Received a call from Shaun to see if I could locate his lost wedding ring that he had lost three weeks prior in his back yard while he was raking leaves and cleaning out his flower pots. 
After about 1 1/2 hours of searching I found his ring in the flower pot.
Fort Worth,Texas Fire Fighter Looses Grandfathers Wedding Ring in while Fighting Brush Fire!
On Friday afternoon we received a call from a Fort Worth fire fighter. He said that he and his crew had been fighting a brush/fence fire behind a home where a woman had thrown out some 2-day old fireplace coals. The coals had set the compost pile and fence and part of the yards of 2 homes on fire. He said his buddy had lost his Grandfathers ring which he now wears as a Wedding Ring. It was 3pm on Friday afternoon, they were 52 miles away across Dallas & Fort Worth and 5pm Friday afternoon traffic was a major contention. I knew it would take a minimum of 2 hours to drive there so I asked if we could come on Saturday due to traffic, but the young firefighter had panic in voice and ask us to please come.
How can you say ‘no’ to a Fire Fighter? It took us nearly 3 hours to get there due to the heavy traffic.
He was waiting for us when we arrived and explained that he had been inside the backyard of the home and was knocking out the burning fence slats with the palm of his hand while fighting the fire. He knew exactly where he was standing (in the wet, smelly compost pile) when it came off, and it was lightly raining… Get the picture?, pretty much a yuck site.
With a desperate customer, our Garrett equipment and rubber boots we went to work. Thinking the ring flew off some distance into the field behind the home, we searched everywhere. Eliminating nails, iron, junk, etc. doing everything we could to find the ring. After an hour it was starting to get dark and everyone was loosing hope my wife went back into the backyard and began slowly going through the compost pile with her detector and pinpointer. Understand this compost pile was about 18-inches thick and 5-ft by 5-ft in size. It was soaking wet from the fire being put out, burnt from catching on fire and wet burned trash just really stinks. But this is what the fireman was standing on when he was knocking out the burning fence slats. I was coming into the backyard to help her when I heard her yell out « I Found It », the fireman was standing right there when she found his ring, he was so excited. He kept saying « you guys are awesome, you guys are awesome, unbelievable!, wait till I tell the guys back at the station! ».
This was by far our dirtiest hunt, but one of our most rewarding.
Our Firefighters across this country will run into a burning home or building for us without thinking twice about it, the least we can do is work through muck to find a wedding ring for them.
This was a very emotional find for us and we are so glad to be part of « The Ring Finders ».
Till next time, detectors ON!
Don & Ellen
We got a call from a wonderful lady that said her husband (a pilot) had lost his ring while working in their front yard. He was standing in a culvert ditch tossing some large rocks from one side of the driveway to the other and felt his ring slid off; he said he heard it « tink » twice but never saw it land. He and his family searched for months looking for the ring without luck. He bought a cheap metal detector himself but without success, his father-in-law came over with another detector but had no luck either. Months past and his wife was playing around on the internet and found « The Ring Finders » website and called us.
We arrived and met with the couple, I truly think the husband felt is was a lost cause. The ring had be lost for over 6 months. With the snowy/wet weather we have had this year he felt it was lost forever.
My wife & I got our Garrett Detectors and went to searching; we checked everywhere the husband said he thought is might be but had no luck. So we went back over to where he stated he had been standing originally when he lost the ring. The ditch was knee deep in leaves, trash, mud and an 18-inch metal pipe that went under their driveway. After scanning over that area many times we decided everything had to come out of the ditch due to way too many hits on trash. So on our hands and knees we began to pull out all the leaves and junk using our Garrett pinpointers to check every handful of trash for the ring. After a short time I saw something shiny and I told my wife « I Got It ». There stuck in the mud, 5-8 inches down in the muck, right where the husband had been standing throwing the rocks was his ring. The « Tinking Sound » he heard must have been the ring hitting the metal culvert not the driveway as he thought. The ring was in great shape.
