lost gold ring Tag | Page 37 of 40 | The Ring Finders

Lost Ring … Del Mar Beach, CA.. In Surf at High Tide

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)

Saturday – July 20, 2013     I received a call from Kathleen in Del Mar, CA. after she found my number on  » The RingFinders  » website.  She and her husband Jeff had been to the beach a couple days before at 6:30pm, which was about high tide.  Jeff was boogie boarding in the surf when he took a big wave and when he recovered from a wipeout he was missing his wedding band. While  talking with with Kathleen, I explained that it is a difficult search, because the detector can only detect ring size metal to a depth of 6″ to 8″ inches. Depending on surf conditions the sand can move more than a foot of sand in one tide. Kathleen gave me good directions, which made it easier to start hunting.

I drove to the location, arriving about 12 am. two hours before low tide. Setting up a grid search of 75 yards parallel to the beach. After five passes towards the receding tide I got my first and only signal.. There it was and I knew right away it was Jeff’s ring. It was just about 5″ or 6″ inches deep. I had been slowly swinging the detector for about 30 minutes overlaping each swing as not to miss a ringsize area. Missing a 3 inch area could make a 30 minute search turn into hours of hunting. I always tell people that I’m searching for,  » Just don’t watch me work, because it will drive a normal person crazy » It’s a slow and methodical process.

I text Kathleen a photo of the ring and asked her to call. She immediately called back with an excited voice. We set up a meeting and Jeff was outside his home waiting at 1 am when I drove up. I handed him his ring and he told me how he lost it. He is vacationing from Louisiana and is not familiar with westcoast surf.  Jeff said the wave picked him up smashing him under the water. When he came up he had sand in every orfice. Then he noticed the missing ring.  He just knew it was gone forever and probably half way to Hawaii by now.  He explained to me,  how he had told all his friends about his surfing experience and the loss of his ring. I only wish I could tell Jeff’s story the way he told it.  Now he can tell them a better story.  » The Recovery of his ring »   It was a pleasure to meet Jeff and talk to his wife on the phone and I am realizing that there are so many nice people in this world.. I love helping people with a skill that has taken me many years of experience and research to learn.. ( And Lots of Luck )

IMG_2312 IMG_2307

Found Lost Wedding Ring in Lake Wilson in Weatherford,Tx

  • from Dallas (Texas, United States)
Contact:

IMG_1367 IMG_1368

We got a call from the gentleman above late on a Friday afternoon.  Said he had fallen out of a boat on a small private lake in Weatherford,Tx and wondered if we would come try to find it.  I said we would be happy to but it would have to wait a week as were on our way to the airport to leave for vacation in Cancun for a few days.  I loved his response, he said « well it ain’t going nowhere ».  We agreed I would call him in a week when we returned.

As promised we called the following week and spoke with John about his ring, he explained that he and a friend were coming in from fishing on a small boat, he had stood up just at the moment his friend decided to pull the boat up a little higher on the bank.  When that happen, John lost his footing and fell into the lake.  He said he could feel his wedding band slipping off but could do nothing about it.  The waters edge was slippery and covered in algae and dropped off about 5-6ft in depth.

John found « The Ring Finders » website and located us.

Ellen & I drove 75 miles to the spot on the highway to meet John and have him and buddy lead us back on the dirt roads to where the lake was.  I set up my gear and went into the lake, it was amazing how deep it got so close to the shore.  John told me while I was in the water that he had used swimming pool cleaning poles to try and drag the ring up on shore and he also had a friend bring out his metal detector but no luck finding the ring.  I spent maybe 20 minutes in the water getting a feel for the area where John thought the ring would be.  I was getting lots of hits on my detector and using my water scoop was very difficult in the muddy bottoms.   As I went to change hands with my equipment my detector passed over a flat rock covered in algae  and my Garrett AT Pro went off loudly so I knew something was there.  I reached over with my hand and felt along the top of the rock and there was John’s wedding ring.  My wife and John had been talking along the bank and I said « hey John would you like to have your ring back? » and held up his gold wedding band .   He was flabbergasted, he said over and over « I thought I would never see it again ».  These reactions are what make this so much fun.

My wife was filming with her IPhone and began to ask John some questions.  He said this was the first time this ring had been off his finger in 57 YEARS.  He buddy then said, ‘tell them what you did’.  John replied with a sheepish grin, « I did not tell my wife »  he said I have a friend who owns a Pawn Shop who got him a temporary wedding ban to wear until we could hopefully find his ring.  We laugh and laughed.  Then John said…. « I wonder if the Pawn Shop with take the other ring back ».

It was a wonderful day.

Another great find for « The Ring Finders »

Don & Ellen Wilson

 

Found Wedding Ring in Trophy Club,Texas

  • from Dallas (Texas, United States)
Contact:

IMG_1424

We received a call from a lady who said « thank God I reached you »I have a lost ring for you to find.  I said OK and ask for the details.  She described it as a Men’s gold wedding ban.  I ask her where is was lost and she said in her backyard.  I ask as I always do, « are you sure that’s where you lost it » and she said she was positive.

