metal detecting service Maryland Tag | The Ring Finders

Ring Finder Helps Minnesota Young Lady Recover Lost Engagement Ring From Jeep Cherokee

  • from Washington (District of Columbia, United States)

Olivia’s beautiful 14 karat white gold 1.75 carat diamond engagement ring that had been missing for 9 months in her Jeep Cherokee.

Olivia and her fiancé Josh smile brightly after their long distance ring hero Brian Rudolph helped them recover their irreplaceable diamond engagement ring!

Brian Rudolph, Lost Item Recovery Specialist (Land, Water, Sand, Snow, Leaves, Cliffs, Houses & Vehicles) Will Find Your Lost Keepsake! Call ASAP (301) 466-8644!

Olivia arrived at work and discovered that her 14 karat white gold 1.75 carat diamond engagement ring was no longer on her finger. She freaked out! Immediately retraced her steps and realized that she had stopped at a fast food restaurant just prior to driving to Olivia’s job. She never got out of the car. The young lady believed that the ring had to be somewhere in her Jeep Cherokee SUV. Olivia looked everywhere but she couldn’t find her priceless keepsake anywhere. She and her fiancé were pretty devastated over the whole thing.

Nine months went by and from time to time Olivia would search once again for her lost ring. The loss had really consumed her mind and heart. Her fiancé thought that maybe he had a curse on himself because he had bought a special ring for his first girlfriend years earlier and she happened to lose that ring in her vehicle and it was never found. Olivia was determined to try to solve this mystery. She went online and she read an article that I had posted on THE RING FINDERS website. It was about how I was able to recover a ring from a vehicle. Immediately, Olivia reached out to me for help.

After I got the whole story about the disappearance of the couple’s sentimental keepsake, I put Olivia to work. You see, I was living in Maryland and my client was all the way over in Minnesota. Therefore, I needed Olivia to be my eyes, as well as using FaceTime together. I had deducted that the most likely place that the ring had ended up happened to be in her center compartment located between the two front seats. Olivia recounted that she did reach into the center box to access a couple of napkins after picking up the fast food. I thought that that would have been the place where the ring could have slipped off and disappeared in a crack that was large enough to fit the very elegant jewel. Well, it turned out that I was correct! Once my client was able to use a very special probe that I had her order the day before, Olivia placed the scope into a couple of open spaces in the center console compartment and there are on the screen we could see her gorgeous engagement ring! It was still sparkling after three quarters of a year! Olivia was beyond excited! She was overjoyed with happiness, gratitude and relief! All that time the ring was wedged down in the crevices of the Cherokee’s interior! Even an auto body shop repair crew couldn’t even find the precious jewel which the young lady had spent good money for them to take apart interior pieces in that area, and yet they didn’t find what Olivia was looking for!

I couldn’t have been happier for Olivia! I was just as happy for the fact that there is a very special directory of metal detectorists that people can connect with that will guide people like Olivia to item recovery specialists like myself!

SUBSCRIBE TO BRIAN’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL TO VIEW THIS SEARCH VIDEO!

To receive a NOTIFICATION letting you know when the video is uploaded to YOUTUBE: go to YOUTUBE by CLICKING THE LINK BELOW or OPEN your YOUTUBE APP on your device, go to the SEARCH BAR, type: THE RING HERO, click SUBSCRIBE and lastly, CLICK ON THE « BELL » to receive NOTIFICATIONS when this latest search video is available to view! 

BRIAN’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL LINK: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmcn09QqWhHrj-7SGqlUBJQ

CALL BRIAN RUDOLPH WITH THE RING FINDERS AT (301) 466-8644!

VISIT THE RING FINDER’S WEBSITE TO READ MORE OF BRIAN’S SUCCESSFUL SEARCH STORIES at:

TheRingFinders.com/Brian.Rudolph/

HE WILL RETURN TO YOU WHAT HAS BEEN LOST!

VISIT BRIAN’S BUSINESS WEBSITE FOR ADDITIONAL SERVICES, STORIES AND INFORMATION AT: www.MetalDetectingAdventures.net

Metal Detecting a Lost Gold Stud Diamond Earring in Parkton, Maryland…Found

  • from Washington (District of Columbia, United States)

Glenda’s beautiful 14 karat gold 1.5 Carat diamond stud earring found by professional metal detectorist Brian Rudolph

Glenda smiles brightly as she holds her precious jewel that was lost on her friend’s lawn for four days and found by THE RING FINDERS member Brian Rudolph.

Brian Rudolph, Lost Item Recovery Specialist (Land, Water, Sand, Snow, Leaves, Cliffs, Houses & Vehicles) Will Find Your Lost Keepsake! Call ASAP (301) 466-8644!

Glenda and Rudy went to a party celebrating the 15th birthday of a young lady named Mari. It is customary in Guatemalan families to celebrate special moments in young children’s lives, including the time when a child reaches the age of sixteen or around such a time frame.

On a particular Saturday in the month of May, Glenda finished her makeup and then put on her very special set of 14 karat white gold 1.5 carat diamond earrings. She and her husband Rudy immediately left the house out the front door with her coat and scarf on and went directly into the couple’s SUV. They drove from Glen Burnie, Maryland to Parkton, Maryland (which is close to the Pennsylvania border).

When the couple arrived at their friend’s house who was throwing the party for her daughter, they got out of the SUV that was parked along the street, walked up the driveway to the front door and greeted Neela (their friend and owner of the house) along with Mari, the birthday girl.

Most of the party was celebrated under a large party tent located in the front yard of the property. Several hours into the celebration, Glenda went to the bathroom inside the house and she heard something hit the floor. It turned out to be the backing of one of the earrings that she had been wearing. The earring set was a very special Christmas gift that Glenda had received that previous holiday season and which she had waited to receive from her husband for over seventeen years.

Glenda immediately felt both ears to take inventory of the diamond studs just at the moment that the backing fell to the floor. That’s when she realized that one of her earrings was not on her ear any longer. She figured that it must have come off in the bathroom along with the stud, but unfortunately the only thing she could find was the white gold backing.

During the party, the distraught woman went looking for the large diamond stud throughout the house and outside around and within the party tent, as well. Others joined in the search including Glenda’s husband Rudy, but they couldn’t find the special keepsake anywhere. Sadly, it became a bit of a distraction at the event, but Glenda tried to keep the search as low-key as possible as to not affect the party that was still going on.

This was very upsetting to the couple. Rudy could not enjoy himself and Glenda was pretty much in the same condition. They looked all over the grass where the tent was set up and where people were sitting. In the end, nothing was found.

Even after a couple of hours of looking following the conclusion of the party, the couple had to finally go home empty handed. Glenda was determined to not give up so easily. She had to rethink what to do next and at some point the desperate woman looked online to see how she could find a stud earring in a house or on a lawn. That’s when Glenda stumbled across an article that I had written on THE RING FINDERS website about how I found a diamond stud earring and its backing out on a football field. THE RING FINDERS is an elite directory of metal detectorists around the world who find lost items for people just like Glenda.

Glenda called me three days after she could not figure out what to do about recovering the missing diamond earring. We talked for nearly an hour on the phone in order for me to acquire all of the details that I needed to understand what we were up against.

I asked her every question in the book. I was optimistic that there was a chance that I could help the poor lady She did not go to any public parking lot and get out of the car. Also, my client never opened the garbage can at any point and she didn’t think the stud would have fallen off of her ear while standing over the sink while getting ready for the party at home. Therefore, if the stud had enough gold on it to be detected with my equipment, I felt confident that we might be able to recover this jewel for my client.

Glenda said that she did not have any photos of her wearing the earrings at the party. I asked her to continue to check to see if anyone else had any pictures of her so that we could better piece together the time frame of events when the earring fell off. There was still no certainty that the earring was lost on Neela’s property at all. It could have come off of Glenda’s ear while walking to her vehicle at her house. Also, it could have come off in the SUV or while she was walking up to the property when they arrived at the party. Sometimes the backing of an earring can stay stuck to the back of the earlobe for hours following the time when the earring disengages from the ear.

The possible places where the earring could have ended up included: somewhere in Glenda’s house, her front yard, inside the SUV, on the street where Neela’s house was located, Neela’s driveway, front walkway, inside the house or out on the front lawn somewhere. There were a lot of possibilities but the bright side of the situation was that all of these places were non-public environments other than the street pavement.

After we had our long talk, the two of us agreed to meet the following day over at Neela’s house to see if I could solve the mystery of the disappearing earring. I couldn’t wait to get the search started. This would be a huge challenge for me as it is for most professional metal detectorists. Stud diamond earrings are by far the hardest pieces of jewelry to recover.

The next day, I got to the area early so I went to a restaurant nearby and I called my client and asked her additional questions. One such inquiry was whether or not Glenda had used her smartphone at some point which may have caused the earring to pop loose. She said that because the earring fell out of her left ear, she did not believe the phone would have caused the incident because she said that she holds her phone in her right hand only. This made me think that she probably put her finger through her hair and at some point she accidentally pulled on the earring which caused it to finally fall out. Because Glenda was not wearing a face mask the entire time at the event because she said everybody was vaccinated, it also ruled out the possibility that the mask strap could have knocked the jewel out of her ear.

I arrived at Neela’s house sometime around 2:45 p.m. and she showed me where Glenda had parked on the street. Then, we went along the path leading up to the front door of the house. Next, we went through the house to the bathroom where Glenda had found the backing to the earring. From there, the kind woman showed me the front lawn area where my client and her husband were primarily sitting in the tent during most of the party. Finally, I was guided over to the driveway where the food truck was parked and where Glenda and Rudy had ordered their food.

Once Glenda arrived, I did another review with her of all of the places that she walked and hung out and then I immediately started conducting the search in the bathroom area.

Earlier, I mentioned that I asked if there were any photos of Glenda wearing both earrings. She didn’t think there were any at first. However, after asking Neela inside the house, the owner of residence looked through photos that her son-in-law had taken and sure enough I noticed that there was a picture of Glenda with the earring barely seen in her left ear! This was fantastic intel! This meant that Glenda definitely came to the estate with both earrings!

I asked if the owner could call her son-in-law and ask him at what time the picture was taken. Unfortunately, the young man was on the road working and then he would be going to sleep, so we could not get that information as to what time it occurred.

In the bathroom, I used my endoscope to search every crack and corner to see if the earring slid under something or inside some unseen spot on the floor. When that checked out clean, I scanned the front walkway and the driveway, as well. Still, no earring was found.

Next, I metal detected from the end of the driveway all the way to where Glenda had parked her vehicle. There was absolutely no sign of the piece of jewelry anywhere on the asphalt.

I determined that I did not need to check the SUV because we saw in the photo that Glenda was wearing the earring at the party and she never went back into her vehicle to get anything. She did walk to the SUV to allow for someone to get something out of it but she never went inside. That’s why I checked the driveway and the area leading to her vehicle, as well.

Since there was no sign of the earring inside the house, along the walkway, driveway and the area leading to where Glenda had parked her SUV, I concluded that the most likely place where the earring had come off of her face was the front lawn. It had to be on the grass unless someone in the neighborhood found it on the pavement or a car tire tread picked it up and carried it down the street.

The last possible place for me to search was the grass. After showing Glenda, Neela and her daughters how I would conduct this part of the search, I immediately laid down my grid lanes, adjusted my metal detector to a specific setting that helps me find lost gold earrings and then began swinging my detector.

I am so excited to share that after approximately 15 minutes or so of carefully searching the front lawn, detecting two of the six grid lanes that I laid down and checking multiple target signals, I amazingly found the missing 14 karat white gold 1.5 carat diamond stud earring buried in the grass! I was beyond elated! I found it outside of the area where my client believed she would have been hanging around! I pride myself on searching « outside of the box », looking beyond the expected locations. The jewel was discovered as I was detecting on the second grid lane. I hit the perfect target signal and that’s where I ended up finding the gorgeous piece of ice! What a happy moment that was for me!

A few moments after I recovered the earring, I revealed the incredible news with Glenda, Neela and her children! None of them could believe it! Glenda went happily crazy, hugging and praising God! It was such a terrific moment for all of us! There is nothing like being able to bring such exciting news to people – sharing with them that what was thought to be lost forever was now found and safely returning to its rightful owner!

Glenda could not stop thanking me and in turn I thanked her for entrusting me with such a special search! We all gave thanks to God for answering our prayer that we started off with at the beginning of the search! Helping to solve such a mystery brought me such gratification and what a thrill it was indeed!

Glenda was extremely happy that she found me online, calling a competent detectorist listed on THE RING FINDERS directory!

SUBSCRIBE TO BRIAN’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL TO VIEW THIS SEARCH VIDEO!

To receive a NOTIFICATION letting you know when the video is uploaded to YOUTUBE: go to YOUTUBE by CLICKING THE LINK BELOW or OPEN your YOUTUBE APP on your device, go to the SEARCH BAR, type: THE RING HERO, click SUBSCRIBE and lastly, CLICK ON THE « BELL » to receive NOTIFICATIONS when this latest search video is available to view! 

BRIAN’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL LINK: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmcn09QqWhHrj-7SGqlUBJQ

CALL BRIAN RUDOLPH WITH THE RING FINDERS AT (301) 466-8644!

