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Falmouth, MA Lost Wedding Band Takes a Long Way Home by Richard Browne

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

July 23, 2025: Cyndy reported a ring was lost at Megansett Beach in North Falmouth. Her son-in-law had lost it along the water line about at high tide. Cyndy said “I could meet you any time on Friday.”
It was high tide when he lost it and he was in chest deep water at the time. The tide goes out far enough that at low tide it is only a few inches of water deep if that. It was inland of where the seaweed begins and between the rock jetty that runs perpendicular to the pier. I was happy with all the location information.

The story to this point:
As several people that loose a ring on the beach do, they borrowed a metal detector. Many of which can not handle the salty environment of a salt water beach, let alone to be waterproof so as not to destroy the electronics. And of course is the lack of experience in tuning and using a detector. Five hours of searching the search was called off and a call to TheRingFinders.com, and I received the call just as I was leaving my home with two other metal detectorists to search for another man’s wedding band. Plus there was one more ring lost at the far end of Cape Cod that I had on my list to go and find. Anyway it was not until the next morning’s low tide that I made my way to Buzzards Bay to meet up with Cyndy.

Friday morning and I was almost at the beach and a text came to me; “I’m here standing by the pier I have a black flowered dress on and I’ve saved you a place to park.” Sweet words this time of year with everyone wanting a parking space.

Boots on, detector and scoop in hand, my rings left with my wife and it is off to find a white gold wedding band. The band was lost as Zack was doing hand stands. Cyndy was watching and had the presence of mind to note the exact location on the beach where the ring slipped off her son-in-law’s finger.

Back to the hunt:
I was shown the rocks, seashells that looked a lot like the ring, and the seaweed which was to the outer most point the handstands were made. About eight swings later and an iffy signal was heard as the coil passed over the bottom of the beach’s slope. It took two shallow digs after not seeing the ring until I tilted it to eject some of the shells. As I did, one shell was hiding the ring and both Cyndy and I saw the ring heading back into the water. A third scoop and with much more caution I captured the ring and gave it to Cyndy. Lots of Thanks, a picture of the ring and a promise to have Zack send me a picture of Smiles when he received it half way across America.
And he did.

Yarmouth, MA: One Year to Find and Return a Ring by Richard Browne

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

July 18, 2025 It was on July 27, 2024 that I received a text requesting help finding a lost ring.

“Good morning! My son lost his wedding ban in the water on Smugglers Beach in South Yarmouth this past Sat. He was about waist high when he believes it must have slipped off. Is this something that could be found? It is a gold band and I think it was around 2pm that he lost the ring. Thank you! Jennifer (mother)“

As luck (good or bad) had it I agreed to help and arranged for myself and two other detectorists, Leighton and Jim) to go and search the next low tide. Well the water was quite rough and after a couple of hours in the water without results the search shifted to the dry sand again without good results. This could only mean one of two things. One, we did not pass our detectors’ coil over the ring or it was not there, unlikely in this case.

I went back to the area when the water calmed down on several occasions, never giving up hope it was still somewhere and could be found. It happened 51 weeks later when I was in the water chin deep when my detector alerted me of a metal object below its coil. One scoop and you bet, it was the ring sitting all alone at the bottom of my scoop. After a ¼ mile hike back to the parking area, putting on dry shoes I was on my way home to contact the owner.

A search of my records one had the original E-mail from Jennifer. I called her to verify that the ring was her son’s. “YES, I be right over, I live about a mile away” and she was. I handed over the ring with a promise to get a photo of her son with the ring for the Book of Smiles.

It was a really great day for Matt not only did he get his long lost wedding band back but a new addition to his family. It seems Matt was at the hospital waiting on the the arrival of his first son Arthur, aka Arty when I called his mother about finding the ring. Arty was named after his Mom’s Dad who passed when she was 2. And now his happy parents have the wedding band back and a lesson about never giving up to pass onto Arty. What a great way to have a wonderful day! Congratulations!

Craigville, MA Lost Wedding Ring Delays Trip Home

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

August 3, 2025 Mike and his wife were about to leave for home at the end of their vacation after one last dip to remember the great vacation by. The crowning event was to take a splash in Nantucket Sound even tho Mike was not fond of swimming. Little did anyone know their trip home would be delayed by Mike’s unfortunate loss of his yellow gold wedding band (that has more sentimental than most as it is a hand-down from his father) in waist deep water.

When I got a call for help my first request was to have Mike at the beach to put me on the right location in the very large swimming area. The first area description of: half way between two points and less than shoulder depth really needed, to be a but more precise. Both Mike and his wife Amy had their own idea of were the loss occurred. After lessening to the two search parameters, Jim, a visiting friend of mine, and I started to search first perpendicular to the shore then parallel to the shore. Not finding the ring we opened up the search area, still with no results. We then kind of went our own way with thoughts of our own where the ring might be. In a little over an hour of searching and the finding of a toe ring and a little heart ring passed before I found myself within the original search area when I heard the detector’s tone made when passed over a gold object. One scoop and I had the object I was searching for, Mike’s sentimental ring.

