# Kennebunkport Metal Detector Rental Tag | The Ring Finders

White Gold Wedding Ring, Lost In Springvale, Maine, Found While Searching With A Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)
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I was contacted by Christina about her wedding ring. She had lost it on Friday, April 4th, while helping her husband, move a refrigerator, into their home, in Springvale, Maine. Christina told me that she had taken her Engagement Ring and her Wedding Ring off, and put them in her pants pocket. She was nervous about damaging them, while moving the refrigerator. When they finished moving the refrigerator, Christina reached into her pocket to retrieve her rings but only the Engagement Ring was there. The Wedding Ring was missing. Christina asked me how much my service was and I told her that I did not charge for my Emergency Metal Detecting Service or for my time. I just required a Transportation Fee, to cover my gas, tolls, wear and tear etc.

When I arrived at her home Christina met me promptly. After a few pleasantries, I got down to business, by asking her many questions, about the day the ring went missing. I asked about where she was when the rings were put into her pocket and where was she when she reached in to take them out. I asked her the path they took, with the refrigerator. Have they done a visual search of all the areas that she had been in.
Christina told me she couldn’t remember if she was in the bed of the truck or in the house, when she took her rings off, but she and her husband had visually searched the truck and inside there home. They had removed the refrigerator from the truck and brought it into the home, through the front gate and down the walkway. They had also searched all of these areas. Once they were done with the refrigerator, they went for a walk, heading down the middle of the street and while walking, Christina reached into her pocket, to retrieve the rings. It was at this point, she realized her wedding ring was no longer in her pocket. She and her husband retraced their steps, in and along the street, but the ring was not found.
I told Christina I would search the entire lawn, on both sides of the walkway and on the outside of their fence, along the street. The area wasn’t very large and the search went quickly. I then asked Christina how far they had walked, down the street. I would search the grass, along the street and hopefully find it in the grass or gravel and Christina was walking down the middle of the street, as she had done, 5 days earlier. As I finished up in front of her house, I was halfway done searching in front of her neighbors house. I stopped and asked Christina where she was exactly, when she took the rings out of her pocket. She said “Actually, right in this area” and made a motion with her hand, outlining the area, in the street. As she was saying that, she said, Oh My God, there it is”. Christina was pointing into the street and THERE WAS HER WEDDING RING. She couldn’t believe it and mentioned that they had searched the street a few different times. She then texted her husband and he came out to see where it was found. I took some photos and we were all extremely happy that the ring was found. I really couldn’t believe the ring was in the street for 5 full days. Just crazy!

I try to ask my clients all kind of questions, concerning the circumstances of the ring going missing. It just might trigger something that helps in locating the ring. I would like to think that me asking her where she was, when she pulled the rings out made her stop and look at the area. Either way, when I am searching, many of my clients like to visually search, along side of me. As far as I’m concerned, it takes a team to be successful and today the Teamwork worked out just fine. Christina was extremely happy to have her wedding ring back and we both had big smiles.

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Diamond Wedding Ring Lost in Gorham, Maine, Found With A Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)
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Tuesday morning, April 15th, it was raining outside. I would be driving my 8 year old granddaughter to school and then continuing to Market Basket and Hannaford’s, in Biddeford, Maine with a honey do shopping list. As I arrived at the school, I noticed I had a voicemail, from 13 minutes earlier.

The voicemail was from someone named Tom. Tom explained, on the voicemail, that he is in the process of building a house and had lost his wedding ring, the previous day at the construction site. The crew needed to start in, on the leech bed and septic system but unfortunately there was too much wood, metal and other building materials, in the way. So Tom started picking up the construction materials and debris and throwing it into a trailer and also stacking some on a pile of wood. At the end of the day, as Tom was getting ready to strap down the trailer, he noticed his wedding ring was missing. He knows he had the ring on and at the construction site because he had just picked the wedding ring up, at the jewelers, at noontime, as Tom was having 3 loose diamonds checked and fixed. Tom started searching for the missing wedding ring, at the construction site, in all the area’s he had been. He visually searched with a flashlight, after the sun went down. He looked through the stacked piles of wood and couldn’t find his wedding ring.
This morning, Tom was back at the site, searching once again. Still nothing. The driveway is just nothing but mud, with some areas, very deep. Tom told me he thinks the ring imay be under the mud. Could I help him out and give him a call back?
I immediately called Tom back, as I sat in the school line. I told Tom I would be there, as soon as I dropped my granddaughter off, went home and loaded my equipment up. Now I just need to tell my wife Cheryl, the honey do list will need to wait 😉