VISIT THE RING FINDER’S WEBSITE TO READ MORE OF BRIAN’S SUCCESSFUL SEARCH STORIES at:

TheRingFinders.com/Brian.Rudolph/

HE WILL RETURN TO YOU WHAT HAS BEEN LOST!

VISIT BRIAN’S BUSINESS WEBSITE FOR ADDITIONAL SERVICES, STORIES AND INFORMATION AT: www.MetalDetectingAdventures.net

 

Wedding Band Lost During Car Crash Rescue in Big Pool, Maryland…Found on Cliff

  • from Washington (District of Columbia, United States)

Ross’s Handsome Wedding Band that was Once Worn by His Beloved Father Many Years Earlier

Ross, Hannah and their Newborn Child Celebrate the Return of their Cherished Family’s Heirloom

BRIAN RUDOLPH, LOST ITEM RECOVERY SPECIALIST (LAND, WATER, SAND, HOUSES & VEHICLES) WILL FIND YOUR LOST KEEPSAKE! CALL ASAP (301) 466-8644!

Who doesn’t like to experience a great adventure? Being a member of THE RING FINDERS takes me to exciting places with fascinating stories attached to the searches that I embark upon. This story has all of those twists and turns that define such an adventure!

On September 6, 2019, a terrible car accident took place in the Maryland city of Big Pool. Reporter Tamela Baker of Herald-Mail Media reported the story as follows:

“I-70 Crash Sends One to Hospital

The Destroyed Vehicle Being Lifted from the Dangerous Ravine Below

BIG POOL — A single-vehicle crash Friday that closed both westbound lanes of Interstate 70 at mile marker 9 near Big Pool, sent one person to the hospital, according to Maryland State Police.

A spokesman for the Hagerstown barrack said the vehicle, a 2019 Chrysler Pacifica, was traveling westbound when it struck median guardrails on both sides of the road and went over an embankment.

The driver was transported to Meritus Medical Center near Hagerstown, police said. Two dogs that were in the vehicle were transported to a shelter.
The accident occurred at 3:26 p.m.; lanes were reopened at about 6:30 p.m..”

In addition to this basic news report, the man that was critically injured in the accident permanently lost the use of one arm (there is some speculation that the arm, sadly, had to be amputated).

When something as horrific as this particular tragedy happens, nobody is thinking that there could possibly be a sub-story attached to what was already a near fatal situation with this particular driver. The news reporters never got wind of the rest of the story that you are about to read.

I received an email from a young lady named Hannah whose husband named Ross is an officer in the United States Marine Corps stationed at Quantico Base in Virginia. The couple were on their way to attend a wedding in Indiana. Just as they were driving through Big Pool, Maryland, the accident which I described above had just taken place. Ross, being trained to act on instinct in emergency situations, jumped out of his vehicle and ran to the site of the endangered passenger whose vehicle was leaning on edge over a cliff. The car was resting between a tree and a large rock and nothing else. If the driver were to have climbed out of the vehicle, he, his two dogs and whatever else that was left of the demolished car would have plummeted down a thousand or more feet into the ravine that was filled with rocks and water below.

The driver of the vehicle was severely injured due to his car spinning out of control, hitting the guardrail on the left side of the highway and then ricocheting over to the far right guardrail which was located just feet from a bridge. The vehicle happened to break through the guardrail and fell approximately 50 feet down the very steep cliff. Parts of the driver’s body were crushed in the wreckage. Miraculously, the two canines survived with minor scratches. No reason was publicly reported as to why the man’s car spun out of control which caused such a devastating accident. It remains a mystery to this day.

Ross leapt over the mangled guardrail and rushed down the precipice to the aid of the poor man who was virtually moments away from losing his life. Had the distressed man not listened to the instructions of the “Good Samaritan”, he easily would have caused the vehicle to move from its position and crash at the bottom of the ravine. Without realizing how steep the rock face was, the moment that Ross got to the other side of the guardrail, he ended up sliding down the cliff, off to the side and further below where the vehicle came to rest. He slid down maybe about 35 feet or so, attempting to grab ahold of whatever he could to stop the fall. Eventually, Ross was able to hold onto the trunk of a very small tree which happened to be near where he had faltered. Once he found whatever else he could grab onto in order to support his weight, the Marine pushed himself back up the ridge to reach the greatly injured man who was trapped in the car.

Knowing how dangerous it was for the driver to attempt to get out of the vehicle, the Marine gave specific instructions to the man to stay calm and to remain inside the car until emergency crews arrived. The brave soldier made his way over to where the car was leaning so vulnerably off the escarpment and continued to restate what he told the man to do when the driver attempted to escape from the front passenger window. The territory where the car came to rest was so dangerous, that if Ross moved slightly to one side or the other, he himself could have fallen down into the ravine. There was no way anybody would survive a fall like that at that height.

The man listened to Ross by returning to his seat where he waited for emergency personnel and paramedics to arrive. As indicated above, for the next several hours, all traffic was stopped in each direction for miles and miles. In a matter of minutes, the focus would be on the first responders’ efforts in freeing the poor man and his two pets from the horrible wreckage.

Once the crews took over at the crash site, Ross continued to assist the emergency personnel in every way possible until his heroic actions had come to fruition – all three of the passengers were cut out of the vehicle and brought up to safety! Now that the rescue operation was near over, he and a few others were helped up the side of the crag and the Marine eventually walked back to his vehicle to reunite with his wife. It was an extremely emotional and physical experience for Ross who was there just at the right time to help save a man from certain death. The highway was reopened and the couple resumed their travels to Indiana.

After an hour of driving passed the accident in Big Pool, Maryland, Ross noticed that his yellow 14 karat gold wedding band was no longer on his finger. The utter shock of the disappearance of his ring caused him to reassess where he was the last time he saw the ring, and he was certain that he wore it out of the house earlier that day. He retraced all of his steps as to where he was after he left the house with his wife and the only place that he felt that the ring could have come off was at the crash site when he went to help the distressed crash victim. With no hesitation, they decided to turn their vehicle around and travel another hour back to Big Pool, Maryland in search of Ross’s lost gold wedding band.

When Ross and Hannah arrived back at the bridge, the Marine, who so valiantly helped with the rescue earlier, received special permission to search the area where he lost his balance when he stumbled down the cliff. Unfortunately, he was not able to locate the wedding band anywhere. He was quite limited in his search locations because the bluff was way too steep to be moving around without proper climbing gear. At some point he gave up and headed back to his car empty handed.

The man was pretty down about losing the ring. So much so that the couple canceled their plans to attend the wedding and instead, drove two more hours back to Quantico Base in Virginia to search their house just in case Ross had been mistaken about remembering that he put the ring on before leaving on their trip. Sadly, the cherished wedding band was not to be found anywhere in the house. The couple concluded with little doubt that the ring had most likely come off during the rescue operation. In the days that followed the disappearance of Ross’s ring, the couple would contact various emergency departments and the towing company to see if his ring had been found by anybody. Nothing was turned in.

Anyone’s wedding band is special enough to do whatever possible to recover such a sentimental and meaningful piece of jewelry. However, there are some family heirlooms that have even deeper meanings and hold more emotional weight than just the average wedding ring. Let me explain. Ross’s yellow gold wedding band had previously belonged to his father who sadly passed away when Ross was only 18 years old. The family decided that he should be the recipient of the special keepsake that had been worn on his father’s finger since the day his dad had gotten married back in 1983. The date of Ross’s father’s wedding was inscribed inside the band and when Ross got married a few years ago, his wedding date was inscribed next to his father’s date. This was one of the most important possessions that Ross had in his life. In addition to that, the significance of the band was even more elevated because it was the very ring that Ross’s bride placed upon his finger on their beloved wedding day, as well.

Because of the great determination within Ross to recover his lost wedding band, the Marine went to a local outdoor sporting shop and purchased repelling equipment in order for him to safely work his way down the cliff and search for the missing ring. Ross also acquired a metal detector to scan the area where he thought the band came off. Nothing was going to stop this man from recovering what was so precious to him. The couple drove two hours back to Big Pool where Ross descended down the rock face and did some metal detecting to see if the ring would appear. There was constant beeping of signals coming from the machine, and at times it was really hard to make sense of any of it. It appeared that metal was coming from everywhere, according to what Hannah conveyed to me. Sadly, he could not find the jewel.

Ross Rappelling Down the Cliff to Seek Out His Cherished Missing Wedding Band

After a few hours of searching, the couple had to return home. Yet, this would not be the last trip that Ross would make back to the crash site. Again, he and his wife returned a couple of more times in search of the ring that was once worn by his late father. Regretfully, the ghostly site of where a man’s life literally hung in the balance would still not give up the gold that Ross was in search of all that time.

The clock hands continued to move along and so did Ross with his new assignment in Kuwait where he would live for the next 7 months. He had pretty much resolved that his precious wedding band was non-recoverable. Even if he wanted to try again to find the ring at the crash site, there was no way he could even consider returning to Big Pool for a long time because he was about to board a military plane bound for the Middle East.

In my experience, there are some situations in life that are just meant to work out. Even though everything up to this point was full of disappointment and despair, the story was not going to end with all of Ross’s failed attempts in recovering his beloved keepsake. After 2 months had passed since Ross lost the ring, Hannah received a phone call in mid November from her mother in Indiana.  She shared with her daughter that Hannah’s brother stumbled upon an article regarding a directory of metal detectorists called THE RING FINDERS. The article that he read had to do with a lost ring that was recovered by a member of THE RING FINDERS somewhere on a summer camp property in Indiana. Her family thought that this could be the answer that the couple was looking for in order to recover Ross’s ring. Hannah got excited and searched for a member of THE RING FINDERS who provided metal detecting services in Maryland. That’s when my name, Brian Rudolph, popped up. Hannah then proceeded to send an email to me sharing the background of the story and requesting my services. This is what she typed.

« Good morning Brian, my name is Hannah and I was wondering if you travel to Big Pool, Maryland. My husband and I were traveling from Virginia to Indiana for a wedding when we saw a hole in the guardrail heading down to Lick Run River. A man had swerved off the road and flew down the riverbank where his car was wedged in between a rock and a tree on its side with the passenger side facing up. Other people who were beginning to stop were just standing on the bridge yelling at him to stay in the car. He had a big gash on his head and was clearly confused. He was still trying to climb out of the passenger’s side window and he would have fallen a lot farther down to the river and rocks below if he had gotten out. My husband is an officer in the United States Marine Corps and he quickly without hesitation, slid down to the man so he could get a closer talk with him and keep him calm. He stayed down there for 20 minutes until emergency services arrived. He came back up, we got back in the car, and got back on the road. About an hour later he realized his ring was gone. This ring was his father’s who he lost when he was 18 and it means the world to him. We immediately turned around and went back. Thankfully, the emergency crew allowed him to go down and look but not for very long, and he was unable to find it. He went back the next three days with repelling gear for stability and a metal detector, and still nothing. This was a month or so ago and I wish I would have contacted you sooner, but I had no idea the services even existed. They pulled the car straight up and out so it did not go over where my husband was standing or where the ring could be. I also reached out to all responding stations and no one out on the calls saw it or picked it up. We are 100% certain it is out there and I would love to surprise my husband with his father’s ring when he gets home from deployment in May. I know this is a crazy story and you probably don’t look on the side of cliff’s and on the side of the highway. But if you could just please take a look at the pictures that I have attached and consider trying to find this ring, it would mean the world to my husband and myself. My phone number is… Thank you so much for your consideration. Hannah »

After reviewing the photos that Hannah sent me that were attached to her email requesting my help, I immediately called the young lady on the phone and we had a long discussion covering every detail in order for me to determine if I was in a position to help this couple. I loved the story of how this brave Marine was trying to save another man’s life and in the process he ended up losing his ring. That wedding band meant the world to him and I wanted to get it back! Though this looked like a very complicated scenario, I was quite intrigued by the elements of this drama and I couldn’t be more excited to attempt a recovery effort. I told Hannah I would take on the challenge and see what I could do to get Ross’s ring back on his finger upon his return home from Kuwait. She was thrilled that I was willing to take this project on! My next step was to request any additional photographs and information that Hannah had not already provided in order to help in my recovery efforts.

Hannah sent over several more photos that she had taken at the crash site, as well as pictures of Ross after he repelled down to the first possible location where he thought the ring could have ended up. Then, we regrouped on the phone and the helpful young lady described each of the images so that I had a better idea of where Ross had been searching based on where he remembered losing his footing. I recall spending a very long time analyzing and re-examining the photos, calling Hannah back up again and asking her more questions for clarity. Then, I would go back to the photos to study them again and again as if I was actually right there at the search site.

It was clear from the angle of the cliff that I would definitely need to bring climbing gear to safely repel down to the areas where I needed to metal detect. There wasn’t just one location to check out, but there were several possible spots that I needed to spend time investigating and this could take quite a bit of time down along the precipice. This meant that I needed to be safely secured by more than one climbing line for a good period of time while doing my extensive search. The fact that Ross did not find the ring after multiple attempts (even though he was not an experienced metal detectorist) told me that this was not going to be an easy and obvious discovery. Yet, I couldn’t wait to take on the challenge! So much so that when I sent over some paperwork for Hannah to fill out, I ended my email with these words:

« I look forward to getting the ring back to Ross! »

I told Hannah to give me five days to prepare for my first search attempt at the crash site and then I would start metal detecting the area. I couldn’t wait!

