Imperial Beach Tag | Page 4 of 5 | The Ring Finders

Lost ring found at Mission Bay

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Lindsey was guilty of the most common cause of lost rings at the beach. She took her rose gold ring off to apply lotion, set the ring in her lab, and then forgot about it until sometime after she had stood up. After realizing what had happened, she and others looked through the sand hoping to recover it. After that failed to locate the ring, she called a local detector rental shop and tried her hand at finding it that way. After 3 hours and nothing but scrap metal, she returned the detector and was advised by them to contact TheRingFinders.com. She initially got a hold of  Curtis Cox in Carlsbad. He was out of town and referred her to me. My wife and I headed to the site and met Lindsey who explained the situation and showed us the search area, which was mainly a reasonably small sized section of dry sand overlooking Mission Bay. Lindsey had to leave for a while and left me to do my best. After covering the dry sand section in one direction parallel to the water and coming up empty, I started at the beginning again at 90 degrees from the first. My first pass went closer to the water than previous passes and over some wet sand, but, it was on the return of that pass that I got the sound I wanted still in the wet sand. After some cheers from other folks on the beach who knew about the lost ring, I texted Lindsey with the good news. I went and rinsed the ring of sand and let everyone oooh and aaah over it while waiting for Lindsey to return. Needless to say, Lindsey was very happy to get this family heirloom back on her finger. A pleasure to met you Lindsey and thank you for the reward.

 

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Lost ring found at Mission Beach

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Delaney took her engagement ring off before playing volleyball (a wise move) and handed it her friend Haley to put it in Delany’s bag for safe keeping. Haley dutifully place the ring inside the bag on top of Delaney’s jacket. Later in the day, Delaney grabbed her bag and hurried off to meet some friends down the beach. Once she met up with her friends, she remembered the ring and searched through her bag, but, the ring was gone. What to do? Well, she called friends for help and searched the web. I got the call, listened to a few particulars, and headed out to see about getting that 5 month old engagement ring back on her finger. Parking is always « fun » down by Mission Beach this time of year. Nothing close to where they were, so, I had to park in a lot a ways to the north. As I was walking to the location, a guy rides up from behind on his bike and asks of I’m there to find a ring. I tell him that hopefully I am, and then I notice that he has a detector too! He got the word also about the lost ring. We both see Delaney waving to us and we head over to meet her. Turns out they had a metal detector too and someone else in her group was also searching the sand! Okay, 3 people looking for this ring in the dry sand, that shouldn’t take long. Wrong! All three of us gridded the area where the bag was sitting when the ring was placed inside. We expanded out in all directions and made a few passes down the beach in the direction Delaney ran to meet her friends. Problem was, that exact location could not be determined. I could be anywhere from a few hundred feet away to several hundred yards, and maybe in the dry sand, maybe in the wet. That made that search area HUGE! We’re talking many football sized areas.

After a couple of hours without success, it started to get dark, windy and cold. Without knowing the exact area where she searched her bag, it was anyone’s guess at to where to search. We called it a night and I took a bit more info to mull over, and told Delaney I would keep the info and a photo on file should the ring turn up. She said they were going to return in the morning to continue the search and try to determine where she had been. I wished her good luck and to let me know if she discovered a new area we hadn’t covered. The next morning, I thought about going back down there and contacted Delaney to see if she had any new information. She said she thought maybe she was closer to the water and it might be in the wet sand now. They had already searched, but, came up empty. I decided to go ahead and give it another try. Delaney was already heading north on the road back home, so, she couldn’t meet me. No problem, I know the search area, and so just went on my own. I re-searched the first area by the volleyball court without success, and then headed the direction toward the supposed second area. Oh, I forgot to mention that since the night before, the beach grooming machine had gone through the area and sifted a 100 foot wide swath between the two search areas. Wonderful…., the ring could have been scooped up or moved hundreds of yards before falling out of the machine. I figured that would be the last area to search and I would concentrate on the slope and wet sand where the sifter didn’t go. 3 hours and many 300 yard long passes later, I was thinking about calling it. It was mind-numbingly quiet with virtually no targets of any sort, making it more of a walk on the beach than finding treasure. The good news is that you can cover a lot of ground when you don’t have to stop for anything. I finally, decided that this was going to be my last pass and head back south toward the 1st location. I got maybe a 1/4 of the way there when I got a nice solid 12 on my Equinox 800. Earlier I had found several of those sounds/readings, and they were all pull tabs or wadded up bits of foil. I took a healthy scoop of wet sand and thought I saw a flash of yellow gold as the sand sifted out. Sure enough, once the sand was gone a beautiful yellow gold engagement ring was looking up at me. Yes! Since I already had a photo of the ring, I knew it was Delaney’s. I texted her a photo and a subsequent phone call confirmed it was her ring and that she was on the road heading home. She arranged for her friends, that were still here in town, to meet up with me, so, they could pick up the ring and return it to her on their way home. They met me a short time later, took possession of the ring, and added their thanks to Delaney’s. A pleasure to meet you all, and thank you for the generous reward. My best wishes on your upcoming marriage Delaney.

