Here’s a great story in The Atlantic magazine by Jessica Delfino about TheRingFinders. It’s writers/reporters like Jessica that help people find our directory. For TheRingFinders members…Her story helps us all, so we can help others! Please share with your friends/ social media/ publicity like this helps us all get more calls and helps us find more smiles.
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/01/wedding-ring-hunters/580132/
Got a message from Geoffrey that he’d lost his wedding ring while swimming at Kai Iwi lakes, near Dargaville, in the north of New Zealand. While this was out of my regular area, there was definite urgency as the lakes are heavily patrolled by holidaying metal detectorists at this time of year. So coffee in hand, I lurched out the door the following morning at 4:30am for the two and a bit hour drive across to the other coast to meet them when the gates opened at 7.
Kai Iwi lakes are real gems, classified as perched dune lakes, these unique features have warm, gin clear water with no organic tint on a white silica sand base, definitely one of the more pleasant places to hunt. Certainly worth a visit if in the North of New Zealand.
Geoffrey, really nice chap, had called in a sick day for work and was settling in for a long stressful day of waiting. We discussed how it had been lost – that old, old story of sunblock and cold water, along with his movements in and out of the water. He waded out with me so I could get him to visually line up some reference marks he remembered at the time of loss.
Based on his recollection of « looking at that yellow boat », and « That hill over there » coupled with « I was about this deep…About here »…I dropped the PLS (Point Last Seen) marker float.
Originally I had planned in my head to use the spiral search pattern, although went with a linear search as the water was so clear I could save the hassle of an extra line and see the scoop drag marks on the bottom.
Switching on, I started the first line running out to deeper water, before turning and coming back in towards the beach, this alignment allowed me to use some very easy markers both on land and out in the lake to ensure a good coverage. I had just turned and started the second run when I heard what I wanted.
I gently shaved the surface of the sand off with the scoop and as I lifted it I could hear the ring bouncing around in there. I got Geoffreys attention, then held the scoop up with a big smile and gave it a jiggle. His eyes lit up in disbelief when he heard the rattle.
I held the ring out to him as he waded over, his grin getting progressively bigger and the « No Way! » comments getting louder as he got closer, I suggested there was maybe still time for him to get to work after all 🙂
This adventure started with a call from Tim saying he lost his Wedding ring after throwing hay over a fence to the horses. He said he has been married 27 years and would very much like to get the ring back. Tim and his wife had been looking for the ring for 4 days with a $50.00 metal detector they just purchased to try to find the ring. I told Tim I’m not trying to be rude or hurt your feeling but you are wasting your time with that approach. He told me that was exactly what he wanted me to say and when did I want to come to look for the ring. We still had a couple hours of daylight so I told him I could be on the road in fifteen minutes. I was thinking in my head « Horse + Hay = BRING THE TALL BOOTS » then explained some of the basic metal detector operation and why you needed a better detector and someone who knows how to use it. I can do two things tell you where the ring is not at or find the ring.
Fifteen minutes later I was loaded and headed to Tim’s house. When I got to the house Tim showed me the area he was getting the hay from and the three different spots he threw the hay over the fence. He has three horses he was feeding for the night. He did not realize the ring was missing till he was in the house getting ready to go to the neighbor’s house Saturday night. To myself, I’m thinking we don’t have an exact location it was lost but no big deal the area is pretty small. So I started the search and search I did. I searched the hay storage area twice the path he walked on twice and the area on both sides of the fence twice. So after about 2 hours in I was scratching my head on what to do next. I made a decision on grid searching the complete corral area then calling it a night. I had already told Tim I would return Saturday if I did not find the ring tonight. I switched the coil on my CTX3030 to the big 17-inch coil to cover the area faster. I was on my second pass and got a great sounding target but it was 4 inches down. Was thinking to myself the ring cannot be 4 inches down the ground already it is starting to freeze. Either way that sound needed to be investigated further. I ran up to get my raptor digging tool out of my truck, so, I could dig a big piece of the soil out, not do any damage just in case it was the ring. I had the ball of soil in my hand broke it apart and the ring appeared. I almost fell over thinking that is a big chunk of gold I was not expecting. I had only asked Tim what the ring was made of and if it is a small band or a wider one. Well, I cleaned the dirt off stuck the ring on my finger over my glove held my hand up in victory. Tim came out of his truck to see what I was doing, so, I yelled I have the ring. He ran over grabbed the ring off my finger and gave me a big hug. At that time his wife Deanna just got home and he gave her the news. She asked me where I found the ring then gave me a hug thanking me. The ring was out in the corral about 30 from the fence. Tim and I talked for a minute on how the ring could have gotten that far out. I think it got stuck on one of the horse’s hooves and got carried it out that far and he agreed that something like that happened.
I had a great time with Tim and his Wife Deanna they are both great people to talk to. As I was packing up to leave Tim mentioned he was amazed his wife said there are people that will come and look for your ring. He did an internet search and one of my blog posts came up first. He called me and got his ring back the same night. I told him my stuff is always ready. I can be loaded and on the road in 15 minutes if needed. I went home cleaned the horse droppings off my coils put the battery on the charger ready for the next adventure.
