August 6, 2023 was what began as a great afternoon of boating on Cape Cod Bay turned into a fretful time of searching for a wedding band that had slipped from Zach’s finger after only 2 months of being worn. Zach tried diving in 9 feet of water to find the ring but lacked the ability to hold his breath long enough to do much searching under water. When the tide went out and the area was void of water he and others tried using a metal detector and “eye-ball” searching with no success.
One of Zach’s friends suggested he call J&E Enterprise, a metal detector dealer for suggestions. Eleanor offered up my name and number. Zach then called me. The tide was about ¾ full and I knew I could not detect in the 9 foot deep water and made arrangements for an early morning meeting when the tide would be down to only waist deep.
The morning came with storm alerts on the NOAA radio. High winds, heavy rain and possible tornadoes were on the horizon for Cape Cod area. The sky was a bit overcast at 7:30AM but otherwise it looked like the beginning of a wonderful day. I took a chance and left the safety of my home and was off to meet up with Zach, After the introduction and being shown were the over-size ring slipped from his finger I was in the water searching in a grid pattern. About 45 minutes of searching with only one other signal I located the wedding band.
I left the ring in my detecting scoop and headed out of the water, back to where Zach had been standing. He thought I had given up searching and I said yes, there is no need to search any further. I then put the scoop in front of him so he could see the ring in the scoop and retrieve it for himself. I love the emotions people show when their lost item has been found and is being returned. Even bystanders are amazed and become elated as they watch and add congratulations.
Zach’s wife was home and had offered up a bit of advice when she was told of the “loss”. That was “do not tell your mother until after TheRingFinder does his search.” While Zach was talking to Kelly I texted her a picture of the return. Yes, it was a wonderful feeling to be part of this story that ended with smiles that spread between Zach on Cape Cod and his wife several states away.
OH, I must add that the weatherman was correct. Two hours after I arrived back home the NOAA alerts started coming in every few minutes, Then the wind, rain, and lightening engulfed our area. There were two tornadoes in our area. One EF1 touched down about 30 miles and the other an EF0 was only 5 miles away. There was physical damage to homes and property but no human injuries. Both Zach and I were among the lucky ones this morning.
Caroline contacted me about a ring that slipped between the boards on her dock, and landed on the bottom of her lagoon. She said it was about 2 years ago, and wondered if I was able to recover it. I asked her some questions, and determined that I needed to come out and confirm a few things before agreeing to do the search. We decided it was worth a try, and I would attempt ASAP. After 2 weeks we met at the house, and i suited up and got into the water. It was just workable at a depth of 5 1/2′. I searched for about 45 min and not one signal that even sounded close to a ring. She told me to give up, but I wont quit, knowing the ring had to be there someplace. I worked out past the dock about 2′ where I got a solid tone that I knew was the ring. I had to put on a weight belt once I started to dig, and that didn’t work so good either. I decided to drag the ring back under the dock where it would be much easier to work. That took another 30 min. and FINALLY the ring was in my scoop. Unfortunately Caroline had to leave, so she was reunited with the ring at a later date. I guess the prop wash over the years pushed the ring out to where it was located. 
If you have lost a ring don’t hesitate to call or text at 805-290-5009 as time is not on our side as the elements or others may get it first leaving you empty handed.
If you have lost a ring or other piece of jewelry don’t hesitate and call or text me at 805-290-5009 so I can quickly make a plan to get your ring back to you. Time is not on our side as the elements and other folks may get to it first.
August 1, 2023 was to be Brian’ third lucky charm day. He had lost his ring two years ago and I found and returned it. About two weeks ago he call to ask for help in finding his daughters ring. As I was leaving for the beach the phone rang again. This time to tell me not to bother, the group had found the ring in the sand. Today another call from Brian was to tell me his friend Patrick had just lost his ring in the surf.
Ten minutes later I was on my way as was Leighton. What a team member. He was on the way from the west and I from the east of the point of ring loss. On the way, while stopped at a stop sign I saw Leighton coming down the road. He passed and I followed him. We stopped, set up a plan. and were off to a private club. We were greeted at the front door of the club and were escorted to the beach boardwalk. On the beach we met up with Brian and Patrick, covered the usual questions and headed for the water. Detector and scoop at the ready I headed down the slope, heard a target, stopped to dig the target, some 30 feet from where Patrick was standing acting as a point of reference for the lost ring.
