Lost Ring in Sand Playing Football .. Newport Beach, CA.
The sun was setting when I received a call from Gary’s wife. They had been visiting friends who live on the beachfront in Newport Beach. She told me that her husband had lost his wedding ring in the sand.
When I got the call, I was detecting in Laguna Beach. It took me about 15 minutes to get back to my vehicle and another 30 minutes to drive the 13 miles to their location.
Gary was there to explain how he had been playing football, when one of the kids grabbed his hand, pulling the ring off into the sand. The area was only 30×40 ft. square. Should have been an easy search, but after cross gridding three times. It was not looking good.
Gary walked up to me, saying he had to leave. I knew that the ring was not in the location that he had laid out. Asking him where else he had been, he pointed off to the right of the place where he thought it got pulled off his finger. It was getting cold but I would not leave till I covered the whole playing area.
I started a new grid pattern at the far side of the field. Two passes, then the magic sound of a gold ring in my ear phones proved to be the missing ring. Everybody was still in the house saying their good-byes, when I walked up to the house to give them the good news.
This was a classic search. Everybody was so positive that the ring had come off after his hand was grabbed. Actually it had fallen off more than 50 feet from that event. It’s my experience that kept me searching, when they had given up hope that I could find it. Again, I was still as surprised as they were.
A very nice family and you can see the smile on Gary’s face showing he was happy to have his ring recovered. He did apologize for putting me in the wrong place. I assured him this happens often, it’s part of the challenge.