lost Ring Gulf shores Tag | Page 2 of 5 | The Ring Finders

Lost Rings in the Gulf, Orange Beach- FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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I owe Matt and Elise an apology for taking so long to post their story but I wanted to make sure that I did them in the right order because Elise’s rings ended up being the 99th and 100th official return since I started doing this. I love thinking back on all of the people I have been able to help. Matt and Elise are the perfect ones for lucky #100 because not only do they have a great story but they are wonderful people!  They have been married for 15 years and were down in Orange Beach with some friends and their family for some well deserved vacation. Elise had gone out in the Gulf with her youngest son William to throw the football when all of a sudden both of Elise’s rings came flying off with the ball. This was the first day of their vacation and it had taken an immediate turn for the worse. Elise noted where she was and came up to the beach and she and Matt immediately began looking online for someone who could help. Luckily, Matt called me and I was eager to help. I made the hour drive and brought my wife Jeannie. She has been my lucky charm and I thought it only right that she be there for the potential 100th return. When we got there Matt and Elise pointed out where they were and I quickly realized that the knee deep water was out where the sand bar drops back off into the Gulf. Nevertheless, I set a bearing on a distant condo and began my grid search. Meanwhile Jeannie talked to Matt and Elise and tried to calm their fears. She learned that they had a true love story. Matt is a farmer and back years ago he saved his money and went and bought these rings for Elise and got down on one knee. Now it had been so long that Matt didn’t even remember what the rings were made out of. I think that is a perfect example of the kind of irreplaceable things I get to find. It doesn’t matter what they are made out of or the monetary value. It’s the memories and the sentiment that make them absolutely invaluable. Meanwhile, back in the Gulf, I had my machine turned wide open so I could hear everything and I was on a mission. An hour later though, I only had one dime to show for it and everyone was getting worried. A man waded out to talk to me and explained that he was going to try and find it with his feet. I tried to be nice and explain that he was kind of hurting the situation and not helping but he was not to be deterred so I went around him. After expanding the area a bit I had Elise go over again where she thought it might be. I told her that there was no way it had rolled up the bar but if she had flung it far enough it might be a little shallower. The man had finally left after a fruitless search so I started there and proceeded to work shallower. Finally, out of nowhere, I hear the screaming sound of gold in my ears. In a millisecond, I knew that not only were these the rings, but they were together, right on top and they were almost certainly gold. I very gently scooped down deep to make sure I didn’t scratch one and pulled out both rings in one scoop, together like they were meant to be. Y’all, I can’t even explain the excitement and the disbelief and happiness that proceeded to radiate from that beach when I walked out. I hope the next 100 are every bit as meaningful!  By the way, the rings are 18k and diamonds, just as awesome as the people they belong to. Congratulations Matt and Elise and thank you for trusting me with your memories.

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Lost Ring in Gulf Shores, AL – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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Bill and Sarah reached out to me earlier in July. Bill had lost his platinum wedding band in the Gulf while vacationing in Gulf Shores. I made plans to go help but unfortunately it was a terrible lightning storm and it was just not safe to go that afternoon. They had already gone back to their home in Auburn but I wasn’t giving up. I got up the next morning to beat the storms and also so I could get it done before having to be at work. The Gulf was a mess and it was all I could do to hold a line in the rough seas. They had put out the red and purple flags overnight. Luckily, I didn’t have to go far when I heard a great tone and quickly scooped up Bill’s ring before the sun even peeked over the horizon. I sent a picture and briefly spoke to Sarah on the phone. I told her that I was coming to Montgomery in a few days for work and she was thrilled because Bill’s Dad lives there. I battled some more storms on the way up which seemed only fitting but I was able to drop it into the hands of Bill’s father and smile as he checked it out. I think Bill and Sarah were a little camera shy but they sent this picture of both of their hands with Bill’s ring where it is supposed to be. They entitled it “Reunited” which I think says it all. 😃