One scoop in the soft sand and I had a wedding band in my scoop. I walked out to were Patrick was standing. After giving the ring to him I saw a puzzled look on his face. He was a bit unsure thatt it was “the ring” lost. The lost ring had been his great-great-great-grandfather’s and at first Patrick did not see two identifying dents on the ring’s edge. The ring had been removed from the deceased by cutting and the repair left the two small marks. Thinking it might not be “the Ring” Leighton and I continued to search the area. While searching I thought about time and tide. The ring had been lost for almost two hours and the tide was going out. That was the reason for the difference in distance from where I found the ring and where Patrick was standing. Further inspection of the ring the indents were visible and there was no karat marking, an indication of the ring’s age and lastly, there was no inscription on the ring. Yes it was Patrick’s ring.
Another Lost ring had been found, returned and it’s story entered into the “Book of Smiles”.
Jojje posted a message to Facebook stating he had lost his silver wedding ring at Te Ngaere beach near Whangaroa. He had, ironically, taken it off when he went paddleboarding so as not to lose it…
Placing it in a jacket pocket, he forgot about it as they packed up and headed back to the car, realising too late that it had fallen out.
I was tagged by one of the local Facebook community, and with low tide due at 2am, I headed straight out that evening.
It was a relatively quick recovery on a very cold but clear night under a full moon, the ring being located in the first search pattern – but outside the indicated area. I messaged Jojje before it got too late in the evening to let him know that his precious lost ring was now secure.
A couple of days later, we met up and you could see the physical and emotional relief as he slipped it back on his finger where it belonged.
Renee called about her beautiful Cartier ring that slipped off her finger while her and many friends were having « Sunday Funday » on the beach in Lavallette NJ. It was getting dark, I told her not to move from the area, and I would be there in about 40 min. When I arrived, they were all sitting in a circle, enjoying the end of a fabulous day, under the full moon. She had the spot marked with some empty cans, and about 3′ from where she thought she was sitting my machine gave a loud solid signal, which I def knew was her ring. They said NO way you have my ring, I replied with « you have some tiny fingers » seconds later they were all jumping around with excitement. Somewhere if the excitement I became « Dr. Ring Finder ». This was funniest and happiest bunch I have encountered in quite a long time. 
I received a text from Leslie on Monday afternoon concerning a lost engagement ring. She had found me with an internet search. As it was late in the day I told her I could come the next day, becase it was about a two hour drive from where I’m located. I got to the site at around 11:00 AM Central Time. The couple had been pulling a boat and pulled off into the parking lot of an old convience store that had been converted into another use. As they got out to adjust the boat straps, (the ring had been placed in the shallow tray under the door handle), the ring somehow went flying. They looked on the pavement and didn’t see it, but there was a grass strip between the pavement and a shallow ditch, then more grass just beyond the ditch. I started my search in the grass strip, then the ditch, then just beyond the ditch. Being this had been a convience store at one time I expected a lot of metal trash in the ground, and I was right. She did have a metal detector that had been her grandfather’s, but was overwhelmed by the abundance of metal trash. I searched slowly and methodically while listening for the white gold tone and looking for the target ID I typically get for white gold rings. After searching the entire area, no ring. Of course I found several pieces of foil. I turned off my CTX detector, and was explaing the process, where I search the most likely area first, then expand the search area if the ring is not found, (a visual scan of the pavement was next). At that time someone from the building, I’ll call him « Tom », came out and we explained what we were doing, and that a visual scan of the pavement was next. He struck out towards the highway, and in around ten seconds I heard him call out, « is this it? » He had found it around 10-12 feet from the edge of a busy highway! The ring was intact, but had some minor damage where it looked as though it had been run over and stuck in the tire treads before dropping off just before the highway. In a visual search, the more eyes the better. All in all, another successful search!
Austin was up north Minnesota at an area lake enjoying the day with family. They were out on their pontoon enjoying a hot day swimming in a bay when Austin’s gold/diamond ring slipped off his finger and sank down into the weeds, approx. 10 feet deep. This ring was an heirloom from his dad who passed a few years earlier. He searched the internet and found wwwtheringfinders.com and called me. We knew it was no hurry as the ring would stay exactly where it was lost, and we were struggling to commit to a day as the weather and our schedules were not cooperating. After about a week, we finally set the day and met up at the lake. These searches are very tough going as the weeds are so thick and the muck can be very deep. The search area must be very small when scuba diving at depth in weeds as we cannot cover a lot of real-estate with these obstacles, also the harder you work the faster you use your air. I told Austin it was up to him to remember and put me as close to the spot as possible, even a 20-yard deviation would make the search impossible. We pulled up in the pontoon and anchored, I gave him a junk ring and said toss it in where you believe your ring is. I started my search and found a couple old beer cans and 3 old lures. After approximately an hour of search I got a nice tone hit on my metal detector, sifted through the muck and out popped his ring. I looked up before ascending and I was right below the pontoon. Great job by Austin getting us to the exact point in the middle of a bay!!!
Pics of Austin and his Mother with the ring.
Congrats Austin, glad I could help out :O)
Darrin