Search Day 1

In the days leading up to this first trip to Big Pool, Maryland, I gathered up all the necessary gear that I would need to repel down the cliff in order to give myself the best opportunity to clear out a lot of area with my metal detector. I prepared my backpacks full of various climbing ropes, all the necessary repelling gear, safety helmet, gloves, metal detecting machines, tools and accessories. I figured that as soon as I made it to the side of the cliff, I didn’t want to have to keep going back to the car to get any gear or perhaps forget to bring necessary items from home. On the contrary, I wanted to remain in the search location as long as possible without any delays. I can’t tell you how many hours of preparation went into making sure that I didn’t allow any room for mistakes. My first trip to the search site was designed to get settled and familiar with my surroundings along with searching as much territory as I could. However, I really did not want to rush any steps that were necessary to take prior to picking up the metal detector on the side of that ridge. My safety was the most important preoccupation. Then, second to that, studying the scenery and looking at the photos on my phone to get a clear picture of all of the spots where Ross had moved about. There were a few key areas where the Marine may have lost the ring once he got over to the other side of the broken guardrail, faltering down the crag to where he eventually stopped his fall.

Just before taking off on this wild ring recovery adventure, I texted Hannah and asked her to please stop what she was doing at some point and pray to the Lord and ask for His favor upon me that He would guide me right to the ring! She texted back and shared:

« Oh trust me I am! And also the family of the person who was in the crash, they are praying, as well. Both of our families are! You have tons of prayer!« 

I was really encouraged to hear that all of those people, including Hannah had my back in prayer regarding this difficult task in front of me!

It was sometime in the early afternoon when I finally arrived at the search site. I parked over on the shoulder as far over as possible because of the speeding cars and trucks that were barreling down that highway and across the bridge. I immediately set up traffic cones around my car and pulled out all of my gear to start heading towards the corner of the bridge. The section where the guardrail was ripped apart by the out-of-control car, was now replaced with new steel reinforcement. All over the ground were plenty of left-behind-pieces of the destroyed vehicle that once housed the driver and the two poor canine passengers. It was eerie to say the least.

I will never forget the moment when I looked down the cliff for the first time. It was very clear that there was no way that I was going to make it safely down that decline without proper repelling equipment. I used several ropes for the repelling procedures. I set up one that was tied to the guardrail and a second one that was secured around a tree downhill a bit. I fastened all of my gear upon my back and over my shoulder and then repelled down the cliff about 45 feet or so until my hiking boots were well planted on a concrete slab covered with debris that was probably at a 70° angle. You never felt like you were secure on your feet without having the ropes securely fastened to the climbing harness. It was way too dangerous to search that cliff without being securely fastened to those necessary ropes. The drop below was very scary just looking down into the ravine.

The Treacherous Car Crash Site Where Ross Assisted the Injured Driver

Once I placed all of my gear on a particular spot along the ridge, I began taking pictures all around where I was resting along the rock. I wanted to make sure that I had captured various visual points to reference later on just in case I didn’t find the ring on my first attempt. That way I could study my surroundings and make any additional phone calls to Hannah to ask her any other questions that I may end up having. In comparing Hannah’s photos to my current view of things, it was fascinating how the seasons changed so rapidly in the past 10 weeks or so since Ross and Hannah had searched the rock face. Now, the once green leaves that so youthfully danced upon the branches of the trees above, had already fallen to the ground, aged with endless colors that softly whispered rumors of what tragically took place here at this very spot just a couple of months earlier. So much had changed since Ross’s boots touched down on the side of this cliff in search of the precious wedding band that he once shared with his late father.

Hannah Took this Photo Looking Over the Big Pool, Maryland Bridge Down into the Steep Ravine Below

I was amazed at what I saw at the search site. Vehicle parts and pieces were scattered about everywhere. One moment I would find part of the front grill, and the next minute I would stumble upon the horn. I identified the large rock and tree where the car had been suspended above the terrifying ravine below. I thought to myself how frightening it must have been for that driver to have his vehicle seesawing on one side in such a vulnerable position! It was so high up overlooking endless rocks, boulders and water below. So much drama had taken place at this very spot and the mystery of the missing wedding band was left to be solved! I couldn’t wait to see where all of this would lead to! I was so hoping that somewhere in the midst of all the ghostly remains, there would be a piece of gold waiting for me to recover so I could soon return it to its rightful owner!

As it turned out, the moment that I began metal detecting, I ended up getting a call to assist my wife with an immediate need. Family comes first, so I gathered up all of my gear and climbed back up to the top of the cliff, released the ropes, packed everything up and headed for the car. I left the search site and returned later to continue my efforts.

Then, later that afternoon, after driving all the way back up the mountain to return to the search site for a second visit, setting up my all my gear, repelling down the side of the cliff, once again I was called away for another important matter that I needed to attend to. It was clear that this first search day was not going to involve any metal detecting at all. However, I was very happy to get a good idea of the layout of the environment as shown in the photographs taken at the site two months earlier. In addition, it was helpful for me to initially get comfortable with my surroundings.

I would return the next day, with the hope that I would have a wide range of uninterrupted time in order for me to effectively metal detect the crash site.

Search Day 2

Though I was completely exhausted from all of the driving the day before, I was re-charged and ready to resume my search for Ross’s lost ring. I believe I arrived back in Big Pool sometime around eleven in the morning. I first stopped at one of the truck stops right off of Route 70, which was a couple of exits away from the search site. I fueled up and prepped all of my gear, organizing a couple backpacks full of climbing equipment that I had used from the day before. I wanted to make sure that everything was in place and ready to be utilized when I got back to the cliff. Next, I called Hannah and we had a video conference. I interviewed her and captured the background to the story of the lost wedding band before starting up the car and heading to the bridge. I told Ross’s wife that I would do everything I could to recover the ring.

It was getting much colder as it was approaching the last week of November. The climate up there in the mountains also brought about a chill that would blow through the area where I was working. Hannah was very appreciative of my determination and positive attitude that I was not going to give up until I got that ring back for her beloved Marine. I was not only passionate about wanting to get the ring back for Ross, but I felt like I was doing something for his father, though he was no longer living. I know that this recovery mission would have meant the world to his dad if he knew what had disappeared when his son did such a brave and heroic act in trying to save the life of the driver who was attempting to get out of the vehicle.

Hannah and I ended the video conference call and I headed for the search and recovery site. I went through the same steps as I did the day before: I parked as far over on the shoulder as possible (Frankly, it was not a very safe place to park your car, but it was the best I could do with the location of where the accident had occurred.), placed the emergency cones up around my vehicle, quickly pulled out all of my climbing gear along with the metal detector bag with two detectors inside, video and photography equipment, climbing helmet, gloves, additional cold-weather clothing with balaclava and an extra outer shell where it zips up over my pants and jacket. The last thing I pulled out was the metal detector harness. I believe I was already wearing the repelling harness.

Detecting the Side of the Cliff

Immediately upon getting to where the guard rail had originally been torn up, I fastened my ropes and attached the equipment to my climber’s harness and set myself up to repel down the side of the cliff and return to the original location where I first started to metal detect the day before. Now that I had been to the search site a couple of times, I was very comfortable with my surroundings and I could easily evaluate where I could move about and where not to step. What I mean by this is that there were multiple spots where I thought there was solid ground, but it turned out to be just loose dirt and leaves that covered over very delicate ground. The moment that I placed weight on those areas, my feet would come out from underneath me and I would begin to fall. That’s why the climbing gear was absolutely essential and I would have never been able to conduct this recovery mission without all of the repelling equipment that I brought to the site.

Rappelling Down the Cliff in Search of the Lost Ring

Once I finished throwing a secondary emergency rope around one of the trees and secured the second line to my harness with my Grigri belay device and attached one of two ascension ascenders, I felt comfortable to start moving around various spots and metal detect each hotspot slowly and carefully to see if the ring would turn up. I methodically moved about one section at a time and when I couldn’t find it in one area, I would finish the swings and move to the next possible target location. This was well coordinated because I had reviewed the fantastic photos that Hannah circled and provided for me to use with what she remembered Ross indicated when he had been on his own quest for his missing wedding band.

Heading Back Down the Cliff, Secured by Two Climbing Ropes

Ironically, my biggest obstacle in searching for Ross’s ring wasn’t the dangerous crag that I was hanging on the side of. It actually was the sheets of metal that were hidden under the rock and dirt. Let me explain. Apparently, that whole area where I was looking for the ring was part natural rock formation and part man made construction. The bridge that was beside me was reinforced by the concrete bases on either side of the ravine that secured the weight of the structure and its load. So, much of the old dirt, trees and plants located where I was initially detecting on one side of the crash site were natural to the environment but growing on top of man’s ingenious creations. The other section of the cliff where the vehicle came to rest, was all natural rock and trees.

In sharing all the detail that I just did, my point was to say that metal detecting the area was extremely difficult, frustrating and nearly impossible. In fact, my search time was separated into several sections:

  1. Experimenting and adjusting settings with my detector as I detected a sample of metal rebar. I needed to see if I could get separation between the large metal sheets below and the tiny gold object that might be resting above it. I had no success with my 15 inch coil that I was using on one of my Equinox 800’s at the time.
  2. Sifting by hand through dirt, leaves, small rocks and much vehicle glass to see if I could « eyeball » the wedding band.
  3. Metal detecting limited places that were free from the metal reinforcements hidden underneath the ground.

    Looking Straight Down Towards the Bottom of the Ravine While Metal Detecting the Side of the Crag

    After dealing with so much interference coming from the metal slabs below, I came to realize the degree of difficulty this search entailed. It wasn’t just the existing danger and distraction of having to carefully maneuver my body, my detecting equipment and climbing gear from one side of the cliff to the other. But in addition to that, it was the lack of clarity coming from the target signals to my headphones. This may have been the reason that Ross couldn’t find success on any of his 3 attempts at the recovery site. Effective metal detecting would have been nearly impossible considering his lack of experience detecting and the tough environment that he was competing against where he couldn’t make sense out of his target signals coming from the wall of metal that was so prevalent. I thought to myself as I tried to make sense of what I was working with, ‘The metal rebar may be masking our cherished gold target that we have been looking for’.

    After about five hours of searching, checking all of the spots that were indicated by the photographs and testimony from what Hannah had shared with me, the wedding band still did not show up. I moved around to different places on the side of the ridge, using the ropes as perfect swings as I leaned forward with my detector to scan the mountainside. Still nothing of importance was discovered. Hannah’s husband had come out several times before I started my searches and between the two of us, up to this point, we were both still coming up empty handed.

    I only focused on the side of the cliff where Ross had slid down and where he propped himself back up and moved back up to higher ground in order to communicate with the driver to remain calm and not to remove himself from the vehicle. I did not focus on the other side where Ross had briefly moved over to continue helping the distressed man. Also, I did not take my gear to the next level down the rock face at that point in my search. It would prove necessary to attack that area, just in case the ring possibly rolled further below the escarpment or that it was accidentally pushed down to the next tier of rock, dirt and leaves.

    Those other spots would have to wait for another search date because I had expended all of my time and it was getting quite cold outside after all of those hours of searching. I did not want to leave the location, but I knew that my time was up. Night was going to be falling soon and I had already used up what time I could give to the hunt that day. Reluctantly, I packed up all of my gear and carefully ascended my way back up the steep ridge.

    After returning to my car and loading up everything, I drove away from the bridge without a doubt that if the ring was actually at this search sight the whole time, I would eventually find the « hidden treasure ». I stayed hopeful that Ross’s wedding band would reveal itself to me at some point, wherever it may have been hiding.

    As I drove back down the mountain, I heard that all too familiar voice that starts whispering doubts in my head when search efforts stretch out to longer periods of time. It says to me, « What if the ring was never lost on that cliff? What if the ring slipped off Ross’s finger as he was getting out of his vehicle to go help the distressed man? What if someone had already found his wedding band and did not turn it in? Or maybe the ring was lost at the current search site, but what if it rested on some ledge far below the area where I am searching? And maybe it’s not accessible and you’re wasting all of your time and energy ». So many questions bombard my mind each time this type of difficulty emerges in a search and recovery operation such as this. But, each time, I have to remain steadfast and determine to complete the search that I started and to come to a point where I know without a doubt that there was no other possible locations that I could search. I have to know that I did everything I could that was in the realm of being safe and what was humanly possible. I was far from throwing in the towel at that stage.

    The next day I spent some time on the phone with Hannah, reviewing my second search attempt details with her. Now that I had been at the crash site for an extensive period of time, it was important that I got answers to all of my new questions. This is the point in the story when Hannah had to decide whether she wanted to bring Ross into the search circle again. Originally she wanted this to be a surprise if the ring was found without asking him for further details. However, I needed to narrow the focus in exactly where Ross had moved about, rather than just the approximations of what Hannah remembered Ross sharing and illustrating when he was down on that cliff. It didn’t take long before the Marine’s wife decided to bring Ross into the discussion.