I said OK then we can find it, then I asked the most important question.  How was the ring lost, what was he doing when he lost it……. there was a long silence and she said « I know it’s there because I threw it there ».  I said that was no problem and we would drive the 28 miles to Trophy Club,Tx around 7pm to let the heat go down, it was 101 degrees warm.

We arrived at a beautiful home, got our equipment out, the lady kindly showed us where she was when she threw the ring and then my wife her re-inact the event (this is a must we have learned).  We spent maybe 20 minutes detecting the yard and there was a lot of underground trash.  We knew the ring would « Hit Hard » on our detectors because it had only been 3 days since it was lost and men’s wedding bands are typically large in size.

We were correct in our assumptions and the Ring was returned for another happy customer for « The Ring Finders ».

IMG_1425

Don & Ellen – The Dallas Ring Finders »

PS…. the husband was in counseling while we were looking for the ring.

 

Lost Ring in Temecula, CA.. Swimming Hole.. Recovered

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)

Friday, June 28..

I received a call from Brett asking me about The RingFinders and if I’d be able to search for a ring lost in a swimming hole out in the country.. He told me the water was no deeper than 5 ft., which is right at the limit before requiring diving gear. I told him that I’d be willing to give it a try hoping it would be in shallower water. His wife Natalie called me had with a few more details. Her daughter Amanda was wearing  her grandfather’s 55 year old wedding ring. While swingging from a rope swing over the water her friend threw a ball at her. Well, she tried to bat the ball away with her hand and the heavy ring went into the murky water.

We set up a meeting place for Sunday morning and took off for this secret swimming hole. It was about 12 miles out in the boondocks. A real pretty country swimming hole  including the rope swing. I was using my Excalibur Minelab waterproof detector and waded into the water. Amada and her friends were there and explained how it happened and the direction she hit the ball. Well, the water was up to my neck and retrieving the targets was next to impossible with my scoop. So, the guys offered to dive down to get the targets. I would put the handle of the scoop on the target and they would grab a hand full of sand.  After about 20 minutes we started finding fishing weights, coins and sunglasses. An hour or so later, the young guys took a break and Brett, Amanda’s dad took a few dives. It was looking like everybody was giving up hope.. Then I got a nice signal and told Brett we aren’t leaving until we recover this target..  He went down and came up with a big smile saying it’s a ring..  We had 20 or more onlookers and there were cheers and tears, also smiles. It was certainly a family affair with Mom setting it up, Dad making the great dive and all the friends helping. I could not of done it myself.. On my web page I say. « I’ll try anywhere » .. I’m starting to have second thoughts about that.. The search is a challenge, the real experience is meeting such nice people and being able to help them..

IMG_2182IMG_2177

Lost Wedding Ring Sugar Land, Texas (Recovered)

  • from Sugar Land (Texas, United States)

Service Call  06/29/2013

I recieved the following email from a Sugar Land resident regarding a lost ring.

Hi John, I just read the story about  Richard Browne in Mass. who finds rings for people and he mentioned ringfinders.com.

I checked and to my surprise, I found you in Sugar Land, which is where I am.

My eldest son was in our pool 2 weeks ago splashing the dogs and he says his wedding ring flew off (he’s been married for two years).  I have a very old metal detector, and I am a rank amateur, but we tried to find it with no luck.  If it did fly off, then it’s in my back yard, but we just can’t find it. My wife and I go out in the yard looking for it  almost every day but we’ve found nothing.

So I am reaching out to you, to see if you can help us. At the worst I’d like to be able to tell my son it’s not there.

thanks and regards,
Mark Locascio

06/30/2013

I made the short trip to Marks this morning with the new CTX3030 in hand. Mark pointed out the areas where he felt the ring might have flown of his son’s hand. I was initial a little apprehensive when Mark brought out his nice looking White Coin Master Metal Detector and explained he had already tried finding the ring. He said he had put another gold ring in the yard and was able to find it with no trouble.

That was a little bit of a sinking feeling 😉

I worked the same areas as Mark had previously described with his detector, and was not able to find the ring. I took a few minutes to think about the event that led up to the loss of the ring. I decided to work some a couple of flower beds well outside of the area identifed.

I opted for the hand and knees approach with my pin pointer on a flower bed that was riddled with metal distractions. The ring jump right out on my second sweep of the pinpointer.

Mark and his wife said they had given up all hopes that the ring would ever be found.

20130630_09582120130630_095832

Lost Gold Wedding Ring… Long Beach, CA… Found

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)

This afternoon about 5pm I got a call and an email from Krista. She had been at Mother’s Beach in Long Beach, CA. with her two young daughters. Krista took her diamond wedding ring off and set it on her lap while she put sun screen on her daaughter. About a half hour later she realized she had not put it back on and it was somewhere in the dry sand. They searched through the sand for a long time and could not find her ring. When she got home Krista found my contact information on  » The RingFinders » website and called me.   We met at the beach about 7pm and I set up a grid search. By 7:30pm I got that special gold tone and when I scooped up the target there was her ring.  Now the ring is back on her finger where it belongs.

