Lost Grandfather’s Ring -FOUND!!!
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. 👍
Steve called me asking if I could find a ring. Steve’s wife lost her new anniversary ring while doing some yard work at their home in Navarre. Their backyard has a lush landscape with a thick carpet of grass where a ring could easily fall in and be hard to locate. In addition there property bordered a forested area with fairly thick understory vegetation. They didn’t know where the ring was lost, so Steve and I recreated their activity as best he could remember. First I carefully searched the grass areas with no luck. Next was going into the shrub plantings, also no luck. Then I expanded the search area assuming the backyard was the most likely place to look since that’s where she was working, no luck strike 3. In desperation I decided to look in the forested area bordering their backyard. I started a north/south grid about 5’ wide. There were no targets in the understory, clean ground with no metal in it. So when I got a signal it screamed, the sound was unmistakable, the sound of gold! Somehow the ring had left her finger and traveled about 15’ into the woods. I never met Steve’s wife because she was working that day but Steve called her and she was overjoyed. Ring recovered, everyone smiling, no more worries, made my day!
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! 
