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

Lost wedding set at Pacific Beach found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Alyssa called me 5 minutes after my request for help in Coronado. She had lost her wedding ring/engagement combo in the dry sand somewhere in a 20 foot radius around where she was sitting. She was also visiting from out of town (MN) and was leaving the next day. After my successful recovery in Coronado, I headed to Pacific Beach with high hopes. Parking was virtually non-existent down by the beach, so, I parked a good 1/2 mile away and hiked to the site with my gear. She was waiting for me right at the search area and I started a grid search. On the first pass, I found a dime, a piece of trash, and then her rings. A happy Alyssa can now head home happy she doesn’t have to explain to her husband how she lost her rings here in San Diego! Thank you for the reward.

 

Lost earring at Coronado Found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Nellie called for help on a lost earring that her husband had given her for Mother’s Day. She had been busy all day and wasn’t sure exactly when and where it was lost, but, the beach seemed to be the most likely. My wife and I finished our dinner and headed over to Coronado to meet Nellie and conduct a search in the dry sand. When we arrived, it was after sunset, but, enough light to find ground zero on the beach. Nellie had the other earring with her, so, it was helpful in seeing what it would read on my new Equinox 800. A solid 8 signal….great. I started a spiral search from the supposed middle of the search area. After making a circle over 50 feet in diameter with still no earring (or much of any signals for that matter), I started a straight line grid over to the stairs and back thinking she might have lost it on her trip to her car. It was getting a bit chilly, so, I sent my wife back to the truck to get my windbreaker, and Nellie headed up the stairs to visually check there and the parking lot. I continued another pass, and got that sweet « 8 » sound in my headphones. Ran my pin pointer over the sand and pulled out what we were searching for, even though it was a bit out of the perceived search area. I walked back toward the parking lot where my wife and Nellie were talking. My wife had my windbreaker under her arm and while I was putting it on, I asked Nellie if this earring looked familiar? Hugs all around and a happy Nellie. The sodium lights didn’t help the photo of the earrings, but, they are beautiful! Thank you for the reward Nellie.

Ring found and returned at Carlsbad State Beach

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

If the sun lotion scenario is the #1 reason for losing a ring at the beach, this is probably #2. It’s the « I took the ring off and put into the chair pocket, forgot it was there, folded chair and packed everything up when we were ready to leave, drove away and then remembered the ring scenario ». Marcus didn’t get far….just out of the parking lot when he realized what he had done. He returned and searched to no avail. Out came the phone and a Google search. He found my ad on Craig’s list and gave me a call. I told him I would be there within the hour and met him at the location. We walked over the the spot where they had the chairs laid out (the most likely spot of the loss) and I started my grid. Maybe 30 seconds later, I get the sound I wanted to hear on my E-trac and scooped out his ring. A happy Marcus gets to go home, tell the wife, and not have to share the accommodations with the dog. A pleasure meeting you Marcus and thank you for the reward.

 

Rings found at Mission Beach

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Maureen and her two friends were visiting Mission Beach from much hotter Las Vegas, when her engagement and wedding rings ended up in the dry sand. You’ve heard the tail of woe many times before…..blanket, rings removed, sunscreen, forgot, stood up…..rings disappeared from sight. The hardest part about this search was just getting there, finding parking, and hiking to the spot on this Saturday afternoon during the summer. That took an hour for me and I’m only 12 miles away from the beach! Had to park about a mile away and hoof it to where they were waiting. I got the lowdown on how they were lost and the small search area was cleared of their belongings. Two passes and that area was clean of targets…..hmm….ok, please move your belongings again and I’ll search under them. Sure enough, got a nice 12-14 signal right under their bags with my trusty E-trac. I asked Maureen’s friend Crystal if she would like to do the honors of reaching into the sand right in front of my coil and pull the ring out. She dove into the sand and sifted sand through her fingers and no ring. What? I has to be there! She tried again and came up with a zipper pull. Wonderful…..make me look like a goof why don’t you! Another swing or two and another great 12-14 sound. Ok, this has to be it this time. Sure enough Crystal was able to sift the wayward engagement ring into her hand. One more swing with the coil and a repeat of the first ring. A happy Maureen and her friends will have a much more pleasant drive back to Nevada. A pleasure meeting you three and thank you for the reward.

