Texas A&M Class Ring Returned to Young Man Serving in the Air Force
I was really happy to help this young man out. He called me and asked if I would find his ring. He wasn’t able to meet me because he was tied up at work but said he had read some of Pensacola Ring Finders past stories and was confident I would recover it. Further he said his ring was a Texas A&M Graduation Ring, which is a really big deal to anyone who knows any of their Grads will tell you. It was a must find situation, no pressure right. Fortunately this fellow gave me directions that lead exactly to the spot on the beach where He lost it. The ring recovered and a happy young man no longer worried about this representation of his achievement! Go Aggies!
Ian lost his ring while swimming at Orange Beach Alabama. His wife’s family is from Canada and were vacationing in Orange Beach and invited Ian and their Daughter to joint them. Ian is British and he and his wife live in England. He wasn’t exactly sure were in the water is was lost but had a general area. I started the search and Ian joined me and we talked as I was searching. He’s a very interesting guy, he lives along the southern coast of England and works as a Port Pilot! The lost ring was his original wedding ring and he really wanted it back because that he one his wife gave him when they made the promise. His father in law waited on the beach while we searched, I learned lots about piloting ships, very interesting! It took about an hour to find his ring. He was most grateful. Back on the beach he immediately called his wife that her gift to him was safe and sound back on his finger. Ian and his father in law were really nice folks, I’m happy I met them and could help. 
Macain and his extended family where celebrating his Grandmothers 80th birthday. While enjoying the water his wedding ring dropped off his finger. He, his wife and brothers searched as best they could with snorkel gear and feeling the sandy bottom with hands and feet with no success. They texted Pensacola Ring Finders facebook page and I responded back that I would be happy to help. When I arrived everyone was having a grand time, kids running around and family and friends enjoying Grandmother birthday. I got to meet Granny and wished her a wonderful birthday. She was in great health and I enjoyed our conversation. Macain’s ring was lost in shallow water between two docks and didn’t take long to find, about 45 minutes. Macain and his wife are newly weds so the recovery of the ring meant a bunch to them. When I found it I held it up in the air to show them, they immediately stood and rushed to the dock. The news of Macain’s found ring rapidly moved amount the family and friends. Very exciting! On my way to leave, the family Matriarch, Granny, came up and thanked me, that meant a lot to me.
Thursday morning early I received a call from Chris. He and the family were playing on Pensacola Beach late Wednesday afternoon when his wife, Katarina, noticed her engagement ring was missing. Chris asked if I could help, that he and the family were due to check out of the condo they were staying in a few hours and had to travel back to Austin that day. They had a photo of Katarina or the beach with the ring on her finger and she hadn’t gone in the water so the assumption was it was lost somewhere in the sand. I told him I would be glad to help and would come immediately. Fortunately my gear was already charged up and in my van. I quickly kissed my wife bye and headed for the beach. I arrived about two hours before condo check out time so I got with Chris and Katarina right away and got details about where they were on the beach and the activities they took part in. They pointed out approximately where they set their beach chairs, but there was significant surf the night before and the beach had significant erosion from the waves. Now beach erosion is very common here, sand is constantly, moving around, but their spot was able to set the longitude axis so we started there. Katarina said they played catch with a ball and she had jumped up several time with her arms raised with finger reaching out, which sounded like the place to start searching. All in all the area was pretty big, between one half and two thirds acre. Because the ring was lost in late afternoon and this was the next morning I assumed it was not deep in the sand, my first mistake. Because they were under time restraints I was working faster than normal, my second mistake. Two hours later we got together to reassess and I started again but this time I set the detector to search deeper and moved much slower. I started from the spot where the beach chairs were located and followed the anticipated route Katarina may have taken to where she played ball. About half way to that spot I got a fairly good signal but it was two to three times deeper that I expected. I set my recovery scoop as deep as I could so I could get under the target causing no scratches or damage to a ring, spread the sand on the surface and checked for a signal, got nothing. I quickly stuck my detector coil in the hole and received a much better signal, carefully digging a second scoop of sand and spreading it out I ran the detector over it and pinpointed the ring. Reached down and held it up for Katarina. She was overjoyed! Now there were probably thirty people on the beach many who had watched me hunting not really knowing why. When Katarina received her ring and held it up most of those thirty or so people understood and started clapping. Her two daughters were excited and when to get their Dad. I apologized to Chris for my two mistakes that delayed their trip home, but he didn’t care he was just glad they were returning home with the ring that had been on her finger for 15 years! I think both had half way come to accept the ring was lost forever. It was a happy ending all around. I do not know how the ring was able to get maybe 8 to 10 inches deep and was glad I found it after about three and a half hours but I would have kept going till it was recovered.