metal detecting service Tag | The Ring Finders

Lost Keys Found in the Snow: A Winter Recovery Tale

It was a crisp winter morning when our client lost his set of keys—complete with two key fobs—while snow blowing his driveway and tidying up the yard. He needed the keys to unlock a locked shed out back, and he distinctly remembered slipping them into his jacket pocket after. But despite a thorough search using a rake and even a rented metal detector, the keys had vanished into the fresh snow. His activities had taken him all around the house: clearing the driveway, putting away a few items from the deck, and navigating the side yard and beyond. Most of the snow had been raked and disturbed in the process, but the keys were nowhere to be found.

Frustrated but hopeful, the client reached out to Darrin Gay of The Ring Finders. Darrin, recognizing the challenge of a snowy search, referred the job to me, Paul Nolan, another Ring Finders metal detecting specialist in the area. I had the afternoon free and promised to swing by within the hour.

I arrived around noon under a brilliant sun with not a whisper of wind—perfect conditions for a recovery. The client gave me a full tour of the property: the long driveway, the side yard, the shed, and the expansive two-tiered backyard with its large deck. Snow blanketed everything, crisscrossed by tracks from boots and equipment, but the path was straightforward.

I started with the most likely spot: the driveway. Grid by grid, I swept my detector—nothing but silence. Next, I moved to the shed and side yard, where he’d unlocked the door. Again, no signals worth chasing. That left the backyard, a vast expanse of undisturbed powder dotted with the deck’s shadow and scattered winter chores.

The detector hummed to life here and there, picking up faint targets buried deep below the frozen ground—nails, tools, or who-knows-what from seasons past. As I circled the deck, I hit a consistent line of signals along the back drip edge, like buried wiring or low-voltage lines snaking underground. Steady pings, nothing exciting. Then, a brief clear patch… followed by one more hit, about six inches long, right in line with the others but offset by four feet.

I figured it was more of the same—probably just extension cords or landscape lights. But the tone was off, crisp and shallow, only an inch or two beneath the surface crust. Something nagged at me. I set the detector aside, grabbed my garden rake, and gently scraped away the top layer of snow.

There they were: the lost keys, glinting in the sunlight like buried treasure. Two fobs intact, no worse for the wear. The client’s face lit up as I handed them over—a huge relief after days of worry.

It’s funny how it always seems to happen in the last place you look. Another successful hunt for The Ring Finders, turning a snowy mystery into a quick win. If you’ve lost something precious in the white stuff, don’t rake alone—give us a call!