Ring recovered at Wind and Sea beach La Jolla

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Justin was photographing another couple on the beach for some wedding album shots, when a rogue wave blasted through and knocked him off his feet and pushed him onto some rocks. In trying to keep his feet and save his expensive camera gear, his wedding ring came off. Finding it in that soft sand they have at that beach was impossible without a metal detector. When I received the call, I was skeptical it could even be found, but, was more than willing to try. That is one of the worst beaches in our area to make a water recovery. It has a heavy surge, large shore break waves, steep drop off, and sand so soft and loose, that it’s almost like quicksand. He sent me a photo of the site of the loss. I arrived the next morning at 4:30am to take advantage of the minus tide. I had the photo on my phone to use so I could match up the area. Unfortunately, it was real foggy that morning and hard to tell the exact area in the dark and fog. I saw a couple of features that looked like a match and began my search. After over an hour of gridding, no ring. In fact, no good targets of any kind. Not surprising at that beach. Once it started to get light from the approaching dawn, I looked again at the photo and then realized that I wasn’t in the right area. I finally determined the correct spot and started a 2nd grid. Still no luck. a few pieces of scrap aluminum and that was it. Nothing more to do but give him the bad news. It was still pretty early, so, I decided to move down the beach to an area where I had good luck in the past. I headed about 200 feet south and started hunting for fun. I liked to hunt the cracks up on the rocks and cliff. stuff falls into them all the time. While up on a ledge checking some cracks I got a good signal in some loose sand. It was only a couple of inches deep, so, easy to make a recovery. What do you know, it was a ring that matched Justin’s description! His was a fairly common tungsten carbide, so, I wasn’t positive that it was his, but, I was hopeful. I got to looking and it was a long way from where he took this photo. After contacting him later, he told me that he was using a telescopic lens and that he was a lot further back from what it looked like in the photo! He wanted to come and look at it to be sure, but, I was pretty certain at that point. Sure enough it was a perfect fit. Glad I could help Justin.

 

Ring found and returned at Marine St. in La Jolla

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Kim was visiting San Diego from Hawaii with her husband, and was spending a day at the beach. She had removed her rings to clean the sand from their settings. Forgetting that she had removed them, she shook the sand out of her blanket and the rings along with it. She managed to find the wedding band, but, the engagement ring was eluding capture with only sifting fingers as a tool. She got on her phone and Googled for help. My profile came up for San Diego and she gave me a call. She hadn’t left the area, so, I figured this should be a fairly quick search. The hard part was battling the traffic and parking! I lucked into a spot fairly close to her location and gave her a text on the way to the sand. Since Kim and her husband were leaving for home the next day, this had to be found now! She met me on the beach and guided me to the search area. 30 seconds later, I got a beautiful 12-03 on my E-trac and pulled her gorgeous engagement ring from over 5 inches down. A pleasure to meet you Kim, thank you for the reward, and thank your husband for his service.

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Lost wedding ring in La Jolla Found

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

Mike was playing with his dogs in his yard when, after making a sweeping motion with his hand, his wedding ring flew off. After searching the area visually, then raking and looking again, he bought a metal detector to find it. After that failed to produce the ring, he gave me a call. The search area wasn’t particularly large, but, it had lots of trees, bushes, plants, grass, etc. It wasn’t even all that junky. Just a few ferrous and non-ferrous targets to investigate, but, after an hour and a half of changing coils, gridding and regridding, still no ring. I had Mike take my test ring and re-enact his motions. I even did it myself with the same general results. The ring should be in about a 10 foot square area. I went back over that area for the umpteenth time and found the same iron remnants of an old fence post that had been blasting my ears, but, this time after hitting it at a slightly different angle, I heard and extra little non-ferrous blip with my trusty E-trac. After scrapping away some leaves and running my pin pointer over the area, I found the target that had eluded us. It turns out that it had landed right on top of the old fence post base. That’s what was masking the ring signal. All good in the end. Mike was very happy, as was I. Pleasure to meet you Mike and thank you for the reward.100_1403 100_1404

FOUND! Wedding ring at La Jolla Shores Beach San Diego

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

         When I got home on Monday evening, a message was waiting patiently on my recorder. It seems Jeremy’s wedding ring slipped off his finger while at the beach with his wife and child…..the same beach I was at the day before! On Sunday, I found a ring, necklace w/pendant, and an earring at the same beach and area where he lost his the following day! What? is there some sort of jewelry black hole on that beach??

        He was fairly sure of the area in which it was lost and since I was also familiar with that particular beach, We were able to narrow the search area quite a bit just talking on the phone. I felt confident enough that I would be able to hunt for the ring on my own since he had to work the next day and couldn’t be on hand to show me where the X spot was.

         I arrived early the next morning and headed for the search area. There were dozens of surfers out in the waves and dozens more walkers strolling down the beach on the wet hard packed sand at the waters’ edge but only one group of people in the dry sand. Naturally, they were right in the middle of ground zero! You could look a mile in each direction and not see a soul but they chose that particular spot to do their palates or yoga or whatever it was they were doing. They probably thought I was some kind of nut or pervert invading their space when I had the whole beach to do my thing but little did they know what was under their mats.

      I started hunting as far away from them as possible and still be in the probable search area and after a half hour or so they had finished and moved off to enjoy the rest of their day. I finished the area they had coveted and not finding Jeremy’s ring yet, worked my way south another 20 feet or so when it screamed at me to get it out of the sand. Ring and finger have been reunited and another smile generated. My work was done. I gotta keep these Coast Guard guys happy…..never know when I might need THEIR help!