    The Marine was quite touched that his thoughtful wife had taken such initiative to oversee this recovery operation to search for Ross’s cherished possession. I conveyed all that I needed to know through Hannah and she in turn asked Ross all of the necessary questions. It was a bit complicated because he could only talk at certain times and he was limited to certain types of communication. It depended upon many factors which I cannot recall now what they were at the time. As Hannah fed Ross various inquiries, in addition to sending him photos that I took to diagram or comment on, she would then send me his updated information for me to study and review. It was quite amazing that we were talking between Maryland, Virginia and Kuwait. All of this communication was imperative in giving me the best chance to not only hit and re-hit the places that I had not searched or that I needed to re-focus on, but it would give me added confidence in the exact locations of where Ross remembered moving about on that dreadful day back in September.

    Hannah Connects with Ross Across the World to Diagram the Areas Where Ross Moved about the Crash Site

    So many photos were being diagrammed by Ross. Hannah would clarify tons of details and if I had questions on specific ones, I would have her get more information for me from Ross. Arrows and lines were drawn all over the photos, indicating where he slid down the cliff, where he ended up, and then where he moved over to from place to place on the side of the decline! Hannah even provided me a diagram of where one of the first responders grabbed Ross’s hand to help assist him up the rock face when he was exiting the scene. I love the technology we have today!

    After I acquired all of the intel that we could muster up, I was very confident that I had every bit of information that was possible to effectively search out all of the spots that remained. It brought clarity in knowing where Ross had moved about and what places remained as questionable as to where the wedding band may have ended up. The last logistic that needed to be put in place was scheduling time for me to go back to Big Pool to resume the search.

    I texted Hannah later that same day and gave her the update on my schedule for the next week or so. Thanksgiving was coming up that week and the following week I was taking my son back to college. So, the next available search day where I could be outside for most of the day would be Friday, December 6th and Saturday the 7th. It turned out that Saturday the 7th would end up being the day that I chose to return to the site. After I texted Hannah about my available search date, she texted back:

    « I’m sure if it’s still there after three months, it’ll be there still in a couple of weeks! »

    I responded:

    « Oh, most definitely! It will remain safe! I’m chewing at the bit to get back to the search site. If the site was closer to where I live, I could start at 7 AM and search for a couple hours at a time and then keep coming back every couple of days. But unfortunately, it’s too far away to make casual trips. There’s too much preparation. But don’t worry, I am committed to returning the ring within the boundaries of what is humanly possible! It will get priority! It’s just we are dealing with timing issues as the holidays are approaching. »

    The day before the scheduled search day, Hannah texted me and said:

    « I listened to your voicemail from yesterday and everything sounds good for the search tomorrow. Ross circled another spot in a picture which I will text to you now. »

    I responded back:

    « Fantastic! Great information! Thanks! Let’s talk after 5 PM and later tonight to debrief! »

    Later that evening we went over all the last details that we needed to go over including the most recent photo that Ross had sent over with his markings on it that he hoped would help me on Search Day 3 which would be the following day. Then, we agreed that we would touch base in the evening after I finished at the site. If I had any questions for Hannah, she said that she would try to make herself available even though she had a holiday party to attend to. Hannah would keep her phone with her just in case.

    Search Day 3

    December 7, 2019. You never know how these searches work themselves out. I get the question asked all the time: « What is your percentage of success when doing these search and recovery operations? » The answer depends upon so many factors, so you never can give one answer to each person who asks. In regards to this particular account, though it seemed most likely that the ring fell off of Ross’s finger when he was put into rescue mode out there on the cliff, there was no way of knowing for certain that that was what actually occurred. Nothing had been found by any of the emergency crews, nor by Ross or myself in all of the attempts thus far. Yet, even without knowing where the ring ended up, I was determined to give it my all and believe that it was still accessible at the crash site. I did not want to believe that it never ended up there in the first place, or that someone else had already picked it up and did not turn it in.

    I gathered all my gear together and went through my checklist the morning of the search, to make sure that I had everything ready to go so that I could spend most of my time at the site and not having to go through pieces of gear here and there, hoping that I had everything when I got to the location of the search.

    I headed off up the mountain sometime mid morning, hoping that this would be the day when I was able to pull the ring from that treacherous area.

    A Bizarre Accident on Search Day 3 Just a Couple of Miles from the Cliff

    As I drove towards Big Pool, I will never forget the sight that I saw on the right shoulder of the road just a few miles from my destination. I saw a car that was flipped over on its side, facing in the wrong direction! The driver of the vehicle was just standing there beside his car, staring at this crazy site as if he was still trying to figure out how it ended up in that bizarre position! I don’t know how in the world that Mercedes ended up like it did! It was so strange of a site that I had to take a picture of it as the cars slowed down to view this odd occurrence. I thought to myself, ‘This is one dangerous stretch of highway!’

    Soon, I arrived back at the bridge sometime around 11:30 a.m., I believe. Again, I immediately grabbed all of my backpacks and gear out of the vehicle, set up the emergency cones, and headed for the cliff once more. This time around I would be focusing on the other side of this large mound of rock where the actual car ended up between that big boulder and a tree. That’s where it was suspended. I would take some metal detecting time to repel down off of the side of that part of the cliff and see if the ring landed down the hill on that side. I planned to search everywhere even though the cliff was extremely steep. There was never a moment that I felt safe even with the climbing ropes, the Grigor and the other climbing mechanisms.

    Heading Back Down the Cliff to Search for Ross’s Wedding Band

    Inch by inch and foot by foot, I examined all of the different areas that I discussed with Hannah which she had previously reviewed with Ross. I looked over the diagrams while I was suspended on the side of the cliff to make sure that I had all of my search spots organized in my mind in order to check them all out. I made sure that I used a sniper coil which is a small six-inch disc on one of my detectors so I could try to see if I could get any separation in the signals between the large metal slabs that were below the rock, dirt and small objects (like a ring) in order to be able to see if there were any differences in the target signal that were showing up on the detector screen. Almost immediately I saw a difference in my way of being able to search with my metal detector. I noticed differences in the metals that I was picking up on the machine when I would pinpoint and dig up particular targets. They would be found next-to or on top of large pieces of metal in those areas. This was extremely successful in me being able to differentiate different types of metal. It wasn’t 100% perfect in helping me spot various types of objects, but it was a whole lot better than using the larger coil that I had implemented a couple of weeks back.

    The weather that I was working with on this day was good enough to conduct a full search that afternoon. It was cold outside and as the hours progressed, it would get much more frigid out there. However, the gear that I was wearing was doing a fine job in keeping me warm.

    Steep Drop Below as Metal Detecting Ensued

    As the search continued, I threw my climbing ropes farther down below and repelled to the next level off the side of the cliff. I brought another hundred foot rope to extend my search much farther than I had in my other search attempts which gave me some more flexibility in metal detecting areas that I was not able to reach in my previous attempts.

    I kept moving to all of the spots that I studied with Hannah on the phone, which were passed along from Ross and it made all the difference in the world with this added intel. When I couldn’t find the ring after dropping a good 10 to 15 feet more, I decided to go up the cliff a bit and over to the right to where Ross had been dialoguing with the man in distress. He got up and stood near the rock which was holding the vehicle that was propped up to one side. I went all around those areas and searched more carefully than my last visit, but still there was no ring found. At that point, I decided I would go off the other side of the cliff and repel down about 25 feet or so to see if perhaps the ring ended up on the other side of the rock. Using two ropes, one as an emergency line and the other one as my main descent line, I carefully made my way down the steep decline and used my right hand to metal detect while I locked in the rope with my left as well as kept tension on it to make sure that I was safe. If I told you that I was not conducting a dangerous type of procedure, I would not be honest with the reader. I was looking down into the ravine, viewing the water and the rocks below and if anything failed on my equipment, there would be no way that I could survive the fall. Wearing my safety helmet and using all of the gear that I had with me was the best that I could do under the circumstances, but there are no guarantees for something to go wrong and I was doing everything I could to minimize any room for error.

    Letting Out Rope from the Grigri Belay to Continue the Descent

    I probably spent around 40 minutes on that side of the cliff, which was way more steep than on the original side where Ross had slipped down the ridge. I made sure that my metal detector searched every possible place on that side, making certain that I didn’t miss a spot. Most of what I picked up on my machine was many metal parts from the destroyed vehicle. However, it did not mean that the ring couldn’t have flown farther down. After a hard search, I resolved to work my way back up the ridge and try again on the other side, but move farther down even more.

As I started making my way back around the side of the cliff, I ended up losing ground below my boots and I was literally hanging in midair because all of the rocks and ground just came out from underneath me! Had I not had those ropes and the emergency line connected to my harness, I definitely would have fallen all the way down into the ravine. It was certainly a close call. I felt extremely vulnerable being completely suspended in the air like being on a swing. I was able to move my gear up, notch to notch, inch by inch, until I was able to make more traction and move my way farther up the cliff until I was able to get to level ground. Then, when I reached the top, I headed back down to the other side of the ridge where Ross originally lost his footing.

 

View of the Area Above

Making an Observational Statement into the GoPro Video Camera While Swinging Hands-Free with the Climbing Ropes

It was about that point where I took a break and decided to have something to drink before repelling farther down the original search location. With my ropes securing me tightly as I sat on a ledge, I thought that perhaps Ross’s ring may have bounced farther down the cliff. It was possible that when the other first responders were moving about at the crash site, their boots could have kicked a lot of dirt, leaves and maybe even the ring farther down to the next level. I only had a good 20 feet more to search before I would end up having to repel off the side of that cliff to another shelf that was way down below.

After the short break, with my safety rope attached and my emergency line in place, I moved my way down the crag until I reached an area where I could balance myself with the lines that I made quite taught. Unfortunately, I was getting more interference coming from more rebar below the surface. I used the 6 inch coil on my detector to do what I did earlier, which was to try to see if there were any breaks in the target signals to indicate that there may be more than one piece of metal in the spot that I was detecting. Nothing turned up except miscellaneous pieces of metal from the destroyed vehicle that ended up between the rock and the tree.

Suspended by Climbing Ropes as I Viewed the Territory Below

The Wedding Ring Revealed Once Brought Up from Beneath the Leaves and Debris!

As I approached the fifth hour of searching, I was already 30 minutes into detecting my new position. I moved farther down the rock to almost the very edge where I could not go any farther without dropping off another 25 feet or so. I continued to move the machine over more leaves, pieces of bark and plenty more pieces of sharded glass from the automobile. Finally, I got a new signal that was coming in pretty sharp in the range of a man’s wedding band. There were other pieces of metal surrounding that target space so I wasn’t sure if it was a combination of more than one piece that I was detecting at one time or not. I did a little bit more experimenting around that target area and it was clear that there was a small object buried in the leaves and dirt at that lower spot on the edge of the cliff. The target signal was detected about a foot away from the drop off. It was so close to the edge that if I had brushed my boot over that area of leaves and dirt, it would have absolutely scattered that mound of debris down to the next level of rock which was another 25 feet below. So, I carefully reached for my pinpointer and reviewed the area where the signal was coming from. I then moved my hands into the leaves and dirt to reveal the object that was hidden below the surface.

The Very Spot Where Ross’s Special Family Heirloom was Unearthed! The Decorated Marine was Correct All-Along! The Missing Ring was in-fact Lost During the Brave Marine’s Rescue Efforts!

Just as I sifted through the second clump of dirt and leaves, to my astonishment, I saw something shiny and yellow in color! It was something that clearly did not belong out there, all alone, buried in debris on the side of the cliff! Peeking out of all that nature was the wedding band that I had been relentlessly looking for for so very long! I found it at last! It was a surreal moment! The amount of jubilation that I was experiencing at that moment was off the scale! Because I had been in “search mode” for so long each time I visited the site, discovering the ring was almost unreal to me! As if I was living in a dream!

 

Knowing that Ross had tried several times to recover the ring and having made several attempts myself to find the band while being extremely vulnerable with hanging off the side of a cliff connected to climbing gear, the « challenge of the chase » made this moment of triumph even more sweeter and impossible to believe!

What an Amazing Moment!

I immediately took a hold of the ring and let out an incredible sigh of relief! I couldn’t believe that my search was over! When you expend so much of your energy and time working on the information handed to you and going to the search site over and over again, having to be so careful not to put your life in jeopardy while searching for something such as this, you start to lose the anticipation of finding the ring. Even though you’ve had enough experience with overcoming rejection after rejection from false signals or bad targets that you uncover from the ground, you still fall into a mindset of « I wonder if these efforts will ever pan out »! And it finally did!

Elated and Relieved!

I wanted to shout with joy and relief, so I did let out some words of excitement out there all alone on that cliff! I would have to review the video of my search to get the exact dialogue that I expressed, but all I know is that I was emotionally filled with excitement which I couldn’t hold back! I reviewed in my head all of the time that Ross and Hannah had come to the search site and came away with nothing. I thought about my other two attempts that led to no avail. Then, I thought of all the hours that I had been out there searching that afternoon leading up to this incredible discovery! It was such a memorable moment and now I had something to share with Hannah that would absolutely lift her spirits and eventually her husband’s!