AS soon as I finished talking with Tom, I called Gary Hill, to see if he would like to help me out. I did not know what the construction site looked like or how big the areas to be searched were. I just knew that I didn’t want the septic system and leech bed coming to a screeching halt, because I couldn’t find the ring fast enough. Gary would be a big help on this and thankfully he was available and I would pick him up, on my way to the Town of Gorham construction site.
Once Gary and I arrived, Tom promptly met us and explained everything once again. He pointed out the areas he was working in and it was going to be a challenge to find his ring, with all the mud and lots of metal and piles of wood everywhere.
I had Gary start grid searching the grassy area, where there was a pile of lumber and the large trailer. Hopefully the ring wasn’t in the trailer because it would need to be offloaded and physically searched with our Twin Optical Scanners 👀🙄
I decided to grid search the mud, from the pile of lumber, in the driveway, towards the road. If the ring was in this area, I didn’t want the trucks, trailers and lifts running over the ring, driving it down deeper and out of the reach of our metal detectors. As I was gridding the mud, I was slipping and sliding and my boots got stuck a few times, in the mud. Same with Gary, when he came over to the area.

After approximately 35-40 minutes, I had completed about 25 feet of the driveway and no signals even close to a gold ring. Gary was back over on the grass area and was attempting to get closer to the stack of lumber and construction materials. The metal was everywhere, including the ground and it was not easy, searching there. All of a sudden, I hear Gary yell over to me, “I found it”. Wait, What? Gary then says it is “right here, come and get some photos”. When I arrived, Gary pointed out the wedding ring, blending in with the grass. Gary told me he was trying to get as close to the pile of construction debris and material, when he heard a slight low tone. When he looked down, there was the ring.

Tom had left for a few minutes and when he returned, we asked him to show us once again what he had been doing around the pile. Gary asked him, were you over here? When Tom got over to Gary, Gary pointed to the ring, in the grass but Tom still couldn’t see it. Gary really had to point it out, because the ring was blending in very well, with the grass. Once Tom saw the ring, in the grass, a big smile swept across his face. Tom was really surprised he hadn’t seen it last night or this morning. Unfortunately, once a ring is the grass, they can be very difficult to see.

A very sentimental wedding ring is now back on Tom’s finger, where it belongs. There is no better feeling for Gary and I, than to reunite a lost item, with the rightful owner. Another smile for my “Book of Smiles” makes for a great day.

So Tom is happy that he has his wedding ring back and it will no longer impede the progress of the septic system and leech bed. Gary and I are happy for putting another smile on a client’s face. Now I need to go start the honey do list and that should put a smile on my wife’s face.

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Two Lost Property Markers Not Seen In 33 Years, Found With A Metal Detector, in Saco, Maine

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)
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It’s not always jewelry that I am contacted to find. I can help locate Property Markers, Water Shutoff Valves, Well Caps, etc. if it is made of metal, I can find it, as long as it isn’t to deep and out of the metal detector’s range.

I was contacted by Ted, last fall about trying to locate his two front property markers. He had purchased his home in 1992 and at that time he had been able to see the property markers. They were flush to the ground in 1992 but today, no longer visible. Ted ask if I could help him locate the markers, in the spring. Absolutely I will help him. Knowing he had actually seen them, at one time, I figured it wouldn’t take to long to locate.

So. On Sunday March 16, I walked down to Ted’s house. Yes, Ted and I live on the same street and just two houses separate our properties. I love helping a neighbor. When I arrived, Ted took me out to the front of the house and showed me the area where he had last seen the right front marker, 30+ years earlier.