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Lost Ring Gulf Shores, AL – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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Yesterday, I had already been in the water in Gulf Shores for hours and I was worn out.  I got into some dry clothes in the parking lot and started to head back towards my wife in Orange Beach when I looked at my phone.  When I saw that I had several missed calls from the same Arkansas number, I knew someone needed help.  Before I left the parking lot I listened to one of the voice mails and then called back Whitney who was very nice and very concerned.  She was down from Arkansas with her husband Doug and they had recently celebrated their 10th anniversary.  In fact, he had just given her a beautiful diamond wrap ring to go around her main ring as a gift and they had just had it soldered on.  So you can imagine her dismay when she was messing with a boogie board on the second sandbar and the rope quickly snatched her ring off sending it flying into the gulf. I ended up only being a few miles away and told them that I would come immediately.  When I got there, the tide was going out and they were really concerned because the sandbar was obviously moving.  They only had hours until that sand swallowed up her heavy ring and it had already been three since she lost it. Luckily Doug had acted quickly when he saw Whitney panicked in the Gulf and called out for her not to move.  He came out and got a great frame of reference off a building and even threw out a few quarters as markers.  When I got set I quickly found the quarters but unfortunately the ring was nowhere to be found.  I started to see everyone get really down as I made lap after lap but I tried to keep them positive and told them with moving sand and waves, sometimes you just have to put your time and effort in.  I had about one or two laps left until I knew Whitney would know we were out of space and I could see it in her eyes that they were resigned that they were going to lose her precious ring.  That’s when I heard that beautiful sound in my ears.  I looked up and saw that it was close to as far out as they thought but a bit west.  I couldn’t help but get my hopes up as I realized this could be it.  I very gently placed my scoop so I wouldn’t scratch it and as soon as I saw the flash of a diamond I reached down in the scoop and grabbed it letting the sand rush off in the water.  I held it up with a big smile and Doug came running first.  He held it out to Whitney and I got to watch tears of joy show just how special it was to them.  I’m so glad I could fix the first day of this trip Doug and Whitney and I wish you many more happy decades together.

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Lost Grandfather’s Ring -FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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Last weekend, I got a text late in the evening from Samuel’s Mom asking about whether or not I could help her son.  He was out in the water at that very second searching frantically for his Grandfather’s ring that he had accidentally slung into the Gulf while skipping sand dollar pieces with his friends.  I realized that this was an important one so I gave her a call and she patched in Samuel so I could ask him some questions.  I went over some info and asked him some questions about water depth and how the ring had come off.  Most importantly, I had him drop a Google Maps pin where he was on the beach and then where he thought it might have landed.  I told him that I would reach out the next day when I got to the beach.  We got our signals a bit crossed and when I called, he was still about 45 mins away.  I told him that with his permission, I would go ahead and start searching.  I thoroughly did the area where I thought it might be and even found another ring.  Unfortunately, I knew that it wasn’t Samuel’s so I prepared to keep looking.  About that time, one of Samuel’s friends walked up and said that she thought it was a bit farther west.  I promptly relocated and began doing my grid search there.  I spent a lot of time in that area and found all kind of things that were not what I was looking for.  I spoke to Samuel’s friend again and she mentioned a sign that was a little back towards where I had been earlier.  Samuel had also mentioned the sign.  I decided to go out deeper and make that my center point.  I started heading towards the beach and about the time I did, I saw what had to be Samuel jogging across the dune trail heading my way.  Samuel’s friend told him that we hadn’t found it as he waded out.  As he was walking out to me I got another good tone.  I scooped it up and looked inside the scoop and told him that maybe he was good luck and held it out to him.  He looked in the scoop and couldn’t see because of all the shells. He said, “is there something in here?”  I told him to take another look and watched as he saw it. I love watching people go from concerned to absolutely thrilled in a split second. 😃. Congratulations Samuel!  I’m so honored that you and your Mom trusted me to go find your Grandfather’s ring for you. 👍