As I sat there on the steep rock, I recalled the initial email that I received from Hannah, wishing that I could bring a glimmer of hope to the couple in attempting to recover the lost wedding band. Now that the ring was found, the precious story attached to it would continue on in its family history! First starting 36 years earlier when Ross’s father and mother “tied the knot”, and then again with the exchange of rings between Hannah and Ross on their own wedding day just a couple of years ago! How fantastic was this moment! This very special family heirloom would not remain lost forever at this horrific crash site! It wouldn’t stay buried under nature with no hope of ever being recovered! No! On the contrary, it would live on and the memories made around it would be celebrated for decades to come and beyond!

My Mission was Over! A Success!

I remember as I was fastened to those ropes on the side of the cliff, staring at that handsome wedding band with my hands trembling with excitement! Once I documented the incredible moment of joy, I immediately inserted the special piece of gold onto my car key carabiner clip for safe keeping. Just before starting to pack up my gear and head back up to the top, I took pictures of where the ring was eventually found and I measured the distance from the recovery spot to the edge of that section of cliff.

After gathering all my things up, which included putting my tools back into the backpacks and returning my metal detector to its carrying bag, I made my first trip back up the cliff to bring the first load of gear to the side of the highway where the newly constructed guardrail was put into place. I then returned down again to gather my last bit of gear before climbing back up, releasing one rope from the tree and then the other from the guard rail that were both attached to my harness.

My mission was complete! I was freed from the danger below. As I stood at the top of the cliff and looked down at where I had been suspended by those ropes, words could not describe what I saw and felt. So many pieces of that destroyed car were scattered everywhere. I thought about the terrible accident once more, with what that poor man must have gone through when he flew through the guardrail and down the side of the rock where he almost lost his life. I thought about Ross and how he heroically responded to the situation, doing what no one else volunteered to do when he headed down the side of that cliff, his body faltering until he grabbed a hold of what he could find to bring himself back up to assist the distressed individual. I would leave the scene now where so much tragedy and drama once took place. The wedding band was the last survivor to be rescued from the side of the escarpment, three months after the initial emergency had taken place.
Ross’s ring would finally be reunited with him upon his return home from Kuwait in the month of May 2020! In the meantime, I would have the great pleasure of sharing the incredible news with his wife! Once I got everything back in my vehicle, I went out into the woods and set up a video camera to capture the moment when I would reveal to Hannah what I finally found on the side of the cliff! It was a ring reveal I will never forget! She was beyond surprised and overjoyed with my discovery!

Beyond Thrilled to Return the Lost Wedding Band to Ross’s Wife, Hannah near Quantico Base, Virginia

Hannah did not wait to share the surprise news with Ross over the phone that his special ring had remarkably been recovered!  She even audio recorded his reaction when he heard what would be waiting for him on his dresser upon his arrival back home from Kuwait! He was so taken back and emotionally blown away by the reality that he was in fact going to be able to wear this precious family heirloom once again! It wasn’t lost forever! Ross was just as surprised as Hannah had been at the moment when I first revealed the results of my search with her on that cold, late fall evening!

Following that night, a week or so later, I would drive the handsome keepsake down to the Quantico base area where I happily presented Ross’s wedding band back into the hands of his beloved wife Hannah. She was beyond thrilled to finally hold that sentimental ring in her hand once again and celebrate the return of something so special as her husband’s wedding band that was presumably lost forever. Had she not initially contacted me those many weeks earlier with the determination to not give up searching for the ring, that memorable reunion with the wedding band would have never taken place.

In the end, Hannah could not wait to share three beautiful parts of their marriage with Ross upon his arrival back home the following year:

First, it was the long awaited embrace of his lovely wife who patiently counted the days until her man’s return.

Secondly, it was the much anticipated delivery of the couple’s beautiful baby boy which Ross had arrived back in the States just in the nick of time to be a part of that unforgettable moment!

Thirdly, it was the precious14 karat gold wedding band that had gone missing for so many months which Ross couldn’t wait to slip back on his ring finger once again!

Apparently, without question, this special Marine had quite a bit of treasure to come home to!

 

If you would like to view the video of this incredible ring reveal, please subscribe to my YouTube channel and you will be notified when the search video is uploaded onto YouTube.

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If you would like to watch the SEARCH VIDEO and the RING REVEAL pertaining to this story, the video will be uploaded soon. To receive a NOTIFICATION letting you know when the video is uploaded to YOUTUBE: go to YOUTUBE by CLICKING THE LINK BELOW or OPEN your YOUTUBE APP on your device. In the SEARCH BAR, type: THE RING RETURNER, click SUBSCRIBE and lastly, CLICK ON THE « BELL » to receive NOTIFICATIONS when this latest search video is available to view! 

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CALL BRIAN RUDOLPH WITH THE RING FINDERS AT (301) 466-8644!

VISIT THE RING FINDER’S WEBSITE TO READ MORE OF BRIAN’S SUCCESSFUL SEARCH STORIES at:

https://theringfinders.com/Brian.Rudolph/

HE WILL RETURN TO YOU WHAT HAS BEEN LOST!

VISIT BRIAN’S LOCAL WEBSITE FOR ADDITIONAL STORIES AND INFORMATION AT: www.theringreturner.com

 

Lost Gold Ring in Williamsport, Maryland…Found

  • from Washington (District of Columbia, United States)

BRIAN RUDOLPH, LOST ITEM RECOVERY SPECIALIST (LAND, WATER, SAND, HOUSES & VEHICLES) WILL FIND YOUR LOST KEEPSAKE! CALL ASAP (301) 466-8644!

I received an email from a young lady named Hannah who contacted me from Williamsport, Maryland. She was desperate to recover her 14 karat white gold 2 karat diamond engagement ring which had gone missing three days earlier. Hannah was so upset about losing the ring that she couldn’t sleep for days and she lost her appetite to eat. Upon her reading my enthusiastic email in wanting to help Hannah find her missing ring, she typed this:

« You’re literally an angel…Thank you for doing this!! I really hope we can get my ring back. I have been sick over this ever since I lost it. »

Hannah remembered that she went to bed with the ring on her finger. Then, the next morning she hung out on the couch for three hours watching TV before going outside to do yard work. The young lady was accompanied by her fiancé and future father-in-law. All of them worked on raking leaves, loading the piles into a pickup truck, and then dumping the leaves into the woods beyond the backyard lawn.

After a number of hours working outside, Hannah realized that her beautiful engagement ring was no longer on her finger. She was bewildered, not having a clue as to when her beloved ring disappeared and where it ended up. The whole family started searching (even on their hands and knees as they sifted through leaves and dirt) for the missing ring, but nobody could find it. Her future mother-in-law lent a hand in the search efforts along with another friend or two. Unfortunately, all of their attempts to recover the ring led to no avail. No one was able to find the ring.

Hannah shared with me that the ring was a bit loose, which most likely contributed to why the ring fell off her finger. It was also chilly outside and that didn’t help matters with shrinking her finger a bit. In addition, any type of manual labor certainly will complicate matters with the constant thrusting motion of the hand. Her fiancé Levi was determined to do everything possible to recover the missing ring. He contacted his friend from work who owned a metal detector and the two of them searched the entire property for many hours. Another friend of the co-worker also came along and he searched with a second metal detector, as well. But still no engagement ring was ever found. Initially, six or seven hours of detecting went into the search efforts. Then, on Day 2, Levi’s friend returned again, but he still had no luck. Once the co-worker gave up, Hannah’s husband-to-be continued metal detecting that day into Day 3, but that mission failed, as well.

After everyone’s recovery efforts were exhausted, Hannah and Levi sought help online and they discovered THE RING FINDERS website! They searched for a metal detecting service in Williamsport, Maryland and my name, Brian Rudolph, popped up! Next, they sent me an email requesting my help. I immediately responded to Hannah’s email, and happily shared that I would be more than excited to help in the recovery efforts to get that engagement ring back on her finger as soon as possible! We set up a time for me to come out on a Friday morning which would be four days later. Levi would continue to search for the ring during the week and we agreed that he would let me know if he found it. Unfortunately, he still could not find the ring with the metal detector that he borrowed from his co-worker. Then, the night before I was scheduled to search for the ring, I confirmed with the couple that I would be arriving in the morning and we set up a time to start the search.

I recall driving to Williamsport, Maryland with a cheerful smile on my face as I had fun gazing at the beautiful countryside that I was passing through. I would end up driving by some old towns and several farms along the way, and I enjoyed every moment of the journey. I arrived at 9:30 a.m..

I couldn’t wait to start the search and solve this mystery of the disappearance of Hannah’s lovely engagement ring. The white gold band had a very large 2 karat diamond in the center surrounded by multiple diamonds on each side. It was exquisite. I was told that the ring was presented to Hannah while the couple traveled abroad a few months earler. The proposal took place on an old romantic bridge at the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. So, if one does the math, the ring had not been on the bride-to-be’s finger for very long at the time that it went missing. In addition to that disappointment, she was looking forward to wearing the “ice” the day after my search during her wedding dress fittings. So, not only was I trying to recover the ring to continue the beautiful proposal story, but also, Hannah wanted to include the diamond ring in her pre-wedding story with the fitting of her gown the next day. I won’t say that I felt pressure in finding the ring, but I did feel a sense of urgency and an extra bit of passion in my determination to find this lost friend in time for Hannah to have it on her finger for the wedding dress fitting! In fact, I gave Hannah my word that I would not leave their property until her ring was recovered!

Upon arriving, Hannah showed me the areas where she walked and worked outside on the day of the disappearance of the ring. She took me to the side yard just in front of the main side door entrance to their house. There was an area of grass in that region to check. Hannah showed me where she raked leaves in the front yard and then along the other side of the house. We then headed to patches of lawn on the other side of the driveway. Next, we then toured the back of the house. Hannah continued to show me all of the possible places that the ring could have disappeared, including areas located in the woods where the family members were throwing piles of leaves from her future father-in-law’s pickup truck which he backed up to the edge of the grassy lawn.

I reviewed with Hannah all of the possibilities of what happened to the ring and where it may have ended up. This included the need to check Hannah’s car (she recalled having to do an errand that afternoon) and inside the couple’s house (I concluded this because Hannah could not remember wearing the ring on her finger after getting off of the couch to go outside and help with the yard work). The last time she remembered wearing the ring was when she went to bed with it the night before she had done the yard work (now a week had passed since the time that she had lost her ring). Unfortunately, Hannah had no recollection of wearing the ring after she woke up. Therefore, I needed to search in all of the possible locations that we reviewed.

Once we finished going over all of the possibilities as to where Hannah may have lost her priceless ring, the most logical place to start the search was in her car. It would take minutes for me to search every crevice and corner with my endoscope. If it was found there, it would save me hours of detecting elsewhere! Unfortunately, the beautiful keepsake was not to be found in the vehicle and so I eliminated that possibility from the get-go! Next, I needed to take the search inside the home. Hannah and Levi agreed with my plan. So, I bundled up my in-house recovery gear and I headed inside for me to start the second leg of my search for the missing ring.

After spending about an hour and a half searching for the ring in the bedroom, bathroom, dining room, kitchen, hallway, and vestibule areas, the last area inside the house to investigate was the living room. I used my endoscope again in order to view and record video of all of the inner parts of the sofa to see if the ring had slipped off of Hannah’s finger while she was watching television on the couch. Once again, I did not locate the ring, which made me conclude that the keepsake was most likely out on the lawn or in the woods somewhere. There were no leaves bagged up to be recycled, and I requested that the couple not throw away any of their garbage until I inspected it. This reassured me that the ring was still somewhere on their property, waiting to be found.

When I knew that the ring was not in the home, I returned to my car and got out all of my metal detecting equipment to gear up and start searching for the ring outside. Hannah had been working outside in multiple locations on her property, including the sides of the driveway. Therefore, there were all kinds of places that needed to be metal detected to assure that we were not missing any spots where the ring could have ended up.

I was shown an area in the left side corner of the backyard that was adjacent to the neighbor’s yard where Hannah remembered throwing some sticks on the day of the disappearance of her ring. I detected that whole section but nothing turned up but miscellaneous aluminum items. It took a while to clear that area because I was metal detecting under all kinds of tree branches, as well as getting electrical interference from power lines that were under the ground. I then moved my way towards the woods where the leaves were thrown from the truck. Before I searched beyond the backyard lawn, I metal detected several tall leaf piles that were raked up along the left and right sides of the path leading into the woods. That took a long time to level out the piles so that I could detect the leaves properly in order to reach maximum depths with my machine. Nothing worth mentioning was found in the midst of those piles of leaves.

Once I started my way into the woods where the leaves were thrown from the truck, I detected all kinds of metal objects that were scattered about, but I couldn’t detect the ring that we were looking for. There was a lot of little pieces of aluminum that were intermingled with old leaves and new piles of fallen ones, as well. There also was plenty of metal objects buried down in the dirt below the leaves. So, I knew at that point, it was not the time to go through every inch of that area until I first concluded that the ring was not hidden in the front of the house or on the backyard lawn. Metal detecting in the woods would require a lot of extra effort of pulling up one piece of metal at a time to eliminate every possibility that the ring was not in that particular spot. I decided that I would come back to that location if everything else failed.