I fired up the Minelab Manticore and started searching the grassy lawn area. I was not finding anything that should have rung up as a ferrous metal, like a steel property marker. I dug a penny, a bottle cap and a piece of foil. Nothing much at all on the lawn. Ted suggested we head to the left front of the house and search for that property marker. Let’s go.

We walked down to the other end of the property and when I started swinging the metal detector, I almost immediately received a ferrous signal that got me excited. The problem was the ferrous signal was partially under the asphalt sidewalk. As I started digging the lawn, next to the sidewalk, I realized the marker was approximately 5 inches deep, on the border of the grass and paved sidewalk.

Ted and I removed enough soil, to expose and verify that the property marker had been found. We decided that Ted would get a City Lot Map and once we had the exact lot dimensions, we would measure the distance from the market we had just found and I would bring my 300’ tape measure and measure out the distance.

Monday was a rainout. On Tuesday, I walked back down to Ted’s house and we measured 100’ from the left front marker and I immediately received a great signal, right on the 100’ foot mark, from the other marker. The lot dimensions said 100’ apart and we had a ferrous signal, at exactly that distance. Unfortunately the signal was not on the grassy lawn, it was completely under the paved asphalt sidewalk. There were no other signals, anywhere near the 100’ mark, that the property dimensions called for. We marked the sidewalk where I found the signal and Ted will contact the City of Saco Government, to see why the property markers were paved over. Until then, we did not dig up the sidewalk. This was the first time I have ever found property markers, under pavement. I have always found them, under grass. I will now start thinking about the sidewalk, whenever I can’t find them on the lawn.

Our next goal is to search the back of his property for 1 more marker. Ted has never seen the marker but would like to try and find it, if it’s there. First Ted will remove some of the overgrown trees that have popped up in the area. Once that area is cleared, we will search around.

Even though Ted didn’t lose any jewelry, he still had a big smile and was happy to have found his property markers, after 30+ years.

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Gold Signet Ring Lost In The Portland, Maine Snow. Found With A Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)
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On Monday evening, February 17th, 2025, I received the following voicemail transcription.

“Hey how you doing. My name is Ethan M***. I got your number off of Facebook, for the finding thing you do. I am just calling to see if I can get your help I just lost my ring in the snow and can you call me back at 910-***-****, thank you…”

I immediately called Ethan back and he explained that he was shoveling his driveway, when he slipped on a patch of ice and fell to the ground, hard. As he was falling, he could feel his ring coming off, he thinks. Everything happened so fast and he was bracing himself for impact, but he thinks he felt the ring coming off.
Thankfully, he was not injured, in the fall. Once he had composed himself he searched for his ring, in the driveway and immediate area, without any luck. The snow was deep, on each side of the driveway and mostly hard packed snow and ice, in the driveway itself. After not locating the ring, Ethan went inside and called me for help. He told me that the ring was not his wedding ring, but a very special Signet Ring, that was a gift from his wife and is extremely sentimental.
As fate would have it, I had a Physical Therapy appointment at Orthopedic Associates, in Portland, Maine at 8:30am, the next morning and it was only 10-15 minutes, from where Ethan lived, in Portland Maine . I told Ethan that I could arrive at his home at 7:00am, before he left for work and he could go over the events, just prior, to losing his Signet ring. I would be able to search for an hour, before I had to leave for my PT appointment. If I wasn’t able to cover the entire area and find the ring , prior to leaving, I would return immediately after my PT session had ended.
I arrived at Ethan’s home at 6:50am and was promptly met by Ethan. He showed me where he was, in the driveway, when he slipped and fell, on the ice. Ethan also told me that he thought the ring would have flown off directly in front or behind him, into the snow.
I decided to start out near the street, searching the driveway and snow along the driveway, including the area in front of Ethan, where he thought the ring may be. Absolutely nothing.
I then turned around and went down the other side of the driveway, searching both the driveway and snowbank, along the driveway. No Signet ring was found. Once I had ended up back at the street , I searched the snowbanks at the end of the driveway and still no ring. At this point, Ethan needed to leave for work. If I found the ring, I could give it to his wife, who was inside, getting ready for work.
After Ethan left, I kept expanding the search area. I got up in the deep snow of the lawn, in front of the house and still no signals. I then went to the other side of the driveway and searched that lawn and into a thick bush, as best I could. Still no ring. I then researched the entire area and still nothing. Thankfully it is a small area and it wasn’t taking me long to cover the areas Ethan thought the ring was in.
I then decided to search the walkway leading up to their front door. Still no ring. As I was heading back towards the driveway, I decided to search as close to the parked car as I could but couldn’t get very close to it, because all the metal kept setting my detector off. I decided to just swing the coil very slowly, and as close to the vehicle as possible. I was still getting some targets but it was always the car setting the detector off. As I tried one last time, I did get a separate signal, aside from the car. It was definitely a non ferrous target but the conductivity reading on the VDI screen was 55. A much higher reading than I would expect for gold. Gold is considered a low conductor and the reading is usually in the 03 to low 30’s. Since it was such a good sounding target and definitely non ferrous, I just had to check it out. I took my pinpointer, scraped the snow down and then I saw the outline of a Gold Ring. I had found Ethan’s Signet Ring. It had taken me approximately 50 minutes and with the temperature at -2 degrees, with the wind chill, I was ready to leave. My feet and fingers were freezing and the warmth of the car was calling me.

