#Maine Metal Detector Service Tag | The Ring Finders

Property Marker Found With A Metal Detector, In Cape Elizabeth, Maine

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)

On Tuesday evening, April 9th, I received a call from Angie. She and her husband, Adrian, had purchased a home in Cape Elizabeth, last fall. They now wanted to put a fence up, in their backyard. The fence would run from the back right side of the property, to the back left side of the property, only. No fence would be put up alongside the home, or in the front. Unfortunately, they were unsure where the exact property line was, in the backyard. They had been quoted $3000.00 for a survey of the property, but if we could find the markers, they could save the $3000.00. They had a map of the property, showing the distances between the property markers but were not exactly sure how to start.

Now, property markers can be tricky because of many different factors. Are they even made of metal? There are lots of granite and rock property markers, here in New England.

I once was called to search for property markers, when a neighbor was caught, moving them. All I found was a lot, and I mean a lot of nails.

Another time, I searched for 4 property markers, finding just two. The other two, had been moved or washed downstream, in a flood, which also changed the direction of the stream. The same flood caused road damage and a new culvert was put in, either moving the marker or burying it, with all the fill that was used for the new culvert. I also know that people have removed property markers, because they were in the way, when mowing the lawn. So, as you see, property markers may be a hit or miss proposition.

I arrived at Angie and Adrian’s home promptly at 8:00 am. I was told that a neighbor had a property survey performed , a few years back and the neighbor had a property marker put in, on the left backside of the backyard. As we walked to the right backside of the property, Adrian also showed me a granite marker, in the ground, on the left front side of their home. Adrian was not sure if it was an actual property marker or not. Once we arrived at the right backside of the property, Adrian told me that the telephone pole on the far side of the property, was supposed to line straight up, to the right backside property marker. As I lined up the telephone pole, to close to the street, where the right backside marker should be, I received a strong Ferrous signal, on my Minelab CTX-3030 metal detector. After digging the target m it turned out to be a rather large and old nail. As I started swinging again, I received another strong Ferrous signal, less than a foot from the nail. I dug the target and SUCCESS, we had found the metal rod property marker. I then told Adrian, that I would like to measure the distance between the property marker, I just found and the granite marker, on the right front side of the house. The distance should be 103.67’. I then secured one one of my 300’ tape measure and walked it down, from the granite marker, to the metal rod marker, I had just found. When I looked at the measurement, I had to smile, as the measurement was exactly what it was suppose to be, 103.67’. We just verified the granite marker was, in fact their property marker, for the right front of the house.

I then wanted to measure from the marker, I had found, to the marker that the neighbor had put in a few years back, and near the telephone pole. The measurement should be 207.87’. As I arrived at the neighbors marker, near the telephone pole, I looked at the tape measure and we had another match. The measurement was 207.87’, just like it was suppose to be. Now, just one more marker.

I walked the tape measure down to the left front of the house, from the neighbors marker, in the back left of the property. The measurement should be 103.67’ and when I got to 105 feet, I stopped and started searching, with my metal detector. I found another 5-6 nails, but no marker, in the area, it should have been. The area has been disturbed, as there is a culvert, telephone pole, looking fairly new. There is also a rock wall that looks fairly new and could have been built over the marker.

Angie and Adrian were extremely pleased that I was able to find their one metal rod properly marker and then measure it out, to the known neighbors marker and the granite marker, in the left front of the property. They can now use the $3000.00 they didn’t spend on a property survey and put it towards their new fence. 

Men’s Wedding Ring Lost In The Snow, While Ice Fishing On A Maine Lake, Found With A Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)

On Sunday January 21, 2024, I saw a text, on my phone, that had come in at 10:44am. It was now 12:40pm, 2 hours later. The message stated

“Hey, I lost my wedding ring yesterday while ice fishing in east waterboro. I am relatively certain that it is somewhere on this approximately football field sized patch of ice underneath an inch or two of snow. I found your number online. Do you have the opportunity and ability to search for it at some point”?

I immediately called back and told Luke that I was available to go search and could be there around 2:00pm. He had lost his ring, he thinks on Little Ossipee Lake, in East Waterboro, Maine. This was about 20 miles from my home. Luke told me he was home with his infant daughter and would not be able to meet me at the location until his wife, returned home , in the late afternoon. Luke sent me a photo of the area he had been ice fishing in, along with the address, of his friends lakefront camp, they had been at.
I arrived at the address right at 2:00pm, after a 30 minute drive. I saw the tracks and ice fishing holes, on the ice, that were in Luke’s photo. I texted Luke and let him know I had arrived and with such a large area to cover, should I start on the right side of the area or the left. Luke said the drilled holes on the right side 1st and drilled more holes to the left. The area may have contained 10-15 ice fishing holes, plus all the tracks going from hole to hole. I decided to start where Luke had started and detected the tracks, to the holes on the right side, of the area. Being a frozen lake, with approximately 2 inches of snow on it, I was moving along quickly, with my 17 inch CTX-3030 coil. Being above the lake, I was receiving absolutely no signals at all and this expedited the search.
After approximately a 1/2 hour, I received the unmistakable low tone sound of gold, along with a VDI reading of 12-19. Definitely a great Non- Ferrous target, in the gold range. I took out my Garret Pinpointer and located the target. I started wiping the snow away with my pinpointer and I saw the outline of a Gold Wedding Ring. I had found Luke’s Wedding Ring.
I sent Luke 2 photos of the ring and his reply was “You Are The Man”. I then asked Luke if he lived local because I could bring him the ring, where his wife was still not home. Luke provided his address, about 10 miles away and I drove right over and gave him his ring back. Luke was smiling ear to ear and said his wife is going to be so excited and happy.
I just love being able to help and return such sentimental and precious items to people. Although the temperature was only 16 degrees and I was detecting in the wide open, in the shade, I warmed up really fast when I saw the ring. Another happy day, all around.