Next, I skipped the lawn in the backyard for the time being and proceeded to the area of lawn near the couple’s side door (which was their primary entrance). After completing that section, it was clear that there was no ring to be found. Hannah shared that she had been working in the bushes on the day she lost the ring. So, when it was time to detect the front lawn, I carefully inspected all of the front hedges and made sure that the ring had not ended up in the middle of the bushes or underneath them. Then, when I concluded that the piece of jewelry was not lost in that section, I started metal detecting the entire front yard. Gridding from north to south and then from east to west, I was able to eliminate any possibility that the ring was lost on the front lawn and on the right side of the house, as well. White gold is tricky and you must go slow and use high sensitivity on your metal detector because you can easily miss it if you swing the coil too quickly over the target that you’re looking for. There was no ring to be found at this point.

Next, I metal detected the hill that was in front of the yard that dipped down where it met the edge of the street. All of that area was clear of any jewelry. Then, I checked along the hillside that was adjacent to the driveway, but I still found no ring in that location either. The last part of the front of the property that I could check was the opposite side of the driveway where there was a strip of land that separated the neighbors yard from Hannah and Levi’s yard. Unfortunately, there was no ring found there, as well. I followed that section all the way to the bottom of the driveway, but Hannah obviously did not lose her ring when she was raking leaves on that side either.

It was now time to hit the backyard and do a grid search over the entire lawn. From what Hannah told me, she never walked over to one particular side of the property in the backyard. However, I still wanted to make certain that the ring was not anywhere in that region, just in case she didn’t remember raking or walking over there at some point. With many of my searches, I find out much later that someone didn’t remember walking or working in a certain area where the ring ended up falling off their finger!

I worked hard and for a very long time metal detecting every inch of that backyard just to make certain that I didn’t miss the engagement ring. By the time I finished gridding that section, I was pretty convinced that it was not on the grassy lawn back there.

Throughout the search day, as Levi and Hannah were coming and going, I would give them updates and encourage them not to give up as I still had not found the missing ring. Yet, I would keep telling them that I was determined to locate Hannah’s beloved rock and get it back on her finger for the next day’s wedding dress event. She was so stressed by the whole situation that she headed out to the movie theater just to get her mind off of the missing ring story. She was so afraid that it was gone forever and that the gorgeous ring that Levi proposed to her with would never be seen again. I hoped so much to give a happy ending to the lost ring story!

By the time I finished searching the back lawn, I had been working for over 8 hours on their property. This included the hour and a half search inside the house. Night had fallen, the temperature outside was getting pretty cold, and I was physically wiped out. The best thing for me to do at that point was to take a break and get something to eat in town. Hannah was still away and so I talked with Levi and let him know that I would be leaving the property for awhile. Then, I would return to their place and resume the search.

As I put my metal detector, headphones, harness, gloves and headlamp back in the car, I could still hear the words in my head that were shared by Hannah and Levi’s next-door neighbor who was observing me earlier in the afternoon:

He said to me, “If the young lady lost anything out in the woods when they were throwing all those leaves back there, she will never see that thing ever again! There’s so much metal back there that was dumped over many decades before they bought their property. If it ended up back there, they will never see it ever again. It’s a million to one chance of her ever getting it back.”

I told the old fellow that I had seen miracles happen with my metal detecting and that everything is possible for him who believes in God who helps us through these very difficult situations. I told him that God loves the covenant of marriage and the ring represents the promise of commitment to the other person. So I told him that if it’s there, I know I can find it with God’s help!

In all honesty, I was steadfast in my words with what I told the gentleman. But, because I knew how much metal was back in the woods and how high the leaf piles were, his words were messing with my mind from time to time throughout the search. Words are powerful and that’s why we all need to keep listening to the positive and not focus on the impossibilities of our dire situations. I determined within to fight on and to somehow pull that ring from the property upon my return.

By the time I arrived back at the property, it was around 7:30 p.m.. Earlier, I was so burned out and hungry that I ended up taking way more time away than expected. Immediately, I gathered up my outside night gear and strategized my next search method. I decided to switch metal detectors and use one that had a smaller coil at the bottom of the shaft. This helps to detect for small objects, like a ring, in the midst of a debris field of other pieces of metal. I needed to isolate each hit of metal and find some type of clarity in the signals while observing the target below me. It was the only way that I would be able to determine if Hannah’s ring was out in the woods or not.

By this point in the evening, it was very cold outside. I made sure that I put on several layers and that I was wearing the best of the best in frigid temperature attire. Into the night with my headlamp, gloves and hat on, I made my way back into the woods, hoping that this was the location of where Hannah lost her beloved engagement ring. As I started metal detecting, I did notice that the 6” sniper coil was working effectively and I was able to zero in on individual targets rather than my earlier experience with problems interpreting the detector’s readings due to picking up several metal objects clustered near each other in the leaves and under the dirt.

I went from metal object to metal object pulling each target from the leaves. In some cases I would find out that the object was below ground, which I then had to pull the item so that it would not interfere with detecting other objects that I was checking into. I moved slowly down the path, farther into the woods. Every time I was getting a good signal, the target would end up being a small piece of aluminum or some type of wrapper which had aluminum foil on it. I would also find scattered about old broken pieces of household items. It was by far the toughest part of my long search with all of the scrap metal hanging out everywhere below the surface.

I was looking for metal that would give me low numbers on my detector screen; ones that would fluctuate between 4 and 5 and then jump up to maybe 6, 8 and 11. We were dealing with trying to find a lady’s white gold ring which is so much more difficult to detect, depending on how the ring was positioned in the leaves and dirt. Inch by inch and foot by foot, I made my way slowly farther into the woods, carefully detecting all of the possible locations of where the ring may have flown when Hannah was throwing leaves into the woods from the back of the pickup truck. This was my very last location for the day because there was no point in me retracing my steps in the other places that I had already detected. It was getting late and I knew this was the last leg for this particular trip. Hannah had already returned home some time back and had turned in for the night while Levi stayed up and watched television in the living room. I wanted to give this couple something to rise up to later that night!

After about an hour or so. I had eliminated quite a few spots where there were plenty of pieces of metal that were coming up in the range of what could possibly be Hannah’s ring. Unfortunately, none of them panned out. However, my “strike-outs” were about to finally change! As I moved the metal detector over a particular spot that was covered with leaves and dirt, I got a signal that was worth looking into. At that spot I was pulling up pieces of metal and rope that were buried in the ground around this particular object. I wasn’t sure if it was all one piece of metal or not. But, after removing one round shaped metallic object along with some more of the rope that was mixed up in the leaves and dirt, I was still getting a target signal, though very choppy sounding. I actually was just about to skip over it and keep moving down the gradual slope that took me farther into the woods, but I hesitated, and then stopped. I wanted to make sure that the target was not the missing ring (even though the signal was so choppy and seemingly insignificant to my search). So, I stayed right where I was detecting moments earlier and continued to move the coil over the location where I was getting that questionable hit. Once I got a pretty good fix on where the target was hidden, I took out my pinpointer and immediately identified the spot where I needed to reveal the object. For a slight second I saw something surface just before it ended up getting covered again in the leaves. It looked circular and silver in color. I thought I had found a lady’s hoop earring just from the initial angle that the object was leaning on. But, as I used my hands to sift through the leaves and dirt, I almost couldn’t believe what I saw popping out from beneath all of the leaves and debris. It was no earring! It was Hannah’s white gold engagement ring with the largest diamond on top surrounded by diamonds along the sides! Wow! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing! Because of the hour of night and how cold it was, everything was so depressing and dreary looking back there, with all of the leaves and dirt and the various little objects of metal and trash that I had come across since moving my way into the woods. And now, truly, a spectacular sight had emerged from the rough and darkness! It was like I was having a dream!

All of those hours of detecting in the car, in the house, in the corner of the backyard, in the huge leaf piles, in the woods, in the area near the side entrance, in the front yard, in the backyard, and then again for the second time in the woods…and finally…I found it! Finally! It was as if the moment wasn’t really happening! It was so surreal! I promised Hannah that I wouldn’t leave their property until I found her ring, and I delivered! For a metal detectorist who is searching for something lost, when that object is found there is such a feeling of relief and conclusion, knowing that you don’t have to keep looking any longer! It’s that wonderful feeling of knowing that you can return something so precious and important back to the rightful owner who is feeling like they will never see their keepsake ever again! And in many cases they would not have ever seen the item ever again had it not been found at that time of the search. None of the other metal detectorists, including Levi, were able to find it even after a week of searching. I was able to come into the situation and pull this most precious keepsake from the woods that was surrounded by so much metallic interference! I was so elated at that moment! I could not wait to reveal my findings with Hannah and Levi! The VDI numbers that were on my Equinox 800 screen were coming up just like I was expecting for this 14 karat white gold ring. The numbers were around 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 11. It was approximately buried about 4 to 6 inches below the surface in a pile of leaves and dirt. What made it extremely difficult to recover was the fact that it was mixed with other pieces of metal which were apparently masking the precious metal that I was seeking after. This is probably why none of the other fellows were able to find the gem because there was just too much confusion in the ground at that particular spot, with so many other pieces of metal surrounding the ring.

My search was complete! I was beyond excited at that moment when I found Hannah’s ring! She would be able to wear the ring (cautiously, of course, because it needed to be resized) for tomorrow’s wedding dress fittings which she wanted to make so very special in having the engagement ring with her throughout the day!

After leaving the woods to return some of my gear to the car, I prepared for a wonderful ring reveal in sharing the awesome news with Hannah and Levi! The entire search took approximately ten hours, plus a two hour break! It is always worth the work to see the tears of joy and the shining smiles that I put on people’s faces like Hannah’s and Levi’s! Believe me, it was well worth it all!

« I have nothing but great things to say about our ring finder, Brian! I emailed him while practically in tears at work a few days after I had lost my beloved engagement ring. He promptly responded and we spoke on the phone on my way home from work. He was so energetic and confident that he would find my ring despite the fact that we had already had 2 other people (in addition to my husband) metal detect our property and had multiple family members on their hands and knees sifting through leaves and dirt to find my ring. To be honest, I didn’t think Brian would find it but I wanted someone with more experience with searching for engagement rings to give it a try before I completely lost hope. I wasn’t eating or sleeping and I was in tears every day over losing my ring. Brian assured me that he wouldn’t leave until the ring was found and to my surprise he found it after 12 hours of searching! It is apparent that Brian is passionate and determined in finding lost rings for people. Because of his determination, skills and optimism I get to continue to wear the gorgeous ring that my fiance’ proposed to me at the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany! Thank you Brian, you’re truly a good person for devoting your time and energy to finding rings for others! »

– Hannah

Williamsport, Maryland

 

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If you would like to watch the SEARCH VIDEO and the RING REVEAL pertaining to this story, the video will be uploaded soon. To receive a NOTIFICATION letting you know when the video is uploaded to YOUTUBE: go to YOUTUBE by CLICKING THE LINK BELOW or OPEN your YOUTUBE APP on your device. In the SEARCH BAR, type: THE RING RETURNER, click SUBSCRIBE and lastly, CLICK ON THE « BELL » to receive NOTIFICATIONS when this latest search video is available to view! 

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CALL BRIAN RUDOLPH WITH THE RING FINDERS AT (301) 466-8644!

VISIT THE RING FINDER’S WEBSITE TO READ MORE OF BRIAN’S SUCCESSFUL SEARCH STORIES at:

https://theringfinders.com/Brian.Rudolph/

HE WILL RETURN TO YOU WHAT HAS BEEN LOST!

VISIT BRIAN’S LOCAL WEBSITE FOR ADDITIONAL STORIES AND INFORMATION AT: www.theringreturner.com

Lost Gold Diamond Engagement Ring In Sofa…Found in Alexandria, Virginia

  • from Washington (District of Columbia, United States)

Blanca’s 14 Karat White Gold, 2 Carat Diamond, Surrounded by Accent Diamonds and Ring Wrap, Engagement Ring

Blanca’s Princess-like Diamond Enagagement Ring Finally Reunited With Her Ring Wrap After Two Weeks Gone Missing!

Blanca, Chris and Family Celebrating the Recovery of Her Beautiful Diamond Engagement Ring!

 

CALL BRIAN RUDOLPH WITH THE RING FINDERS AT (301) 466-8644 AND HE WILL RETURN TO YOU WHAT HAS BEEN LOST!

I received an email from a couple who were at their wits end in trying to find a lost 14 karat white gold, 2 carat diamond engagement ring in their house. For two weeks, Chris and Blanca searched for the bride’s missing ring but came up with absolutely nothing. The backstory goes like this: Blanca was hanging out on the couch in the family room and was ready to take a nap. She remembered taking off all of her rings and giving them to her son who was kind enough to walk the handful of jewelry down the hall and into his parents’ bedroom. He laid the rings on Blanca’s vanity table which was located in a small sitting room adjacent to the master bathroom. Blanca fell asleep and when she woke up, she tended to some things around the house and eventually strolled into the bedroom to retrieve her rings and place them back on her fingers. This was the moment when Blanca realized that her gorgeous engagement ring was missing amongst the wedding band and her other rings that included her exquisite ring wrap that the engagement ring slips into. All were accounted for on the vanity table except the engagement ring. It didn’t make sense why all of the rings were there except that one band. She called her son over to ask him if he may have accidentally dropped the ring somewhere along his route to the master bedroom, but he swore that he made no detours and that he didn’t see anything fall to the carpet. His mother quickly moved back to the living room couch where the two of them began searching around the cushions and pillows. They looked everywhere. There was nothing found under the couch or on the area rugs nearby, either. Blanca carefully placed her fingers down into the crevices of the couch and still she could feel no pieces of jewelry wedged in any of the gaps down below. With not being able to find the luxurious keepsake anywhere in the house, they wondered if the band could have been accidentally thrown away in the trash. However, when the couple recounted their steps, there was nothing deposited in the garbage between the time that Blanca last wore the ring right up to the moment that it had gone missing. As the minutes and hours ticked by, the disappearance of this gorgeous and sentimental ring became a mystery for this family to unravel.