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Keys found in Chula Vista

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Angela called me to help find her lost keys. It was dark, she and her husband were outside his car in the parking lot where they lived. Angela attempted to throw her keys over to top of the car to her husband on the other side. The keys didn’t make it! They hit the top of the car and bounced somewhere. They searched the parking lot, sidewalk, and landscaping the best they could in the dark using a flashlight, but, didn’t have any luck. They searched again the next day, even cleaning out dead leaves and branches from the bushes along the sidewalk. Still no luck. Next in the process was to buy a metal detector and try again. They had « fun » removing everything imaginable from the ground cover and bushes, but, the keys just wouldn’t speak up. Eventually, they heard about The Ring Finders and gave me a call.

I met Angela at the parking lot around noon and got the low down on how the keys were lost. I started by searching all the ground area in and around the bushes and all along the sidewalk. No luck. I ran the coil over the surface of the bushes and even in the overhanging tree branches, but, still nothing. Next, I started at one end and started shaking all the bushes as hard as I dared, hoping to hear the tinkle of keys or to hopefully convince the bushes to let go of them. We made it all the way to the other end without success, but, while walking back toward where we started Angela looked down and spied them right under the corner of one of the bushes. Yes! Don’t know how we missed them at the time we were at that bush, but, hey, they’re now back where they belong, so, that’s what counts. A very happy Angela called her husband with the good news and both gratefully thanked me. A pleasure to meet you Angela and thank you for the reward.

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Ring found at Ocean Beach

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Richard called me to say that he accidentally lost his wife Simone’s gold ring in the sand at Ocean Beach,  She had given him the ring so that she wouldn’t go into the ocean with it and lose it! Richard had it on his pinky when the unthinkable happened and it ended up in the dry sand. Never fear, The Ring Finders are here! I grabbed my gear, asked the wife to come along in case there wasn’t any parking, and headed out the door. Turns out there was plenty of parking, so, my wife and I went over and met Richard and Simone. We got the story and the approximate search area where I went to work. Not 30 seconds later, I get a nice solid 9 on my Equinox 800. Poked my TRX pin pointer into the sand and chased a signal for a few seconds until I cornered it and pulled a pretty little gold ring back into the sunlight. A relieved Richard and a happy Simone were now able to enjoy the rest of the day. A pleasure to meet you and thank you for the reward.

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Ring lost at Ski Beach Found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Joe was enjoying his visit to Ski Beach on Mission Bay, at least until he lost his platinum wedding ring. He had gone down the the water’s edge to rinse his hands. when he returned back to the fire ring area where they were camped, he shook his hands to remove the water, when his ring flew off. He and others tried in vain to find the ring in the dry sand, but, no luck doing that. I met Joe there the next morning and after a few bottle caps that were reading 13-15, I got an 11 reading on my Equinox that proved to be his ring. A happy Joe is now able to get that ring resized and continue it’s story. Nice to meet you Joe and thank you for the reward.