I have to say that Mike had a large support team present as Jim and I were searching. There was great fan-fare when I approached the group that was waiting for me on the beach. The one that had the most attention was Amy, as she was pregnant and now had one more joyful story to her yet to be born child. Lot of stories, pictures and plans on how not to loose a ring at the beach passed among all of us. Great family, friends and now memories along with best wishes for a safe trip home. I was off to my car, to take a sip of water, call my wife, before going back to the water for some recreational metal detecting with Jim. What a wonderful day with great beach going weather. It left everyone feeling complete and ready for a safe trip home.

Centerville, MA Beach Holds a Ring for 3 Days, Found and returned by Richard Browne

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

July 8, 2025 I was having my second cup of coffee, catching up on the news and weather – thunder storms in the afternoon when a text came in for help with a lost wedding ring. I read the following: “I’m Mattie and I lost my wedding band at the beach. I found your profile on ring finders and was hoping maybe you could help. … I know it’s been a few days of shifting sands and beach goers, but I was curious if you might be available to check it out. … I’m at peace if the ring ends up being a beach treasure in the end: it was a family ring but my mother and her parents were huge beach lovers and in way it would be poetic. … it was a ring my Yia Yia (grandma) gave to my mom, who gave to me when I was about to get married and we used for our ceremony! I’ve worn it since. It was loose on my finger in the water so I asked my older daughter to bring it back to the chairs we had while I stayed with my younger daughter (safety first!) but unfortunately she dropped it in the way. I saw how heartbroken she was and I just knew that the right thing in the moment was to not stress and move on.”

What could I do but assure Mattie that I would go and search the area. I would also reach out to other detectorists that I know frequent the area in case I did not find the ring myself. Once on the beach and in the area, I could not guess why that one area was void of towel and sun umbrellas. There was one person with a metal detecting scoop, but no detector in sight. At the end of my first pass I stopped and talked with the gentleman with the scoop. A local that regularly detects the area. I told him what I was looking for and he assured me he had not found much of anything over the past three days. Oh well, back to detecting … a coin spill of 45 cents … well no one gets it all. Another two steps and another target was beneath my coil, a quick scoop and it was in my scoop. Boy will Mattie be happy was my thought as I saw what had to be her ring, and it was. No one had found the ring in its three days in the sand. It was truly a lucky day for Mattie and a happy ending to the story for her older daughter.

As the family had returned to New York, I would mail the ring the next day and wait for a picture for the Book of Smiles. Yes, I just love my hobby for making happen endings to stories just like this one.

Lost, Found, Returned Oura Ring a Birthday Present Sandwich, MA by Richard Browne

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

July 12, 2025 Lost in beach sand just after applying sunscreen and trying to pick it up and put it back on. It just slipped off and into the sand. Several fellow beach goers searched to no avail. A Google search lead Imari to TheRingFinders.com and my phone. My usual response put Imari at ease and knowing I would be there within a half an hour. I made it by one minute.

A quick review of how the ring want missing and a recheck of its position on the beach with a cellphone application got me into the area. The first grid was not holding the ring so it was off to the second position that the application showed as the rings location. I admitted along the way that I was unsuccessful for finding the only other Oura ring I had searched for. But there was a good reason, it had been lost inside a car and the application defaulted to the last ping and not the current location. I guess that the application has improved in the last two years.

Back to the search… Dang, believe it or not, but Imari’s footprint was right on the precise spot that my detector alerted me to a buried object. And, yes, the object was the Oura Ring.

A few pictures were taken and a few detecting stories relayed before I was given two chocolate chip cookies that I said I would take home and make into an ice cream sandwich. As good as I know it will be, I will have to admit that the Ice Cream Sandwich in Sandwich, MA will be hard to beat. They make fresh cookies each morning and stuff with 4-5 scoops of you favorite flavors of ice cream. A must for anyone visiting Cape Cod

Sunshine Diamond Earring Found and Returned by Richard Browne in Dennis Ma

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

July 7, 2025 Dana lost an earring, a sharp eyed swimmer had found the wire half and returned it to Dana. Dana also snorkeled for some time but could not find the diamond studded sunshine disk.

The old saying about “When it rains, it pours.” was surely true on this day. I had been called to find a ring that was lost on the 3rd of July when the text to help to find Dana’s sunshine lost in a fresh water pond showed up on my phone. It was first come, first served and I was off to the salt water beach. Found the ring and off to the fresh water pond. On the way I lost contact with Dana as her cell phone’s battery was depleted. So I was clueless as to the location in the pond the earring had been lost. I started the grid search and found only one piece of tin foil and a small pendent. I left the water and did a grid search of the sand area. After finding only one more target, a penny, I went back to the car to see if there was any phone response from Dana. Low and behold there was from Dana’s father. In the text there was a picture of the one earring Dana had. I could not believe it but the “charm” I had found on my way out of the water to the sand of the beach was THE earring, shining gold with diamonds.