 

When all of the family’s efforts were initially expended, Blanca and her husband Chris took the bull by the horns and decided to do an extensive search in their family living room couch. Chris still kept feeling like the ring had been lost in that piece of furniture and that perhaps it had never been given to their son when he took the other rings to the vanity table. Blanca’s determined husband put his hands in the crevices of the sofa just like Blanca had done days earlier, but this time he spent a whole lot more time working through the stationary cushions, just in case the beautiful band slipped farther down into the couch. Nothing became of his energetic attempt to return the ring that he presented to his wife when he asked her to marry him many years earlier. A couple of more days went by and when nothing turned up in the house, Chris gathered a few of his friends who teamed together by picking up the couch and flipping it upside down to see if the ring had been lost in that furniture the whole time. Next, he made an incision across the bottom of the couch so that the gang could look inside the guts to see if the band had fallen deep into the hidden chambers within. Unfortunately, Chris and his helpers still had no luck in discovering the sentimental and beloved object.

 

At this point, Blanca and her husband had no more ideas to implement in trying to recover the lost ring. They went to the internet and began searching for alternative ways to somehow find the piece of jewelry that went MIA into thin air. With all of the attempts made, the next source of information that they obtained online may easily be considered their best chance of finding their ring yet! They pulled up a website called The Ring Finders, which is a directory made up of men and women who specialize in finding rings with their metal detectors and other sophisticated equipment. The couple searched for a local Ring Finder in their area and my name popped up. After Chris called me and shared all of the details of what had transpired since the day the ring disappeared, I encouraged him with words of hope, quite confident that the ring was still somewhere in their house. Because the couple was pretty much drained empty of any “positive power” after trying everything to find the missing ring, I became their new source of bright light to shine upon all of their doubts and discouragement!

 

I told Chris that I not only specialize in metal detecting, but I also specialize in recovering rings from within people’s personal located in their homes. Not all detectorists will tackle in-house searches. But, in this case, he called the right guy. On the phone that day, we scheduled a time for me to come out to their house later that evening and I assured this desperate fellow that I would do everything I could to get that ring back for him. He was extremely encouraged by my words, and we looked forward to meeting later that night.

 

That evening, I headed to Alexandria, Virginia to conduct the in-house search for Chris and Blanca. The moment that I arrived at the front door, the family was extremely warm and inviting towards me. I had all of my gear in hand and as they guided me into the foyer, they directed me into the family room where I organized my gear and prepared the equipment for the recovery efforts. The couple introduced me to their children and then I requested a meeting with Chris, Blanca, and their son who took mom’s rings into the other room when she had laid down for a nap that day. I then began asking all kinds of questions in order for me to get clarity about what had happened on that dreadful day when the ring disappeared.

 

My first request was for Blanca to show me where she was lying down on the couch when she handed the jewelry to her son. I then wanted the family to take me step-by-step through the sequence of events, from the time she rested on the sofa until she arose after her nap and realized that her diamond engagement ring was missing from her vanity table. Their young son took me from the couch where he was given the rings and led me in a straight line, passed the kitchen and down a long hallway to where the master bedroom was located. He turned right and entered through a doorway and there in front of us was a small sitting room with a vanity table in the corner. A bathroom was adjacent to that sitting room along with the master bedroom entrance to the right of it. Their son shared with me that he never took the rings into the bathroom or into the master bedroom. He said that he did exactly what his mother had told him to do, which was to take those rings and to place them on the vanity. He never stopped anywhere along the way during the time that he traveled from one side of the house to the other. While the young man was guiding me along the path from the couch to the vanity table, I searched corners and looked for any cracks where the ring may have fallen to the floor and then slip into a space larger enough to consume the object. However, there were no little cracks in the corners or slits in the hardwood floor where the beloved betrothal piece could have dropped into.

 

I checked the floor of the bathroom and it was clean as a whistle. I also checked outside of the entrance to the master bedroom and searched under the furniture that was nearest to the doorway that led into Chris and Blanca’s room. Still, there was no ring to be discovered. We then moved out of that room and went back into the hallway and I looked to my left and right to see if the ring may have bounced onto the floor and ended up in a closet or another room. Unfortunately, everything was clear of an engagement ring. Next, I searched the dining room floor, which was all hardwood except for the area rug located under the dining room table, but again my results came up negative for any jewelry found on the floor. It was completely clean. Quickly, I moved into the kitchen area. It only took me seconds to search that space because the floors were perfectly clean and it had no slits or openings where the ring could have bounced from the hall and into some hidden area in the floor.

 

After I eliminated every other possibility as to where this ring disappeared to, the only place remaining to search was the family room. I concluded that Blanca’s band could not have ever exited that living area because it was nowhere to be found anywhere else in the house. Now, my entire focus was given to searching the family room for the prized possession. If I didn’t find it in there, I would not be able to help the family any further.

 

Before I spent my time searching the couch, I wanted to make sure that the ring did not end up in a throw blanket or that it perhaps landed underneath the loveseat. I probably spent about five or seven minutes metal detecting all of the blankets with my handheld pinpointer before I checked every other possible spot besides the sofa. There was no ring snagged on any of the fabric, nor was there any sign of it underneath any of the furniture. I also made sure that it didn’t end up on the floor, as well. Once I eliminated all of those other possibilities, the couch was my soul center of attention and nothing else.

 

As I shared above, Chris kept going back to the scenario that the engagement ring had to be in the couch when the family failed to discover it anywhere else. This would mean that Blanca never actually handed her engagement ring to her son when she gave the other rings to him to take to her vanity table. Upon taking the rings off, her band would have had to slide through the diamond encased ring wrap and fall between Blanca’s fingers at the time of the transfer, and eventually slipping down into the couch without her aware of it. This was my last hunch to investigate before I had to call it a night. Chris and Blanca agreed that there were no other options remaining after checking out this piece of furniture.

 

With tackling the sofa, my first search action was to experiment with my handheld pinpointer and scan around the cushions to see if the ring could be located in any of the obvious crevices in the couch where there were no adjacent pieces of metal such as staples or screws. I wanted to see if the ring may have ended up in an area that was isolated without any other metal so close to it, which would make it very easy for me to discover. When I concluded that the couch staples were being picked up by the pinpointer, I knew that I would not be able to spot the ring with that method.

 

Next, I immediately set up my endoscope which is a fiber-optic probe that has a lens for viewing hard-to-see areas such as inside couches. I can monitor what the snake is seeing, record video of the movement of the endoscope, along with taking still photos. It’s a fantastic instrument used for searching for lost rings in automobiles, as well as for in-house recoveries. Depending on how a particular sofa is designed, the endoscope can be pushed down into spaces where it has a chance to view the internal spots where jewelry can fall into. It all depends on what limitations you are handed when dealing with a particular style of couch. Sometimes I am greatly restricted with what I actually can view because of the internal hardware of the furniture that hinders the probe from traveling farther distances within the environment that I am searching around. If the object cannot be detected with the use of the endoscope, the only last option is to make incisions in the furniture in order to confirm for certain whether or not the item was in fact buried in the sofa or not.

 

I set up the endoscope and synced it with my smartphone so I could view everything that the probe was looking at. Then, I had the family turn off all of the lights so that I could see the screen much more clearly. I slowly moved the endoscope down into the first crack in the sofa and carefully guided the snake over to one side and then back the other way so I could view everything in that particular section of the couch. I repeated these steps from one side of the sofa and then all the way to the other end. I still could not see anything that looked like a ring.

 

Once I completed that step, I requested Chris’s help to flip the couch over onto one side so that I could place the endoscope inside from the bottom section. This would help me view any possible spots where the ring may have gotten trapped on the day that it went missing, or possibly when Chris and his friends initially flipped the couch and made his first incisions. I then moved the snake around the inner parts of the piece of furniture, hoping that I might spot something that resembled a halo. However, other than a few small objects found within the inner chambers of the couch, there was nothing discovered that could be worn on a finger.

 

Happiness Doesn’t Describe How Blanca was Feeling Inside Now That the Ring Was Back!

Just as I neared the edge of the other side of the furniture, I finally saw something on my screen that appeared to be similar to the shape of a ring. I had seen a photo of Blanca’s huge gorgeous ring and there were in fact some similarities between the picture and what I was viewing on the monitor. From the angle that I was probing this particular item, I was not able to manipulate the snake in such a way that I could clearly identify what the item was. Therefore, the only way that I could accurately identify the mysterious object was to flip the couch back over to its original position. Then, I would reinsert the snake into the crevices of the couch on the side where I had detected something that resembled an engagement ring moments earlier. Chris wanted to help me out in my efforts, so I told him that I would take one section which was the left side of the couch, and he would take the center section. Then, we would travel across and meet at some point in the middle. If we still couldn’t find the object in question, I would lastly go to the far right section and probe that end, as well. We chose these two areas to start with because the object that I had been viewing would have been between the left side of the couch and the middle area. Obviously, Chris did not have a probe to work with. However, he still could use his long fingers to effectively push is way down into the crevice between the stationary cushions and perhaps be able to feel around for the item. As I traveled in his direction, the probe was not picking up anything that resembled what I saw on the screen earlier. Just as Chris started to move his fingers in the direction of where my probe was heading, one of his fingers felt something small and hard that was way down in one of the sections of the couch. At first he thought maybe it was something that was part of the hardware of the sofa, but then he noticed that it moved slightly when he was touching it. He said out loud, “What the (heck) is this?” Then, before I had a chance to look it over with the probe (since I was getting closer to where he was searching in the couch), he hooked the object with his finger and brought it up from within the cushion. There it was! The long lost engagement ring! Blanca’s gorgeous gold diamond engagement ring was found! Unbelievable! Chris had found his wife’s ring which had been lost within the chambers of the sofa for the last couple of weeks! His prediction as to where the ring had ended up was absolutely accurate from the beginning!

 

The Search Was Finally Over! Now Celebration Began!

Blanca was in complete disbelief and started to cry tears of joy as her husband showed proof that the missing band was truly in his hand! It was not only an incredible moment for the family, but also for me as well! I could not have been happier for the couple that had been so stressed out over the disappearance of this ring for so many days! What I viewed on the probe was absolutely that engagement ring, and it was there in the couch all along! I congratulated Chris for ultimately being the hero that night! The couple could not stop thanking me and the children eventually gathered around their parents and viewed the ring, almost in unbelief that it really was back in their possession after all of this time! I had prayed on the way over that the Lord would help me and guide all of us in finding this very important keepsake, and I believe He delivered! God loves the covenant of marriage and especially the betrothal process in promising oneself to another by way of giving an engagement ring! We certainly felt God’s favor with the return of this ring from the inner chambers of the family room couch! What a night it was! All of us rejoiced and thanked God and spent a little while longer reviewing all of the places that the family and I had searched in the past couple of weeks! In the end, the sofa was the last possible spot where Blanca’s band could have ended up! And that was exactly the location where it had disappeared all along!

 

After we took some pictures together, I packed my gear up and walked towards the front door of their house to leave. Chris and Blanca thanked me one last time for assisting in the search and recovery of what Chris had eventually found – his wife’s amazing diamond engagement ring! So much time had gone by from the day it was lost until the very evening that the couple called me into their world to help them find the ring. I was honored to be the one who pushed the search process to its final conclusion that night! I was quite humbled by their words of kindness and I will never forget how excited I was to be a part of the search and recovery of Blanca’s love keepsake! It was certainly an in-house search that I will never forget!

 

If you would like to watch the SEARCH VIDEO and RING REVEAL pertaining to this story, the YOUTUBE link will be provided shortly. To receive the notification letting you know when the video is uploaded to YOUTUBE, feel free to SUBSCRIBE to BRIAN’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL by typing: THE RING RETURNER.

 

CALL BRIAN RUDOLPH WITH THE RING FINDERS AT (301) 466-8644 AND HE WILL RETURN TO YOU WHAT HAS BEEN LOST!

 

SUBSCRIBE TODAY TO BRIAN’S SEARCH VIDEO YOUTUBE CHANNEL TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATIONS WHEN THIS LATEST SEARCH VIDEO IS UPLOADED! BRIAN’S SEARCH VIDEOS ARE FOUND ON HIS YOUTUBE CHANNEL – THE RING RETURNER.

 

CHECK OUT MORE OF BRIAN’S SEARCH VIDEOS ON BRIAN’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL: THE RING RETURNER AT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmcn09QqWhHrj-7SGqlUBJQ

CHECK OUT BRIAN’S WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON WHAT THIS RING FINDER IS ALL ABOUT!

READ MORE STORIES OF WHAT HE HAS DISCOVERED AND RETURNED!

