A call came in yesterday, to help find a Wedding Band that was lost the day prior in waste deep water. Rick called and asked if I wanted to go, I said he was on his own for this one, that I had a few things to do. I thought about how vast the area was, so I called back, and said I’ll meet him at his house ASAP. We met Stephanie and Chris at the beach lot about an hour later. They seemed real precise as to where they thought it to be. They walked out ahead of us, as we got ready for the search. Rick and I walked out about a mile onto the sand, then into waste deep water. We both searched for quite some time with no luck two junk targets a bullet and a penny.
I asked Chris to regroup, and stand where he thought it was, he was having second thoughts, he moved about 150 feet over. Again Rick and I searched, and searched, still nothing. I then asked Stephanie where she thought it was lost, and to go over and stand there, so I could start my search over. Rick was still out far and walking away from Chris with no targets at all. I headed towards Stephanie, as I approached her, I said » I just don’t get it, I just don’t get it. Not a signal in that whole area, even after an hour, it’s crazy. I told her not to give up till she sees us walking toward the truck. That if it was there and I went over it that I would hear it. I think Chris and Stephanie were about to throw in the beach towel, but as I walked by her, finally a very loud signal 4 feet away from where she was standing in the water. I looked over to her and smiled, Her eyes got huge, her smile even bigger, she had a hard time controlling her emotions. Stephanie knew, I had just recovered what they both thought was lost forever, King Neptune finally gave in to me. Stephanie was shaking, I’m not sure if it was from the cold, or from being excited. She yelled over to Chris, he started to run fast as he could in the water, I yelled faster, faster, he couldn’t get there fast enough to see what the commotion was all about. Rick knew already I had just found Chris’s beautiful 14K white gold wedding band, with black diamonds set into the center. I handed it over to Chris as he teared up also. So gratifying to see it back on his finger.
Lot’s of congratulations and hand shakes went around, Chris kept repeating he just couldn’t believe we did what we said we would do. Great team work is always a plus. Thanks again to Rick for the invite. Now I will say it myself. Congratulations Chris and Stephanie on your return. Thank You for getting in touch with Rick & myself.
14K white Gold Black Diamonds
Leighton & Chris after return
Chris with band
Stephanie & Chris
Sincerely Leighton
Miracle Recovery
Although I’ve found 60+ rings over the course of my metal detecting “career,” I would call none of them miracles… until last night.
Shane called me around 4:30 pm Saturday, July 30, 2022. I had just finished a 7 mile hike along Geneva Lake’s beautiful lake path with my family. Shane was paddle boarding on Twin Lakes (specifically Lake Mary), took a spill, and when he rose up out of the water his wedding ring was gone. Thankfully, his wife found The Ringfinder’s website through an internet search. I made it out to Twin Lakes just before sunset. Shane, a newlywed of two years, was in good spirits despite losing his wedding ring. We talked and surveyed the search area. Providentially, a video of Shane spilling into the water was captured from the dock and after reviewing the footage, a search area was selected. 
After gearing up with my Minelab 800 metal detector and my Nemo breathing device from Blu3, I slipped into the water. My hope of finding the ring sank much like Shane’s 14K gold wedding band. I was in about three feet of murky, seaweed infested water on top of about three feet of mud. This search went from bad to hopeless. The proverbial needle in a haystack didn’t even come close. The water blackened with each minute as the sun officially set around 8:15 pm. My flippers and detector were constantly sinking into the mud with each movement. I struggled to sweep my detecting across the skim of mud tangled with seaweed and submerged sticks.
My first target sounded promising. It turned out to be a fishing lure. My next two targets sounded like beer can pull tabs. They both were. About 50 minutes after arriving, my fourth target was strong and registered similar to my own wedding band. As I brought the target out of a foot of thick mud, I gently squeezed, cupping both hands together so as not to let anything sizable slip out. 
When I felt a firm, round shape, I gasped. This is impossible, I thought. How could I have landed on a 1” piece of round metal in a 327 acre lake?
