw a piece of the signet ring sticking out of the sand. As I reached down and picked it up, Johnny spotted the Rose Gold ring within inches of the signet ring and again partially sticking out of the sand. He reached down and picked up that ring. An instant smile and a sign of relief came across Addy’s face. We had another happy ending to a near sad situation.

Johnny and Addy – I wish you all the best.

Klint – Thank you for calling me and allowing me to help find Addy’s lost treasures. Enjoy your vacation.

Jim

     

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Man’s White Gold Wedding Band Lost in the Ocean, Found and Returned in North Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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This little adventure started Monday evening, June 14th, when my wife sent me a screen shot from the North Myrtle Beach FB page saying in part, “Lost men’s white gold wedding band, in shallow water near 15th Ave South NMB. Please contact me if found. Thank you!” I looked up the post to see if I could get any more details and noticed 3 or 4 comments on there to contact me. I also left a comment saying, “If I can help, please call me” along with a link to my ring finder blog page to show her I was legit. I also sent her a message with the same information and added that low tide was in about an hour, and this would be the time to search. Roughly two hours later I got a message on my business suite saying, “Hi, my husband lost his wedding ring today in the waterfront of Carolina reef in NMB – wanted to see if you are able to help locate it/now your service works. Thank you so much in advance.” I responded to her message and also asked her to call me; it’s so much faster and clearer than texting back and forth. She called and I got the details and told her I could be there in 15 minutes.

When I arrived, I met Kelly and her husband, Ed as they came out of the elevator in the parking garage. This was the perfect scenario for losing/finding a ring lost in the ocean. He had lost it between 3:30-4:00 pm, which was within 30-45 minutes of high tide and was between knee and waist deep water. He had been playing catch with his daughter and while reaching to catch the ball, it hit his left hand knocking the ring into the ocean. When I got there it was a little over an hour after low tide, so I had a lot of the beach in the suspected search area that was just wet sand. Kelly and Ed put me in the area they knew was where he lost it. I started an east/west perpendicular to the beach grid search. On my 6th or 7th line I got a solid 18 on the Nox 800. This was a little higher than I expected for a man’s white gold wedding band, but I was confident I had found his ring. Dug a scoop of sand out and laid it on the beach, drug my foot over the pile to spread it out, and saw just a little sliver of Ed’s ring sticking out of the sand. I reached down and picked it up, shined my head lamp on it and said something like, “here’s your ring.” They both were kind of frozen; I don’t think they thought there was much chance of finding their ring, especially in the dark. They were excited, shocked, and very grateful all at the same time.  I love doing this!!!

Kelly and Ed – thanks for letting me help find your lost treasure. Enjoy the rest of your vacation and stay safe.

Jim

     

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Clemson University Class Ring Lost in the Ocean, Found and Returned Ocean Isle Beach NC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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On Saturday, June 1st, I was enroute to another ring search; when Angela called and left me a voice mail. In the voice mail she said that it was recommended on a FB page that she call me for lost rings. She said that her daughter, Riley had lost her Clemson Class ring that she had received in April on Ocean Isle Beach in North Carolina, in the ocean. Angela gave me Riley’s phone number. After we hung up, I called Riley and told her I had another search and I’d be there as soon as I could.

I called Riley back after a successful recovery and told her I was on my way. I arrived about 20 minutes later and met Riley on the beach. Riley explained that she and some of her friends were out about 2 am enjoying the late evening and the ocean. She continued saying that they had been sitting in the ocean leaning back on their arms, with her hands in the sand and letting the waves roll over them. At some point she felt her Clemson ring slip off her finger into the sand. She immediately called her dad, which was at about 1:40 am. A quick check of the tide tables on ‘Willy Weather’ showed high tide was at 3:18 am. So basically, this happened about 2 ½ hours before high tide. I arrived at Ocean Isle, roughly at 3:30 pm, which was right at the high tide time. Not only was I there at the wrong time but the sea breeze had kicked up the waves, to the point I couldn’t get in the water. I asked Riley to point out the approximate area they were in and she stated they came straight down the beach from the beach access blue mat. I figured I’d clear the top of the beach and down the slope on both sides of the center line. Every once in a while, I’d try to slip in the ocean, but that was a lost cause! After close to 3 hours, and no change in the sea conditions, I called Riley and told her I was calling it for the night.  I told her I’d be back the next day at low tide and resume the search.

Today, June 2nd, I showed up around 8 am, 2 hours before low tide and started an east/west grid search perpendicular to the tide line. I started about 40 yards north of the center line and worked south. I had my Nox 800 detector and knowing that a women’s yellow gold ring will show up between 13-15 VDI (visual display indicator) depending on the size and width of the ring. Unfortunately pull tabs show up with the same numbers and if there’s anything on the beach that’s plentiful, its pull tabs! After about 2 plus hours I had detected about 90 yards on the beach and getting out in the water to about thigh deep. With the circumstances of the ring being lost, I knew the ring was there – somewhere. Gold is a heavy metal, so when it comes off in the ocean, it pretty much settles where it falls. In this case the ring was already y buried in the sand, so it would just sit there working itself deeper with water and sand going over the top of it. Also, knowing when it was lost, I knew the ring would be at the bottom of the slope at low tide. I felt I was definitely out of the search area when I got a solid 15. Is this just another bent up pull tab. I dug a scope of sand and dumped it on the beach. Ran the coil over the pile and I had the target out of the hole. I spread the sand out with my foot and scoured the sand. BOOM!!!  There in the sand staring up at me was Riley’s Clemson Ring. I washed the sand off the ring and took a picture. I sent the picture to both Riley and Angela and then called Riley – no answer. I called Angela – no answer. A short time later Angela replied by text saying, “That’s it!!!!” A few minutes later Riley called. Evidently Angela tried calling Riley with no luck, so she called one of the friends with Riley and told her to wake Riley up and that Jim found her ring. Riley said they were on the way. When Riley got to the beach, she sprinted from the access to where I was. She gave me a big hug and I could tell she was very appreciative. I love returning lost items to their owners!!

Angela – Thank you for calling me to help find Riley’s Ring.

Riley – So happy I was able to find and return your special treasure. I wish you all the best in life.

Jim

     

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