I knocked on the front door and Ethan’s wife answered. I showed her the Signet Ring and she was so pleased. She told me Ethan had been very distressed all night, wanting to find his gifted ring very badly. I told his wife I would send some photos of the ring to Ryan, at work, so he could stop worrying.
I sent two photos of the ring and the following message, to Ethan, at work.

“How does it feel to have your ring back”?
Ethan replied
“You are a life saver!!!!”
I told him that his wife was now in possession of his very special ring and asked if he could have a picture taken, with him holding the ring. He quickly agreed and said he would send it to me, when he returned home, this evening. It is always such a great feeling and pleasure to be able to help people like Ethan out in their time of need. I love putting another smile, in my “Book of Smiles”.

Ethan later, in the evening , sent me the following text message .
“Thank you for all of your help, definitely a weight off the shoulders”. How can I not feel good, after a text like this.

It was also a great feeling to get into a warm vehicle. I’ve had enough of the cold and snow. Bring on the spring 🌻🌸❤️

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Gold Wedding Ring, Lost For 42 Years, Found With A Metal Detector and Returned To The Owner, In Saco, Maine

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)
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This story started 42 years ago, when a Gold Wedding Ring was lost.

I purchased and have been living, in my current home since 1993 or 31+ years ago. The home, in Saco, Maine was built in 1893 and as you can imagine, there are lots of metal objects, in the ground. This is especially true because the previous two owners, of my home, were both plumbers. When I took up Metal Detecting 25 years ago, I quickly found out, just how much plumbing metal and other pieces of metal were there. I had been hoping to find lots of old coins and other cool stuff, on the property. Reality set in when I started detecting around the property. I can’t tell you how many pieces of small, cut, pieces of copper piping, I have found over the years. I have also found lots of solder, vintage bottles caps, from the 1950 and 60’s and various other pieces of metal. It’s always been a tough property to Metal Detect on, because of all the metal, in the ground. As the years passed, and I would remove the different metals, from the ground, the older coins, did appear, along with the modern day clad and yes, a few cool items. As I upgraded my Metal Detecting equipment, I would always take it out on the property and test it out, to learn the machine.
Fast forward to August , 2024. I had recently purchased a new Minelab Manticore Metal detector and wanted to start learning all the features, on the machine. One of the features I was most interested in was “Target Separation “. Target separation on the Manticore is supposed to show you, on the VDI screen, both Ferrous and Non Ferrous targets . The good targets (Non Ferrous) would show up along a center line and the not so good targets (Ferrous) would show above and or below the center line. Even though other machines have target separation the Manticore was using the latest technology, so that us detectorists could better see, what is actually under the coil and make better decisions, as to dig the item or not and also see a good target, within all the bad targets. In the past, the Ferrous targets may have “masked” the Non Ferrous targets and we wouldn’t even know there was a Non Ferrous item, among the Ferrous items, unless you dug the ferrous targets . As I started swinging the Manticore, I was receiving many, many targets. The VDI screen would show me all the targets, most above or below the center line and occasionally, right on the center line. I was digging every thing so I could understand what the item was, in relation to where it was on the screen. As it turns out, the Manticore was being extremely accurate. If a target was on the center line, it would turn out to be a non ferrous item, such as a coin. The targets above and below the center line, turned out to be ferrous, usually a nail or something. But what I really loved was that I could now see that there was a Non Ferrous item, mixed in with the ferrous items. This was very exciting for me.