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Saving Mother’s Day – 2 rings FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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I got a call from Alan this past Sunday that started out with “we need you to save Mother’s Day.”  Needless to say he had my attention. It turns out that Alan and his family had taken his Mother to the beach to celebrate the day and had a wonderful time until it was time to go. Alan’s mom had wisely taken off both of her rings and put them in the small zippered compartment on her beach chair. When it came time to put them back on, something had happened. These are beautiful rings. One was a present for a previous Mother’s Day and the other had been an anniversary present. These rings were honoring her as a Mom and it just wouldn’t be right to lose them on that day. Alan and his Mom called and explained what happened and where they thought the rings were and I asked my wife if it was ok to go. She has a soft spot for anything to do with rings for marriage and family so not only did she say yes but she joined me on the trip. I always say that Jeannie is my lucky charm on these hunts. She has a great track record. When we got to Orange Beach and met Alan the first thing you notice is that he is really tall. He is a basketball player and makes me feel short. 😃. The second thing that you quickly find out is that Alan has to be one of the nicest people I have ever met while doing this. He showed me where they were and we made our way over. I was just about to introduce myself to the family next to us and apologize for being so close when she said “I recognize you from Facebook and the Ringfinders.”  That made me smile and I took it as a good sign. I started gridding out the area and Alan stayed right with me. He wanted to know all about the machine and how it worked, he asked about the coolest things I’d found while diving and we talked about what it looked like for him to go to Europe to continue his basketball career. He also uses his degree to help people write books and gave me the nicest compliment when he suggested that I should take my stories and write one myself. Meanwhile my wife had an idea and asked Alan if he had any pictures from earlier. He handed her his phone and it wasn’t long until Jeannie found a selfie and triangulated where she thought the chair was. Being a wise man and always listening to my wife, I walked over to the spot she was standing and immediately heard a gold tone. I scooped it up and held it out to Alan and as he started to freak out on the first ring, I could already hear the second one in the sand. When I got it out, Alan was already FaceTiming his Momma. When she saw them she was absolutely beside herself and I came over to wave hello. She was crying happy tears and Alan was ecstatic. Jeannie came over to wave hi and Alan said sorry, she ran off for just a second. When Jeannie looked puzzled, Alan said that she was so happy that she had to run around the house and take a victory lap. Haha, now that is the reaction I want every time!  Alan, it was an absolute pleasure to spend some time with you and I am so glad we got to “Save Mother’s Day!”  ❤️😃 God Bless!

P.S.- my favorite picture is the one he is FaceTimeing his Mom in. 😃

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Lost Ring Pensacola – FOUND 5 months later!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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I must admit that I assumed my first return during Spring Break this year would be someone out enjoying this nice weather. In reality, George lost his ring in his backyard 5 months ago. Like a lot of people, George had a pretty good idea where it was so he decided to go buy a metal detector and see if he could find it himself. When he finally gave me a call he remarked about how much iron there was in the ground and how hard it was to operate. George asked me to come out and take a look for him. George was right that it was a tough area but luckily I have some of the best machines in the world and I’ve been using them a long time. George pointed me to the area and I began my search. I did the part George had pointed out with a few coils and realized that the ring wasn’t there. I told George that I was going to expand my search and I didn’t make it too far before I heard a nice gold tone in my headphones and headed over to a thrilled George and his wife Michelle. Thank you both for trusting me to come find your ring. 👍

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Lost Ring Found…. AGAIN!!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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My first ring recovery of 2023 is also another kind of first. This is the first time I have been called on to find the same ring for a second time. A little over two years ago Brenda and Henry called me to come out and find Henry’s 1968 University of Alabama class ring that had come off while putting out pine straw at their home in Gulf Shores. Henry had saved my number in his Rolodex so when it happened again in the exact same scenario, he knew who to call. Henry and I were talking to each other and he looked on as I set my machine to the area he was pretty sure that it had come off in. The first tone I got I explained was an iron tone and told him that I was pretty sure I remembered his ring was a 12-36 on my machine. Not thirty seconds later I got a strong 12-32. As I reached down and uncovered his ring, I told him that I wasn’t far off on the number and I would take it after 2 years. 😃. Henry was ecstatic as I gave him his ring back. I told him to keep a close eye on his ring this time but if he lost it again just give me a call and I’d be right there for the next time. It was a pleasure seeing you again Henry, give Brenda my best!