Wedding Ring Lost In The Leaves, Found With A Metal Detector, In Standish, Maine

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)

On Saturday evening, November 11, I received a Facebook PM, from Steve. The message said

“I am David * ******** **** brother and I live in Standish. I lost my wedding ring in my driveway and unable to find it. can you help and how much would you charge”?

I immediately message Steve back and told him I had worked with his brother and would be willing to to help him but that I was unable to search, because of my knee replacement surgery, just 5 days earlier. I asked Steve if he or someone else could search, using my detector. I told him that I would get the Minelab CTX-3030 all charged up, programmed for what we were searching for and all someone would need to do is slowly swing the coil over the ground. I also asked Steve, where the ring was lost, and how?Steve messaged me right back and said he could do the actual search. He also said that he was moving some wood, from the side of his home, to just outback of his house and when he finished, he noticed his ring was missing. He said it would be along the driveway, to the pile of wood outback. Not very much of an area and the ring would definitely be in amongst all the fallen leaves, in or along the driveway.
We then made plans to meet at his home, in the morning, around 8:00am. My wife would drive me and I would just make sure Steve has a properly working metal detector and my guidance. My wife and I arrived at approximately 8:20am as the 40 minute drive was longer than I expected. Steve was there to greet us and the three of us exchange pleasantries and small talk for a few minutes. I then asked Steve to show me where the ring was lost and the route he was using between the wood piles. When Steve showed me the area, I knew it should be a fairly quick search, as the area was not very large. I then turned my detector on, got it ground balanced and gave Steve a quick tutorial. I also put my wedding ring amongst the leaves and Steve was able to hear the tone and see the screen.
As Steve stated the search, he almost immediately received a signal, which sounded good but the VDI screen was saying it was 5 inches deep. We did ou due diligence and checked the leaves and the top of the soil, with my pinpointer. It was not the ring and we did not dig the target to find out what it was. Steve stated swinging again and within 2 minutes had a very good target. My wife put the pinpointer into the leaves, found the target and pulled out Steve’s Gold Wedding Ring. The entire search lasted just 3-5 minutes. Steve was extremely happy and grateful to have his ring back. I just love finding people’s lost items and seeing the looks of happiness across their faces.

Gifted Necklace From Grandfather Lost On A Beach In Saco, Maine. Found with a Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)

I received a message from Gary, a friend and fellow detectorist. Gary told me about a lost necklace and it was just 3 1/2 miles from my home, that he had seen on a Facebook post. Would I be willing to look for it? Of course, a lost necklace in my hometown is a given. I took the information and contacted Ashley, the originator of the Facebook post. Ashley told me the necklace belonged to her daughter, Kalleigh and Kalleigh was upset she lost it because the necklace was a gift from her Grandfather. Ashley described the events leading up to the necklace being lost on Bay View Beach, in Saco, Maine. I sent a photo of an aerial view of the beach and asked Ashley, if the areas I had marked, on the photo, were where she thinks the necklace was lost. Ashley replied yes but they had also been about another 100 feet, further south and she sent me a photo with an area marked off. In total, I was looking at an area of approximately 250-300 feet long, running parallel to the shore and about 30 feet deep, from the high tide mark to the dune grass. I then Told Ashley that I would go down to Bay View, 1st thing in the morning, when the sun came up.
I arrived at the Beach at 6:30am and admired the sun, which was just starting to rise. A beautiful scene, as always. I decided to start my search where they had been on the beach and work my way towards the lifeguard station, where Kalleigh realized the necklace was missing. I performed a grid search, starting parallel with the water. I broke up the approximately 250-300 feet by breaking the area down to 4 quadrants and slowly gridded each area. Not many targets either. Other than a quarter, there was nothing else, other than an occasional pull tab and the metal handle of a few sparklers. As I was about to finish up my 3rd quadrant, I received a signal that kept bouncing between 12-45 and 37-47. The first set of numbers indicated a non-ferrous item, most likely a dime or quarter. The second set of numbers were definitely a ferrous target. Depth on my CTX-3030 was indicating 4-5 inches deep. I then took my scoop and pulled out the sand. The target wasn’t in the 1st scoop of sand. I took out my pinpointer searched the hole with it. Once I found the target, I scooped a handful of sand and there it was, the gold necklace. I had found Kaleigh’s lost necklace. I immediately took a picture of the necklace and sent it to Ashley. Her reply was, “OMG, Thank you so much. She is going to be so happy “. Ashley and I then made plans to meet up a little later and return the necklace.
When Ashley and Kalleigh arrived at my home, I could see Kalleigh’s very large smile just beaming, as the walked across the street, towards me. Those smiles are the reason I absolutely love doing this. There is no better reward that to see pure joy and happiness on someone’s face. I then learned that Kalleigh’s grandfather had personally made the necklace and gifted the necklace to Kalleigh for Christmas, 2 years prior. This is the absolute best job in the world and on top of all the smiles, I got to see a beautiful sunrise.