I called to the shore. “I found a ring. Let’s not celebrate yet. I’ll swim to the dock.” I placed the ring on my index finger, clenched my fist and swam in. It was dark and Shane was called out to verify the find. The celebrations began before I had my flippers off.
This was a miracle recovery. I was pleased to see it back on Shane’s finger and a genuine smile back on his face.
Joe was at a local swim beach on the St. Croix River. He was watching some kids doing handstands in the water and thought he would give it a try. He forgot about the 3.5-ounce gold necklace around his neck. As he tried the handstand his necklace slipped off into the water. He was standing in approx. 5 feet deep of water. His wife noted exactly where he was when the necklace slipped off. He searched by hand and also tried racking the area into shallow water though he just couldn’t find it. He talked to a couple of local divers who seemed a bit shady and decided on the ring finders. Joe found me on theringfinders.com website and we planned the next day for a scuba search. Scuba searching allows me the benefit of quick recovery, always getting the target that my detector locates and seeing what I’m dealing with. Such as old cans, iron chains, junk etc. I searched the area for approx. a half an hour when I got that beautiful « Gold tone » from my Excalibur metal detector. I cleared away the thin layer of sand and muck and could see the shine of gold from the sun’s reflection. I know how much this necklace meant to Joe, he was truly heartbroken and didn’t think there was much of a chance of recovery – What a great feeling to put the gold necklace back in his hands. :O)
Congrats Joe, I’m glad I could help out!!!
Take Care,
Darrin
Got a call from Ashley yesterday (Saturday) about her husbands lost ring. She explained how Jeff was throwing a football around the tide line when the ring flew off his hand and dropped into the wet sand. After talking a bit, we decided low tide was so late we would wait till the AM low tide to do the recovery, the surf was fairly calm, so it wouldn’t move to much. Jeff did an outstanding job marking the exact location of the ring, which is paramount when doing recoveries. A few swings later the ring was in the scoop.
On 07/16/22, I was contacted by Guy requesting help in locating his white gold mans wedding band that had been lost on the beach in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Guy stated that he had placed his wedding band in a zippered pocket of his bathing suit for safe keeping while he was swimming. Guy said that after he came out of the water, he had put another item in the same pocket of his bathing suit that he had placed his ring. Guy stated that he believed that his ring had fallen out of his pocket into the sand when he removed the other item from the pocket for someone to look at. I met Guy at the beach at 6:00 pm after the beach was clear of people. Guy was able to place me in the exact area that he believed that his ring had fallen out of his pocket into the sand. I began a grid search and on my second pass I was able to recover the lost ring. The lost ring was returned to its rightful owner so that Guy would be able to celebrate his upcoming 20th wedding anniversary with his original wedding band on his finger.
Adrian called me asking for help finding his wife Rosi’s ring. They are visiting here and were enjoying the warm day at the beach. Soon after setting up camp, Rosi took her ring off to apply lotion, the ring was dropped, and it ended up in the deep dry sand. That should be simple to find just with your fingers, right? Nope, after straining sand through their fingers for over a half hour, they realized they needed help. TheRingFinders.com to the rescue! Adrian was kind enough to reserve me a parking spot at this busy beach. We met in the lot and proceeded to hike down the beach to the search area. The spot was already outlined with an eight foot diameter groove in the sand and I could see where they had been searching. Turned on my detector and less than a minute later, I got the signal I was expecting and found Rosi’s ring just under the surface inside the circle right where their fingers had already raked. A relieved Rosi and Adrian can now continue to enjoy their vacation. A pleasure to meet you two and thank you for the reward.