The highlite of this search was when Krista’s young daughter came up to me and said, « Thanks for finding my mother’s ring » The little girl is only about 5 or 6 years old.. It was a special thanks and there were smiles on everybody’s faces. Even all the spectators..

IMG_2148 IMG_2161

Lost Gold Wedding Ring..Laguna Beach, CA… Recovered

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)

The day before finishing their beach vacation, Taylor lost his gold wedding ring.

This morning about 9:00am, I received a call from Taylor asking me if I could help him find his wedding ring he lost yesterday on the beach. He was searching the internet for a metal detector when he found The RingFinders and my phone number. I was able to meet him about an hour later.

He and his family had been vacationing in South Laguna Beach and had spent the day on the beach. He had taken his ring off and put it into the cup holder of his folding beach chair. When they got ready to leave he picked up his chair and walked to the parking area.  (about 200 ft.)  That was when he realized that he had lost his ring.  Taylor was able to give me very good idea of where they were sitting and that made it very easy to find his ring. He and his wife were very happy and by now they are back home in Utah. I’ve found a lot of rings for people and I still get excited when I can help people like Taylor and his wife find their ring. Their little daughter is still trying to figure out what was the big deal.

IMG_2088 IMG_2089

Ring Found.. Balboa Beach, CA.

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)

At 6:30pm  I was detecting at Newport Beach, when I received a phone call from Monique. She spent the day at the beach near Balboa Pier. While putting on sunscreen she had lost a ring that belonged to her mother . She drove home, more than 30 miles from the beach, believing that the ring was lost forever. She found The RingFinders site on her computer and my cellphone number. Even though she was very distraught, she was able to give me a very good description of the area where she lost it. I was only two miles from Balboa and was able to drive to the area and found the ring within 25 minutes. I called Monique and we set up a meeting place and she had the ring by 8pm that same night.. I know she was very happy and for sure she slept well.                                      I also know that the area where she lost the ring is worked everyday with the beach sifting machine and many other people with metal detectors, so it was very important to be able to get there as soon as possible.

Monique sent me a thank you letter that she said I could share on my blog. Here is her story:

Dear Stan,

I can’t thank you enough for finding my mother’s ring.  This ring means so much to me as my mom passed away on December 17, 2012.  This ring was her favorite ring as she designed it her self from different rings she had and my dad who passed away on February 12, 2013 was the one who had it made for her.
My kids and I had spend the day at the beach.  My mom would always tell me to remove my rings when I put on cream, wash dishes or take a shower.  She said it would get dirty and my rings wouldn’t shine.  So, when she passed away I wanted to make sure I honored her wishes and I always take off her ring when I do any of these things.  I took off the ring to put on sun block and put it on my lap.  I must have got up for something and it must have fell.  We were at the beach for about 4 hours when I remembered it was in my lap. When I looked down it was gone.  My kids and I looked for over an hour.  We asked the life guard if he had a metal detector and he said no, but let us know people come with metal detectorsin the morning.  When I called my husband he said we had to go right away and wait for someone with a detector.  I gave up hope figured it was gone and I would never see it again.  I was so sad and mad.  I prayed at the beach it would be found and on the way home.
When I got home I was so sad crying and upset.  I looked up what to do when you lose your ring in sand and the Ring Finder website came up.  I wasn’t sure about it, but figured what do I have to lose the ring is already gone.  I called Stan and explained where I was at and he said he would get over there right away before anyone else worked the beach and before it was combed.
Not even an hour went by and Stan called me to let me know he had found the ring.  I couldn’t believe it.  I was shocked.  How was that even possible.  My husband and I met with Stan and he returned the ring.
Thank you Stan for your honesty.  I am so glad that there are people like you in this world. You are one of a kind.
Sincerely,
Monique

IMG_1971IMG_1977

Lost Ring Found… Quad Cities (Bettendorf) Iowa

Contact:

I got a call from Trish on Monday March 18th. She had been doing some yard work over the weekend in her backyard when she went back in the house her ring was gone.

This is a very special ring to her because it was her late Mothers ring and one of the few possessions she had from her Mom. Needless to say she was upset. I really needed to find this ring for her.

We arranged to meet today Wednesday March 20th, the first day of Spring. She lives about an hour and a half away from me so I took a day of vacation from work. She is leaving on a trip this weekend so it had to be now.

I arrived at 10 this morning, she showed me where she was working when she lost it. I gathered my gear and went to work.  After a few adjustments to the machine I got a very good hit that showed 12-24 on the CTX. I thought I saw a glimmer of something under the leaves and pine needles. I reached down and pulled up this gorgeous ring! What a ring it is! How did it hide? You could trip over it.DSCF1449

She was so happy to have it back and I can see why. Can’t wait till the next one.DSCF1451

Good luck with your searches everyone and happy hunting,

Norm Slaymaker

Fireman Looses Grandfathers Wedding Band while Fighting Brush Fire, Fort Worth,Texas – Found!

  • from Dallas (Texas, United States)
Contact:

IMG_1268        IMG_1267

 

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