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Lost Ring from the boat – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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Ryan is a patient man!  He called me this morning and explained that he was out on the boat yesterday at a popular place for people to hang out and he was throwing a football back and forth. All of a sudden he caught one that slightly jammed his finger making him flick his hand back and forth. When he did he felt his brand new wedding ring of a few months go flying in the saltwater. He explained that they had looked for hours to no avail and he really needed some help. I told him that I wanted to help but I had to work today but with the storm coming this week he definitely needed to find it sooner rather than later. I told him I would have one of a few people I routinely hunt with call him soon and hopefully they could help him. At lunch Ryan reached out and said he hadn’t heard from anyone so I told him to standby while I made a call. My Father in law had accidentally left his phone and my other buddy was working so I called Ryan back. He asked about renting a detector and I explained why that just wouldn’t work. I finally felt so bad that I told him if he could wait until after work and if I could get a pass from my wife then I would do it myself. Being the patient person he is, he waited for me to finish up the workday and I’m very glad he did. Ryan has a great boat and we headed out to the area. When we got there, he had done a great job marking where it came off and I made my first pass. There was a huge drop off and as I turned back I thought to myself that I hoped it wasn’t any further or I would need a scuba tank. I didn’t need to worry though because as Ryan looked on expectantly from the beach I heard a very clean gold tone. He was already smiling as I very carefully used my scoop to pull out his ring. He said that was exactly where he thought it was and he was amazed I was able to find it. Ryan was all smiles on the way back to the dock and I’m glad I was able to help.

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Lost Ring in Gulf Shores, AL – FOUND!!!

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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To show you what a nice guy Matt is, all I need to do is point out that he drove his whole family 18 hrs one way from Wisconsin for his daughter’s 13th birthday and to enjoy our beautiful beaches here in Gulf Shores. He was getting ready to make the return trip soon but still had a few days to snorkel out in the Gulf. That’s when fate struck and he felt his ring come off while swimming. When he called me he explained that he had looked for hours but even though he thought he knew where it was, he just couldn’t find it. He told me that it wasn’t an expensive ring but it was very sentimental to him and I knew that I had to help him. I knew it wasn’t what he wanted to hear when I explained that it would be a day and a half before I could come but he trusted me and said he would text me Sunday morning if he still hadn’t found it. He did just that even though he had looked all day Saturday and even bought a fishing magnet that didn’t work. My wife and I finally got there Sunday afternoon and Matt quickly showed us where he thought the ring had come off. Matt told us that he had been to 21 countries with this ring and really wanted it back. I started my grid search and there were older coins everywhere and they were slowing me down. I finally asked Matt to make sure I was where he wanted me and he came out and pointed “just a little bit left”. As I turned back to the left I took one swing and got another target. When I pulled it up I smiled and told Matt that he had great directions. He was shocked when I handed him his ring. I am so glad I could cap off your vacation with a win and you and your family will have an awesome story to take back to Wisconsin.

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Wedding Ring Recovered at Johnson Beach Florida

  • from Orange Beach (Alabama, United States)
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Hal called me about 4 in the afternoon to see if I could find his wife’s lost wedding ring. He and his family were staying near the Alabama beaches and decided to take their boat out to a secluded beach in Florida called Johnson Beach. Johnson Beach is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore and the ring was lost on the intercostal side of the beach. Hal sent me a location and there wasn’t a way for me get to them by car without a 3 or 4 mile walk through the National Seashore which doesn’t allow metal detecting for archeology reasons. I tried calling the Park service for a permit but I think everyone was off work and I got a recording. I discussed this with Hal and he said he would come get me from a marina several miles away. By the time I got to where the ring was lost the sun was getting pretty low in the sky! his wife was afraid she would never see her ring again. the area to search wasn’t that big but the water was dark from recent rain. I ask lots of questions about what they were doing to try and pinpoint the location to start the search. His wife and daughter described at one point they were in the water doing cheers routines and animated with their arms the activity. It was the clue I was hoping for and asked about where they were. They identified and areas about 10 foot wide and I started the search. Within 10 minutes I got the unmistakable tone of a gold ring. Ring recovered, everyone happy and I didn’t get arrested by the Park police, a good day all around!

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