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Rings lost at Mission Beach Found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Esther called me and asked for help finding her future sister-in-law Gerry’s engagement ring. Reason #2 again! Yup, ring put into beach chair pocket, chair folded up later when they left, and no ring by the time they got to the car. I get the particulars and find out it’s been two days since the loss. That’s an eternity on the blanket line at a popular beach, but, always worth a try. I met Esther at the beach and she directs me to the search area. Since she wasn’t with them when this all happened, I could only get a general idea of where it might be. Esther’s Brother-in-law and future husband of Gerry was on his way to help narrow the search area since he was there at the time of loss. I searched a bit in the mean time, but, only came up with a few coins. That was a good sign however, telling me that it was unlikely anyone else had detected that area lately. The beach groomer hadn’t been through there either, another thing in our favor. Hollis arrived and pointed out the area he believed they had been, and Oh, there were actually 5 rings that were lost! 1 white gold, and 4 silver, so, I’ll be digging just about all signals.

Naturally, there were other people camped right in that spot today! I started searching an open spot next to it while Esther and Hollis went to get permission to hunt under the people’s tent and around their camp. The people were nice enough to allow that, but, no ring came to light. I went back and continued to grid the open area while they tried to figure out where the next likely spot would be. After many passes and getting about 100 feet away from where the rings should be, I was just about to stop and move to search their path back to the car, and the trash cans where they stopped on the way, when I get another good « dime » signal. I scoop and sweep over the hole. Still a signal, so, I dump the sand and take another scoop. Hmmm, two rings in the scoop that look like the silver rings described by Hollis as being the other rings Gerry had lost. I called him over and he confirmed that those were two of them. I swept the hole again, but, nothing. Swept the sand I dumped out on my first scoop, and I get another signal. Yup silver ring number 3. Another sweep and silver #4. To heck with silver! Where’s the gold! Next scoop is where! A beautiful engagement ring comes to light. My first 5 ring recovery! Hollis and Esther are amazed and very happy to see those rings again, and Gerry was too when she was contacted with the good news. A pleasure to meet you, good luck on your future marriage Hollis and Gerry, and thank you for the reward.

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Ring lost at La Jolla shores Found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Alec and Liz were visiting here in San Diego and spent the day at the beach in La Jolla. Liz removed her special family heirloom gold ring that she got from her grandmother, and put it in her purse for safekeeping. Well, it must not be too good a place to stay safe as after they packed up and left the beach, they discovered it was not still in the purse. The good news was that it should be in the dry sand. The bad news was that I didn’t get contacted until a couple of days had passed, and the beach grooming machine had already gone through the area. Another possible minus was that it could be in a HUGE area. Not only where they were camped, but almost a half mile of beach they walked to get back to their car. Though I wouldn’t have given good odds on this recovery, I was more than willing to give it a go. Going by a few Google maps, I started at the parking lot at 8pm and walked the 1/2 mile to where they were camped, detecting along the supposed route. Nothing on the first pass. I get to the most likely spot where they had been for most of the day and started my grid. After many passes, I realized it was 9:30pm and that the parking lot would close at 10. I make another pass back to the parking lot without success, get my truck out of the lot, and drive north up to where I left off gridding. After another half hour or so, I get the signal I was hoping for. A good healthy scoop later and her precious ring was in my hand. A few days later, they made the trip back to San Diego and were reunited with the wayward circle. Now grandma’s ring story can continue! A pleasure to meet you both, and thank you for the generous reward.

