La Jolla Tag | Page 3 of 5 | The Ring Finders

Ring lost at Mission Bay found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Michael was out on the beach at Mission Bay in front of his apartment when, while waving to someone, his loose fitting wedding ring flew off into the sand. A search by sifting through the sand proved fruitless, so, an online search was in order where he found The Ring Finders website. When I turned on my phone in the morning, I noticed the text and contacted Michael. We made plans for a 10am meet and search. After arriving, meeting Michael and his lovely wife, we went to the site while talking and getting the ring loss story on the way. The search area was fairly large, but, not ridiculous. All dry sand and maybe 30 X 100 feet or so. I started at one end and after 3-4 passes, several coins, and a dog tag later, his gold wedding band came to light. All smiles on the happy couple now and thank you for the reward.

Lost ring at Mission Beach found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Joe’s buddies were throwing him a bachelor party here in San Diego. Got the beach house, check, got the beer, check, took an Uber to get the Cardiff Crack (a special Tri Tip roast beef sold up the coast a ways), check, hitting the beach and throwing the football around in the water, check. What they forgot was that you should leave jewelry at home and not take them to the beach…..especially out in the ocean. He’s from Arizona, and just started wearing this ring, so, a common rookie mistake :-). The cold water combined with slippery conditions allowed his ring to just fall right off in the waist deep surf. An online search and The Ring Finders popped up with my contact info. I get the call just a hair after high tide, so, we made arrangements to meet a good 5 hours later when the tide would be a lot further out. Makes the search much easier to contend with when you can avoid most of the surf, current, and undertow. I arrive around 8:30 pm and meet Joe at the location. Earlier I had him take some reference points and pace off how far he had been out in the water. These were important details that help narrow the search area and increase the likelihood of success. I started gridding and getting no targets at all…..as in mind-numbingly quiet. After about 4-5 passes, I get a solid 11 and scoop a bottle cap. Rats….even though I figured it wasn’t going to be his size 14 tungsten carbide ring, I was at least hoping for something good. 2 more passes and I get a screaming 20 on my Equinox. Now, that’s more like it! Sure enough, Joe’s ring was in the scoop. He and his buddies were totally amazed and thrilled that Joe’s ring was recovered. Let the bachelor party begin! It will be a lot more pleasant trip home to AZ too, since I just realized that the ring is inscribed with « til death », which might have been the consequences coming back home without the ring!  Pleasure to meet you Joe, and the bachelor party gang, and thank you for the reward. 

Ring Lost in Bressi Ranch Found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Even though it was later in the day than usual, and their regular ball playing routine would be postponed to another day, Jay took his dogs to their favorite area for a run and romp in the park grass. While wrestling with his two dogs, his now loose fitting wedding ring popped off his finger and disappeared in the long fescue grass. Even though the search area wasn’t very large, try as he might, with flashlight and hands and knees hunting that night and the next morning, Jay couldn’t come up with it. He found me online and we arranged to meet around noon. We walked the short distance to the search area and after just 3 other signals, Jay’s wedding ring told my Equinox that « hey » I’m here! See? I’m a solid 15 and not a pull tab! Save me! Jay was more than happy to get his symbol of love back again to continue it’s story. Great to meet you Jay, and thank you for the reward.

Lost ring at Mission Beach found.

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Tim and his family were spending the day at Mission Beach on Thursday. He had set up a tent and was soon informed that camping tents were not allowed. In his haste to strike the tent and gather the gear, apparently, his ring came off. When he discovered it missing, naturally, they all looked in the bags, gear, tent, and sand, but. no ring. I get the call on Saturday in the early afternoon. They had returned to the beach at the same location hoping to find the ring. Knowing the traffic and parking nightmare that is Mission Beach on a Saturday afternoon, I was able to convince the wife to come along so she could drop me off and then look for the mythical parking spot. All worked as planned, and after meeting the wife and kids, getting the low down on how the ring was lost, and being shown the search area, I begun my search. Maybe 15 seconds later, I get my first target, a solid 21 on the Equinox, and scooped up his cobalt (only my second one of these) wedding ring. Tim got me right on the spot! Everyone was thrilled and better able to enjoy the rest of the day. My wife hadn’t found that theoretical parking spot yet, so, she circled around, came back, and picked me up. Drive time, over an hour, recovery time less than a minute! A pleasure meeting you all, and thank you for the reward.

South Mission Beach ring recovery

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Neiva decided to play some volleyball and soon discovered that her ring was hurting her finger, so, she removed it. After the game she tried to put the ring back on, but, found her finger had swelled a bit and wouldn’t allow that. The ring was then thought to have been placed in her bag, but, apparently it was left on the blanket. Later when getting ready to leave, Neiva picked up the blanket and gave it a shake to remove the sand. When she searched for her ring, it wasn’t in the bag, and obviously now, wasn’t on the blanket either. She and her friends searched with their fingers sifting through the sand, but, could find the ring. Neiva Googled for help, and my name came up. Being a sunny Sunday afternoon during the summer, I knew the beach traffic and parking was going to be a nightmare, but, headed into the fray anyway. Sure enough, traffic was backed up, and once I got to the beach, dozens of cars were circling the lots waiting for an opening. I finally found a spot and headed to the volleyball court to meet Neiva. She showed me the area where she had her blanket and bag, and I began my search. First target read a nice solid 10 on my Equinox, but, turned out to be part of a pull tab. Next signal was a solid 6 and was her ring. A happy Neiva could now join me in the traffic and head home. A pleasure meeting you and thank you for the reward.

Lost ring found at Mission Bay

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

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.

 

Lost ring found at Mission Beach

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

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.

Keys found in Chula Vista

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

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.

Ring found at Ocean Beach

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

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.

Ring lost at Ski Beach Found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

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.