Recieved an email from Houston and he said he lost his ring while playing with his dog on a leash… he stated the leash got wrapped on his hand and off came wedding ring… His wife said his ring was loose fitting… Neither Houston or his wife were home at the time so I started my search… I searched the far side of his front yard at first staying with the grid in the yard… I made it to the far side by the driveway and right by the corner of the driveway by the bush layed his ring under the leaves ten minutes after I found his ring his wife drove up….thanks Houston for calling as soon as you did…
After Brennon and Alyssa rode their 4 wheeler along the muddy trails, they decided to call it a day. They parked at the area used to wash off the four wheelers and themselves. While washing her hands with a hose, Alyssa felt her engagement ring slip off her finger. They and other riders hunted for it from 8 PM till midnight with no success. The next morning they returned with a newly purchased metal detector to continue the hunt. After finding only foil, pennies and pop tops, Brennon looked at a YouTube video for hunting hints. He saw a “The Ring Finders” decal on a car in the video and went to our website. We got the call from Brennon on Sunday morning. Carrie and I were able to load our equipment and be on site in 1 ½ hours. The hunt area was relatively small but had quite a lot of trash. It was hard bottom with dead matted grass covered by 2 to 4 inches of mud. After 20 minutes of getting everything, including us, covered in mud, Carrie found the ring, tangled in the grass, under the mud. After some happy tears and pictures (and washing off mud from us and our equipment) we were heading home feeling great after reuniting Alyssa with her beautiful ring.
Thank you for your generous reward. Best wishes for a long and happy life together.
Doug called me yesterday afternoon asking if I could help him find his wife’s engagement ring which he lost while he was walking with his children yesterday morning, while visiting at a friends house, I told Doug I could meet him within the hour.
When I arrive at the location, Doug told me he had walk roughly a Block and a half with his children and his dog. I asked Doug where did he have the ring. He told me it was on his finger for safe keeping, he notice the ring was missing when he got back to the house, you see his wife had entrusted him with her ring while she was attending a tournament in the city,
I asked Doug if he had done anything out of the ordinary while on his walk he told me that he was throwing snow balls at the back of the house, I told him we will start at that location which was a logical place to start when we got on the walkway, Doug said the walkway had been cleared of snow since he was last there.
Doug told me that he had spent a couple of hours walking up and down the walkway looking for the ring with no luck.
After about 20 minute searching the area where Doug was throwing snowballs I found the ring on the other side of the walkway Doug was very happy to have the ring back in his possession.
Thank you Doug for allowing me to locate your wife’s lost ring.
I received a voicemail from Kaci. She had stated her wedding ring flew off her hand tossing candy from her car in her driveway while holding her young child. She said she had lost it on 10-30-18. The next day is when she called me. I said I can come right after work so I came home grabbed my gear and headed her way a 20 minute drive. I searched for awhile with no luck. I searched the yard three times before she headed to work. I said it’s not in the yard. She had some bushes right by the car and porch so I got on my knees and found a pull tab at the base of the bushes. Just as her husband was home he headed for the porch I heard the sweet sound from my pinpointer… I said to him does her ring look like this he said no way I said yup I got it. Now the fun began I said we have to go surprise her. I gathered a bunch of small metal from my truck and went to see KACI. We got there and I told her it’s not in your yard or your car. I showed her all the stuff I found in her yard with the ring hidden beneath the junk. She started moving stuff around in my hand and saw her ring underneath.. Her reaction was priceless.. Thank for getting ahold of me KACI..
Heather went for a walk this morning on an paved path through a fall covered forest. Along the way the hill she was climbing leveled out and Heather took a break. After pulling off the gloves on her hands, Heather walked up the rest of the hill. Near the top of said hill, Heather’s heart sank. Because with a quick glance at her left hand, she saw that the engagement ring she had been wearing for a month was gone. So the search began. In the pine needles, at home by the sink and then back on the path where she was walking. After no luck, Heather called her fiancée Jack and told him the bad news. Being the ever persistence problem solver, Jack began searching from his job in California. Jack found the ring finders and Heather called me. It was like it was meant to be, I was on my way up near that park. My wife was able to bring me my metal detector and I was able to start searching soon after the ring was lost. All that needed to happen now was to find the missing ring. But it wasn’t near where Heather took off her gloves, or where she stopped and turned around, or on the other side of the path. So I began to walk and walk we did. About 100 yards from where the gloves came off sat Heather’s ring, on the asphalt path in plain sight. I counted about six people that passed us while we were searching for the lost ring, and all of them either walked over the ring or near it. I told Heather at the beginning of the searching, after the ring comes off the hand, its hard to say where it might end up, and as for Heather’s ring I’m so glad it stayed where it fell.
Conner contacted me late Sunday afternoon, on October 28th, around 5:00 PM. The ring was actually platinum, my first one, so I wasn’t certain what it would read on the CTX. It gave me a solid 12-03, in the high-trash mode, very similar to white gold. I have attached a couple photos of the happy lady.
Testimonial:
« After a heavy rain, the night before, my fiancée and I were getting one of our cars unstuck in the yard. Little did we expect her engagement ring would go flying off her finger into the grass. We both quickly went into a panic as this is a family diamond passed on for generations. We tried everything to find the ring from crawling for hours to borrowing our neighbor’s metal detector. After six hours we were running out of daylight. I got online and found Ed Hart! He understood how important it was and drove over immediately to help find it. Within three minutes he had found her RING! We can not thank Ed enough. It is hard to find such wonderful people like him! Thanks again Ed you a lifesaver! »
First time searching for a ring in a corn pit; here’s the story…
Chris took his family to a local pumpkin patch last week, one of the side attractions there was a barn stall filled with corn kernels to about 18 inches from the ground, a corn pit to play in. Chris and his son enjoyed the pit and after a fun day at the pumpkin patch, went back home. That’s when Chris realized his wedding ring was missing. He retraced his steps and came to the conclusion that his ring must be in the corn pit. He went to the internet for guidance on how to find the ring and came across The RingFinders. Chris gave me a call, and after securing permission from the owners of the pumpkin patch, and after I fought off a cold, we met at the corn pit this past Saturday before the the pumpkin patch opened for business. It was raining outside, but the corn pit was nice and dry; and the search was quick. It took about 15 minutes to get the reading we wanted to see on the machine, then a handful of corn revealed the ring.
Glad to have been able to help Chris recover his ring!