So, on September 1st, 2024, I took the Manticore out into the yard, once again. I was getting more and more comfortable but had a 1/2 hour to kill, so let’s go learn the machine, even more. I was detecting on my side lawn, where I had detected 100 times, over the years. I have found Barber Dimes and Quarters, Mercury Dimes, Washington Silver Quarters and Roosevelt Silver Dimes, in this yard, along with Buffalo Nickels and a countless number of Wheat Pennies. I know there are more there, maybe deeper or being masked by a more dominant Ferrous item. After about 10 minutes of detecting, I received a mixed signal, showing many ferrous items and one non ferrous item, a perfectly round circle, on the center line. I grabbed my digging trowel and cut a plug, in the grass and removed it. I didn’t see anything and used my pinpointer, to locate the target. I removed a little more dirt and I could see, what looked like the outline of a gold ring. I brushed some more dirt off the target and, YES, it was a gold ring. I took it out of the soil and yelled to my wife, Cheryl, who was sitting on the porch. Cheryl came out and couldn’t believe I had found a gold ring, right in our own yard. We could see that there was an inscription on the inside the ring, that contained both letters and numbers. As Cheryl started cleaning the dirt, out of the inside the ring, the inscription read, “W.D.C. 8-15-81”. As soon as I saw this, I told Cheryl that “I know who this ring belongs to. It has to belong to Bill C*******”. There’s no way, it could be anyone else’s.
Now remember the two previous owners that I had mentioned. Well, the first of the plumbers raised his family here and his children went to the same Saco schools as I had, growing up, including our high school, Thornton Academy. As a matter of fact Bill, graduated just a year after me. I graduated in 1974 and Bill in 1975. We played Saco Little League together and over the years had even been in his house a few times. So I immediately think the W.D.C. is Bill and after graduating from Thornton Academy , he was married a little over 6 years later, in 1981. It all made sense. I just knew it had to be Bill’s.
I hadn’t seen Bill in many years, so I started contacting some of his classmates, to see if they had his phone number. Once I got his number, I called Bill. After a little chit chat, I asked Bill if he had ever lost a ring. I didn’t tell him anything about a location and Bill immediately answers that he had lost his wedding ring, at his mother’s house, years and years ago. I told Bill, “Well, I just found your ring, metal detecting, in the yard”. Bill just couldn’t believe it and let out a joyful laugh. We then agreed that the next time, Bill was in Saco, he would come over and I would return his ring.

A few weeks later, Bill texted me and we made plans to meet up at his boyhood home, the next day, September 22, 2024 and I would return his wedding ring, to him. I also plan to show him the exact spot , I had found his ring, 42 years after he had lost it
So this afternoon Bill stopped by and I was extremely happy to return his ring. When I asked Bill the story of him losing his wedding ring, he told me the following. Bill had graduated college and had been teaching school, in the Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Bill had gotten married, in the Virgin Islands in 1981, while teaching school there and had also purchased his Gold Wedding Ring there. Bill and his wife, then moved back to Maine and back into his childhood home, with his mother, until they could get their own place. One day, Bill had gotten on the pull up bar, in the garage , as he had done, many times over the years. Bill normally would remove his ring and place it on top of the pull up bar, so he wouldn’t damage it, while doing his pull ups. This time however, he thinks he placed it in his shirt pocket and forgot about it. The ring then, somehow, ended up on the lawn. It was so long ago that Bill isn’t certain how it ended up out there, on the lawn, after he had gotten off the pull up bar. Forty two years later, Bill is holding his wedding ring, on the exact spot I found it. Full circle. It was great to see Bill and catch up. I am just so happy to be helping people, like Bill get reunited with their lost items. Sometimes it just takes a little longer to find the lost item.

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