A text and within 5 minutes Dana and her father arrived to claim the earring.

I was getting ready for my next call, and read Andrew’s last text that read “Rick, thank you so much we found it! There was a guy with a heavy duty metal detector… He found it in about 15 minutes. That was good news for me as NOAA was transmitting a severe thunder storm warning. Time to head home for the safety of the house, out of danger’s way and dinner.

Cartier Love Ring Found and Returned by Richard Browne

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

July 5, 2025 The 4th of July started with visions of a great day; but ended with despair after I failed to locate a Cartier Love Ring. I had come to the Dennis Beach where Jack had lost the ring. He gave me the area to search, but after 2 hours of sky rockets going off down the beach and over my head and the tide going out, but not far enough I called it quits until the next day.

The 5th of July was another beautiful day with the tide going low until 2:30 or so. I got ready about noon and headed to the beach. I had a better idea of the ring’s location after talking with other family members and started gridding the sandy area beyond the area I had searched the night before. I finally got out far enough that I was detecting in the water. About my 6th pass I heard the best signal I had heard all day. One scoop, a rinse in the salt water and the only thing left in my scoop was the Cartier Love ring.

There were no family members to share my thrill with, but the other local residents were more than interested in my find and were impressed with my success. Many wanted to know more about TheRingFinders.com and my hobby of metal detecting. I finally made it to shore and then to my car. On the way others were interested if I had found the ring, they had seen me the night before in the water doing something.

Back at the house and my car I was told Jack was working at a restaurant close to my home. So I was on the move again. At the restaurant Jack and I met for a quick photo and a long Thank-you. Jack went back to work and I to home to wait for the next call for help.

Falmouth, MA Wedding Band Lost and Returned by Richard Browne

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

July 4, 2025 Right after finding an engagement ring and returning it I was on my way to Mike and the group that had given up looking for Mike’s ring in the sand.

A few questions, precise answers and I was searching after moving a few beach chairs. Their metal legs caused false signals to my detector. However I worked as close to them as I could. I was told it was only 45 seconds before I had the wedding band in my scoop and ready for Mike to remove it. Of course no one really expected to see it recovered so fast. He removed the ring from the scoop and replaced it on his finger expressing the thrill with many thank-yous and a few hugs. A couple of photos and I was off to the gate keepers tent then to my waiting wife who had stayed in our car. At the beach and back at the tent and then car, no one could believe that two “lost” rings had been found in such a short time. I guess it could only happen in Vacation Land on Cape Cod with the help of a member from TheRingFinders.com.

Falmouth, MA 4th of July Engagement Ring Lost, Returned

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

July 4, 2025 The 4th of July is usually a day of family, food, frolic and fun in the sun on a sandy beach of Cape Cod. The 4th started off that way but soon would see frowns and nervous feelings for Erin as her engagement ring slipped into the sand not to be seen for a few hours. Searching by hand, and a digging tool or two before a desperate trip to the closest store that had a metal detector and back. Unfortunately the detector did not provide the results was hoped for.

The next thought was to search the web for help. There to results lead Erin’s group to Brian, another member of “TheRingFinders” who was to tell Erin’s husband that they would be the 4th on the list for help. Brian suggested that the try calling Rick Browne. The call came and within 45 minutes I was at the beach and met up with who I thought was Charlie but no, it was another man with a request to help find a “lost” ring. He would be number 2 on my list when Charlie spoke up and led me to the bay side of the peninsula and the area Erin had “lost” her ring.

I was shown where the ring slipped away and the holes dug while looking for it. Within 15 steps I had one signal which was from a pull tab, the next signal was the ring. I should have known it was going to be one of those days as I had left my cellphone in my car. I would have to rely on Erin, and her sister-in-law to text me the photos and information I needed to write this blog. I bid the party good bye and a reason to enjoy the rest of the day and return to making memories of the 4th. I was off to the next lost ring that was on the opposite side of the peninsula.

Rose Gold Ring Found and Returned Smuggler’s Beach Yarmouth, MA by Richard Browne

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

June 30, 2025  Chris and his wife were enjoying the sun, sand, and surf when the combination of a loose ring, sun tan lotion and cool water working together let Chris’s ring slip off his finger. A call for help was placed to J&E Enterprise resulted in a call to me. I took the information and headed to the beach. It was 3 hours past low tide and was coming in fast. The pinned google photo showed me I should be working on the edge of a sea weed bed. It was the first day I braved the water in a bathing suit and to my surprise the water was comfortable but the sea weed patch was just beyond my reach by some 5 feet. I worked the area from the deepest I could go, inward to knee deep water. An hour and a half passed with only one dug target. I was about ready to give up until my detector gave off with the best signal I had heard. I took a scoop and missed the target. Took another scoop, a shake or two and saw the handsome rose gold ring in the bottom of my scoop.

Now all that was left was to contact Chris and set up the return. It turned out that I would mail the ring to his home address. Which has been done and I now have another photo for the Book of Smiles.