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Lost rings at Pacific Beach Found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Fie was visiting here in San Diego and went to the beach with her son. She decided to put some sun screen on her son and removed her wedding, engagement, and anniversary rings and put them in her jeans pocket. She and her son went and played in the sand and water (where she got knocked over a few times) and at the end of the day, she realized her jean pockets were empty! Panic sets in at that point trying to figure out what to do. Fie’s cousin starts a Google search and up pops TheRingFinders.com website and my contact info. Since she had just lost them only 2-3 hours before she contacted me, I wanted to get on site as soon as possible, even though it was going to be high tide soon. Being a Friday night, hot, humid, and summer time, I knew it would be crowded and hard to find parking. No matter, I wanted to get there before someone else found the rings and made off with them. I met them shortly after sunset and headed to the area they had been that afternoon. Even though there were still a few people on the beach, I was able to search almost all of the suspect area. No rings…shoot. Well, the tide was just starting to head out, but, not enough yet to do a water search. I told them I would return early in the morning and sweep the area at low tide. Not knowing exactly when and where the rings came out made it a HUGE search area, probably 3-4 football fields in size was a possibility. I returned at 2am and started just south of the most likely area and planned on gridding my way north all the way to the pier if necessary. She had only gone knee deep, but, it’s a pretty shallow beach in that area so tons of wet sand to cover. After about an hour and a half, I hit my best sound of the night. One big scoop and I had a beautiful engagement ring in my hand. Even covered in sand and with only my headlamp to see it, I was pretty sure it was one of her rings. Now, where are the others? I looped around this one a couple of times, but, nothing. Hmm. Ok, I continued on with my grid and about 8 feet away, I get another great signal. Sure enough, another matching ring comes to light. Alright, just one more! Circled around that area a bit and again, nothing. Dang, continue with the grid again. Another 8 feet toward shore and I get the third one. All of them were in a straight line from about a 160 feet out from the dry sand. This was a 3’s wild kind of night. Her’s was the 3rd set of 3 rings I’ve recovered and it started at 3:33am! I looked at my watch after finding the first ring. Kinda weird, but, in a nice way! When I got home, I texted Fie and told her that I would contact her later in the day after I got some sleep. We made arrangements to meet that afternoon. She and some of her wonderful family came and had a joyous reunion with her rings. It was a pleasure to meet you all and thank you for the generous reward! 

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Lost ring at Coronado, Found.

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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Reason #2. Oh, you need more info? Ok, Neil was visiting here in town and spent the day at the Beach in Coronado sitting in the sand in front of the Hotel Del Coronado. He placed his platinum wedding band into the beach chair pocket for « safekeeping ». I know, those chairs should come with a jewelry safety warning on them! Later, when he was ready to leave, he folded up the chair and headed out. When he realized that his ring was no longer in the pocket, it was too late. The beach had swallowed it. An internet search and TheRingFinders.com popped up. He texted me at 5:45am just as I arrived home from an all night detecting hunt. Still sandy and a bit tired, I knew we needed to jump on this search right away if we had any chance to find it before someone else did, so I told  him I’d be right over. I picked him up at his hotel and headed down to the search area. We walked out to where he was camped, he circled a bit, and declared this was about the spot. I made a couple of short passes and after not much more than a minute, I got that « great » pulltab/gold/platinum reading of 12-15 on my Etrac. Poked the pin pointer into the sand and pulled out Neil’s ring. A much happier ending to his visit to San Diego than it could have been. A pleasure to meet you Neil, and thank you for the generous reward.

P.S. For future reference, reason number 1 is: « I removed my rings to apply skin lotion, put them on my lap/the blanket, and forgot them. »

 

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Ring lost in La Jolla Found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)
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What I thought was going to be an easy search and return didn’t exactly work out that way. I’ll let Edie tell her story……….

« We called Mark after hunting for 5 days for my ring.  One evening I was tossing out two old oranges into the ivy-covered hillside behind our house and above our back patio.  My hands were a bit wet and unfortunately this loosened up a very special ring that I’ve worn on my index finger for over 20 years.  So when I was throwing out the second orange – my ring flew off along with the orange! Horror of horrors!!  I only saw it like a split-second whir going off slightly to the left of the two oranges. Didn’t see exactly where it landed, only an approximate area.  We hunted for several hours that night, and then on and on for 5 days, including after we bought a Pin-Pointer metal detector. The vines are very thick, though not too deep underneath them, and the vegetation has been there for decades on a rather steep hillside….  Mark looked everywhere for over an hour, even trying all of his highly sensitized equipment and doing a simulated test of my throw to approximate where the ring might have fallen.  He was very patient and calm the whole time, but even he was finally ‘running out of options,’ as he said.  Then he went up the hillside one last time, and further up and further to the left than we had ever considered it could go.  There it was lying on the ground in perfect condition, not even encased in dirt.  I had not expected to see the ring ever again, but Mark persisted in his search and continued to look beyond where we thought it could be.  We are very grateful to Mark for coming the morning after we called him and for being so persistent in his search.  We recommend him highly to anyone who has lost a ring or any other valuable metal object. »

I couldn’t have said it better myself!  The ring was found at the top of the hill in the upper right of the photo. About 4 feet from the back fence. Quite a nice throw Edie! A pleasure to meet you and your husband Jim. Thank you for the generous reward! 

 

 

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