I received a text this past Monday 11th from a wife. She said her husband had lost his wedding band in the backyard about a month ago while cleaning out a pool skimmer trap. She was searching the internet and came across www.theringfinders.com where she found my contact information. I made the trip to Calhoun that afternoon and met up with her. She said her husband was still at work, but should be there pretty soon. She said they had actually purchased a metal detector for themselves, but no luck in finding the ring. When Alfred got home he was showing me how he lost his ring cleaning the skimmer with his left hand and throwing the trash over the chain link fence with an underhand motion. He said he felt the ring leave his hand but didn’t see where it went. With that underhand throwing motion I immediately figured the ring had gone over and into the brushy area behind the fence. I eliminated the grass and the plant bed first of course, but no luck. With the chain link fence there I couldn’t get close to it at all without sending my detector into an overload condition. So that part would have to be searched by hand if I didn’t find the ring back in the brush. I started back behind the fence, (poison ivy there too), as well as a snake, but didn’t get a good look at it, it was leaving the area. I started from the right side and went left directly at the back of the fence. The second pass was from the left back to the right, on a steep slope. Of course I was finding bits of metal trash, we all do. On the third pass from right to left I got to right where I figured the ring could have gone with that underhanded throw. The first thing I found there was a rusted bottle cap, then about three feet away I got two signals on my CTX. A strong 12:40 showing four inches, but literally inches away from that signal was another one, a strong 12:28 showing one inch. I hadn’t seen it yet, but that 12:28 at one inch brought a grin to my face. I stooped over and under my coil I saw a faint hint of something shining back at me. I snapped a picture of it before I moved it, and you can barely catch a glimpse of something out of place under the layer of leaves. The 12:40 signal turned out to be a toy car. The search took about 1.5 hours.
On 06/27/2022, I received a call from fellow New Jersey ring finder John Favno regarding a lost mens wedding band on the beach at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. John said that he had been contacted by a lady by the name of Sissi regarding the lost ring and he provided me with a phone number for Sissi. I then called Sissi to find out the particulars regarding the loss of her husbands ring. Sissi said that her husband lost his ring off of his finger when a wave hit his hand. I asked Sissi to send me some pictures of the beach and area of where the ring had been lost. After looking at the pictures that Sissi sent to me I decided that I would attempt to find the missing ring. I met Sissi and her husband (Jean) on the beach about an hour later, I asked Jean to go out and stand in the water in the area that he had lost his ring. Jean walked out into knee deep water at which time I searched around him for the ring, I did get a signal and what I dug up was a pair of sunglasses. After not locating the ring out in the knee-deep water I started to search the area where the waves were just breaking and the water was about ankle deep. I got another signal and upon digging it I found the lost ring in my sand scoop. The lost ring was then returned to a happy couple, Sissi told me that she and Jean had been married for eleven months and that their one-year anniversary was coming up in the month of July. I would like to wish Sissi and Jean a Happy Anniversary! Thank You Fellow Ring Finder John Favno for the referral!
On 06/02/2022, I received a call from Holly regarding the loss of a 10kt Gold Wedding Band belonging to her husband Timmothy. Holly said that Timmothy had lost his ring on 05/30/2022 on the beach at Dewey Beach, Delaware while he was shaking the sand off of a towel. Holly said that she and Timmothy had just gotten married and that his ring was a little loose on his finger. Holly said that they had rented a metal detector to try to find the lost ring and that they were not able to locate it. Holly also said that they had help from a local resident who volunteered to help look for the ring with his metal detector and that the ring was still not able to be found. Holly requested that I make an attempt to find the missing wedding band, she also said that they were leaving to go back home. I told Holly that I would try to find the ring later in the day and that I would let her know the outcome of the search. Holly was able to provide me with a photograph of her standing on the beach in the area that the ring was lost in. The picture also included a fence that gave me a reference as to where she was on the beach. Upon arriving at the beach later in the day I began a search of the area that was in the picture that Holly had sent to me, the search ended with the ring not being located. I then decided to expand the search area and began a search of the area to the north of the original search area. After just a few swings of my detector I was able to locate the missing ring on the wet sand slope about two inches down in the sand. I then sent Holly a picture of the recovered ring to let her know that it had been found. Two days later I mailed the ring back to Holly as she had requested.