And for the fun part, we went up to the door and rang the bell, the wife came to the door and she said « No Luck Huh » and we just smiled and I open my hand revealing her husbands « Palladium Wedding Ring », she said « Oh my gosh, let me go get him » he was thrilled and we had « Another Successful Hunt for the the Dallas Ring Finders ».
God I love this hobby!
Till next time, detectors ON!
Don & Ellen
Hello from Don & Ellen Wilson in Dallas, Texas. We got a call today from Mrs Bundy, her 8yr old daughter, Briar, had lost her Gold Signet Ring at the playground of the local Country Club. We met at the Country Club and began searching the area where the daughter said she saw the ring fly off her hand. She was playing Queen of the World by standing on top of a picnic table and threw her arm out like she was Queen. The ring came off of her hand and was lost.
After 3 weeks of searching by Briar, her parents, other family members and the Country Club grounds & Management staff everyone had given the ring up for lost. Mrs Bundy’s sister in New York read an article about « The Ring Finders » and told Mrs. Bundy she should check the website and see if there was a « Ring Finder in the Dallas area » She did and found my wife and I.
After about an hour of searching we were about to call it quits when I asked the little girl to get back up on the picnic table and re-inact the event. She did, then my wife said « no wait, do it again and close your eyes and do it the exact same way ». Briar did as we requested and did it completely different than she had previously showed us. This time I saw that it was possible the ring may have flown in a different area of grass. We began to detect this area and in 5 minutes the ring showed itself. I called the little girl and her mother over and asked, ‘is this your ring’? They were so excited and so grateful.
Another great day in the life of « The Ring Finders in Dallas,Tx »
God I love this hobby!
Don & Ellen
We received a panic call from a young man about 8pm one night saying that his girlfriend had lost the locket and chain he had given her somewhere in his front yard. He wanted us come that night but we were tied up and promised to come early the next morning. We arrived around 7am and he explained that he and his girlfriend had been playing around in the front yard when the incident happened. She had placed the item in the pocket of her hoodie prior to playing around. She was extremely upset with him and he was really upset that he couldn’t find it himself.
We got out our detectors and began scanning and in just 5 minutes or so we got a HIT. We found the locket and chain. He was shocked and happy and could not thank us enough.
What a thrill to have another successful hunt for « The Ring Finder ».
Don & Ellen Wilson – Carrollton,Texas
I saw a posting on www.Craigslist.com Lost and Found section looking for help in locating a lost ring. Brian had been spectating the Ironman race the past weekend. After the race, he found a wooded area off of the route to change into some shorts. He then walked back to the race route, which ran directly past a rural house. Brian picked a spot in front of a driveway and encouraged others still running the race. Suddenly, Brian realized his ring was missing. He retraced his steps back to the wooded area, searching for his ring along the way. He did not have any luck. He wasn’t sure if he lost it while changing in the woods, or while watching the race. It was getting dark, so Brian grabbed a flashlight and continued hunting for his ring. He searched for awhile longer, but did not find anything. Brian was so mad at himself for losing his ring. To top it all off, he was from Illinois and had to return home the next day. This is when Brian posted an ad on Craigslist hoping someone else had found it while watching the race.
I responded to the ad offering to help. Robyn, Brian’s wife, replied back with a great image of a Google Map snapshot, including the area Brian was in circled in red. She indicated the main area to search was the driveway. My son and I made arrangements with the homeowner to stop out and search. The grass was longer than usual, so I could see how it would be hard to find the ring if it was dropped. After about 10 mins, all we had was $0.35 in change, a couple pop tops and a handful of other junk. Then, right in the area Robyn said to focus on, we got a strong hit on the detector … it was Brian’s ring! Someone must have stepped on it, possibly Brian while searching for it. It was about 1 inch underground, but was easy to retrieve. I then gave Brian a call to give him the good news, he was ecstatic. You could just tell the relief in his voice when I was talking with him.
This was a special hunt for me, as this was our first wedding ring search and return … we’ve been hooked ever since
Brian and Robyn L.