VIEW THE MANY PEOPLE THAT BRIAN HAS BROUGHT LASTING SMILES TO!

VISIT HIS WEBSITE AT: WWW.THERINGRETURNER.COM

Lost Diamond Engagement Ring Gettysburg, Pennsylvania…Found

  • from Washington (District of Columbia, United States)

Toni’s 14 Karat White Gold, 1 Carat Diamond Family Heirloom with Surrounding Diamonds Engagement Ring

Toni’s Beautiful Family Heirloom Diamond Engagement Ring!

After Searching for Toni’s Engagement Until 1 A.M., Brian Rudolph Returns the Elegant Keepsake to Its Happy and Overjoyed Owner!

CALL BRIAN RUDOLPH WITH THE RING FINDERS AT (301) 466-8644 AND HE WILL RETURN TO YOU WHAT HAS BEEN LOST!

It was a busy day on the farm for Toni and her fiancé Clay. They were working on all kinds of tasks at the homestead before having to head out to do some errands in their town near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Because Toni didn’t want to damage or even possibly lose her precious white gold, 1 carat diamond engagement ring, she gave it to her soon-to-be husband for safekeeping. Clay took the band and carefully placed it in his shirt pocket. Then, the couple partnered together to carry a few chicken coops and load them into the back of Clay’s pickup truck so that they could drop them off somewhere later that afternoon. Next, while Toni was inside doing some house work, Clay hopped on his riding lawnmower and cut the grass in the front yard and on the sides of the house.

 

After a few other loose ends were taken care of on the property, the engaged couple jumped into their pickup truck and headed down their long driveway towards town. As they were nearing the edge of the property to turn onto the main road, a United States Postal Service truck was coming towards them and ended up striking Clay and Toni’s vehicle. Immediately, they pulled over to the side of their farmland driveway and exchanged information with the postal driver. Then, both vehicles drove towards the farmhouse where Clay and Toni gathered some additional information for the USPS delivery man and for their insurance companies. It was around that point in time when Clay realized that the engagement ring that Toni had given him to hold was missing from his shirt pocket. Immediately a search ensued for the rest of that afternoon. Unfortunately, they could not find the ring anywhere on the property. They even checked the pickup truck just in case the ring flew out of his pocket when the collision occurred with the postal service truck. Still, nothing turned up. Eventually they left the farm to drop off the chicken coops and then returned back home to continue their search. The couple spent all of their time looking on their hands and knees across their entire lawn, searching every inch of the driveway and inside Clay’s pickup truck. They also searched everywhere in the house just in case the engagement ring came out of Clay’s pocket when he might have leaned forward to pick something up or possibly when he tied his shoes. Neither one of them had any luck finding Toni’s beloved family heirloom engagement ring in and around the farmhouse. The two of them were completely dumbfounded by the disappearance of this ring. The original purpose for giving it to Clay was for safekeeping and neither one of them thought that the ring that they were trying to secure would actually go missing! The only other place that the ring could have ended up beyond their property was the location where the couple dropped off the chicken coops later that afternoon. Clay hoped that the ring did not fall out of his truck when he opened the door to climb out. He reached out to the people who owned the property where the coops were delivered, but they didn’t find the ring upon checking their driveway. The whole ordeal was quite perplexing.

 

Hours of searching turned into a couple of days of the same unsuccessful attempts to find the missing gem. Still no engagement ring to be found anywhere. Clay resorted to using a metal detector to help in their search efforts, but nothing turned up except coins, soda can pull-tabs, pieces of scrap metal and miscellaneous trash. That’s about the time that Clay’s beloved fiancé, Toni, reached out to me after learning about The Ring Finders directory online. She read some of my success stories on the directory’s website, as well as viewed a few of my search videos. Ironically, Toni watched me recover a ring for a young lady who she went to high school with a couple of years back. What a small world! They both currently live in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. I had found her friend’s ring out in the Atlantic Ocean just two weeks before she was getting married in Gettysburg, very close to where Toni and Clay resided!

 

Once Toni was convinced that I could provide the best service in helping the couple find their sentimental keepsake, she immediately called me and we talked on the phone for a while, reviewing all of the backstory of the ring’s disappearance. She said that if her fiancé had no luck in finding her engagement ring by the end of the day, she would call me back and we would set up a time for me to come out and try to find it for them. As it turned out, I did receive another call back from her. The next evening I was on my way to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to search for her beloved diamond engagement ring!

 

As I drove to Gettysburg, I had plenty of warm feelings within as I reflected on my recent trips to the same area. I attended the wedding of Toni’s two classmates, Hannah and Derek Bush in the middle of August. Hannah is the one that I found her engagement ring for, 40 yards out in the Atlantic Ocean during her bachelorette party weekend in Ocean City, Maryland. After finding it for the relieved bride, the couple was kind enough to invite me to their wedding! I then returned a couple of weeks later to Gettysburg to be a part of a local television news story on channel ABC27 regarding the ring search and successful recovery. Now, I was driving back to the area for a third time, just a week after that television interview! Those were happy moments and with this new search, I was hoping to add to my successes by finding this couple’s ring for them, as well!

 

After traveling down old country roads and through a lot of farm country, I finally arrived at Clay and Toni’s farm. As I pulled into their long driveway, I saw the silo in the distance, along with barns and animal pens. There was a large cornfield on one end of their large property and the couple’s farmhouse was off to the other side. It was a lot of fun hearing the sounds of the cows and some other animals that were outside and tucked away in the barn for the night. What I really enjoyed was seeing all of the cats that lived on the farm! They were walking here and there, sitting and sleeping on this and on that! Every so often I heard a few sweet “meow” sounds off in the distance! Also, with my headlamp powered on, I would constantly see pairs of glowing eyes under the vehicles, by the trees, bushes, as well as a few felines peeping out of some crevices next to the farmhouse! They were adorable kitties and they kept me coming throughout the night!

 

Once I parked, I met the couple who were desperate to get Toni’s ring back. They showed me all of the spots where Clay had been working in the yard and the truck that he was driving on the day that Toni’s prized possession disappeared. I encouraged the couple to keep searching inside the house, pulling up couch cushions and looking under furniture just in case the ring popped out of Clay’s shirt pocket in the house on the day that it went missing. They had already spent a lot of time searching their place, but I still encouraged them to keep an open mind about continually looking around the inside of their house. Once we covered all of the possible places where the ring could have disappeared, the couple returned to the home while I went back to my car and pulled out all of my metal detecting gear to start the search.

 

The time was around 9:30 p.m. by the time I was ready to start detecting. With my headlamp on and my metal detector in hand, I began roaming the area of the yard where Clay and Toni were picking up the chicken coops and bringing them over to the truck. I wanted to see if the ring had fallen out of his pocket when he leaned forward to pick up the coops. Though I found some potential targets, there was no ring in that location. Next, I metal detected the backyard and side yard where Clay was mowing the lawn. I checked around the seat and the floor of the mower but there was no ring in sight. As I moved around the property, I could hear the cows and roosters in the background! It was a lot of fun knowing that I was searching for something missing right there on a genuine farm with animals and crops! Next, I began metal detecting in front of the house, conducting a grid search back and forth across the lawn. Still, I couldn’t find Toni’s ring. I was then hoping that I might discover the diamond heirloom in the pickup truck or in Clay’s work vehicle which he gave me permission to search, but they too checked out negative for the precious piece of jewelry that I was looking for.

 

The couple mentioned to me that after the accident took place with the USPS truck, the mail carrier once again caused a second collision. This time it happened closer to the farmhouse, next to the barn. He was reversing his truck to leave the property when he ended up smashing the rear end of his vehicle into one of the fence posts which caused it to lean off to one side. Clay had to walk over and inspect the damage. That is when the two interacted for a while before the carrier finally left the premises. I thought that it was a possibility that perhaps the ring fell to the ground during that second ordeal. I immediately detected that area, but there was no white gold ring signals showing up on my detector screen.

 

The warm night hours were getting later and later until it was nearing midnight. Eventually my headlamp grew dim and it was time to switch to another one to resume the search. Without using this helpful tool, I would never be able to effectively conduct the many night searches that I schedule.

 

I continued my detecting in areas located near the spots where the couple had generally parked their vehicles. I wanted to make sure that the ring did not bounce from the blacktop over to the grassy areas. After checking all of the surfaces on the concrete right up to the edges of the adjacent lawn sections, once again I came up empty handed. There was still no ring to be found. At that point I started scratching my head, wondering where this little one could have ended up. It was quite possible that it was lost in the house but it was too late at night to offer my services to check inside their furniture using tools like my endoscope. Also, they were pretty certain that the engagement ring was not lost in the house because they could not find it anywhere after checking their place quite thoroughly.

 

My only conclusion for not finding the missing family heirloom at that stage of the game, was that I must have overlooked the beloved piece of white gold and missed the signal during my earlier grid searches on the property. That was my only conclusion as to why I had not found the ring thus far. Sometimes the reason that I don’t easily find someone’s ring at first has more to do with alternative locations that the person was not thinking about when they try to recall all of the facts of where they were and what they were doing before and after the ring had disappeared. In this particular case, it should have been a no-brainer as to isolating the probable locations of where the ring fell out of Clay’s pocket. The reason that I could come to that conclusion was because Clay realized the ring was gone before they left their property for the afternoon, just after the postal service truck struck their vehicle. The ring had to be on the property or in their house.

 

I resolved to go back and start grid searching the places that I had already covered, beginning in one section of the yard and then moving to the next. I would slow my swings down a bit and work more carefully to observe even the lightest of signals that would register on my Equinox 800 detector. Because I was dealing with white gold, if the ring was on a particular angle in the grass, it was quite possible that the detector could have initially hit the ring signal, but perhaps I may have missed the sketchiness of the signal that the detector was showing on the screen and perhaps I continued walking passed the gold.

 

My first attempt to re-grid the lawn took place over by the edge of the cornfield that was adjacent to the far side of the front lawn. It turned out to be completely clear. Then, instead of detecting the backyard all over again, I decided to search the front lawn because it was a smaller section to cover. My thought was that if I did find the ring in front of the house, I would not have wasted all of my time re-gridding the larger places in the yard that had more square footage to detect. Since it was nearing 1 a.m., I resolved to make that my last attempt for the night. I had a long trip ahead of me and I knew that I needed to wrap things up soon enough.

 

I carefully grid-searched the front lawn, moving the coil of my detector consistently from left to right and moving it much slower this time around so that there wasn’t any doubt in my mind that I hadn’t missed the ring signal. That night, I was picking up all kinds of coins, bullet shells, aluminum pieces, little parts and gizmos that were registering similar numbers to what a gold ring would look like on my detector screen. Yet, I still was not able to find Toni’s jewel. Almost at the end of the lawn search, I had about two more passes to go before I could rule out any possibility that the ring was lost on the front lawn located in front of the farmhouse porch. When one is detecting for this many hours, your mind starts working against you and you sometimes get tempted to believe that in the final seconds of your search you’re most likely not going to find the target based on the odds. However, I have learned to never discount even an inch of property because you might find what you’re looking for in that final backstretch of your search.

Brian Finally Discovers the Lost Engagement Hiding Between the Blades of Grass, Waiting Patiently to Come Home!

And believe it or not, just as I was starting the second to last grid line, I hit a signal that was very weak, but one that resembled a possible white gold target. I moved the detector coil in a different angle over the target and to my surprise the piece of metal was still giving off possible gold numbers! At that point, I was not going to advance passed the target, but I decided to spend more time checking out this potential piece of precious metal. Next, I knelt down on the grass which was located almost directly in front of the house, adjacent to the sidewalk that led to the front steps. I pulled out my pinpointer to isolate the area of where the small object was being detected and I focused in on the very spot where the handheld detector was telling me where the object was located. All of a sudden, I saw what appeared to be the band of a ring that was leaning on its side in between blades of grass!

Brian Rudolph Showing Off His Excitement After Finding Toni’s Beautiful Diamond Engagement Ring!

I looked a bit closer and there it was! The very piece of jewelry that I had been looking for during the past 5 hours was finally discovered right there in front of the house! I found the ring! Yes, there it was, buried in the grass! I had obviously detected right passed the ring earlier that evening. I concluded that with the combination of the ring being white gold, resting on a certain angle in the grass, and moving the coil too quickly over the ring, caused me to miss the target all together!

 

Though I was regretful that I had wasted quite a bit of time because of overlooking the weak signal that the ring was giving off, I was just happy that I had successfully completed my search and that I was able to soon return this gorgeous white gold and diamond engagement ring back to its proper owner! This find would also prove to be helpful in freeing Clay from “being in the doghouse” for losing what his fiancé had entrusted him with when she gave him the ring for safekeeping!

Toni and Brian Celebrating the Discovery of the Bride-To-Be’s Stunning Engagement Ring!

 

If you would like to view the search video and the moment that I revealed the ring to Toni late that night, feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel and you will be notified when the video is uploaded in the next few months.

 

I could not have been happier for the couple that evening! I was exhausted and almost ready to pack up my gear as I was nearing the end of my search when the beloved ring was discovered! I was nearly out of search area at that closing moment of the night! And yet, the ring was there – found almost on my last grid pass! What a fantastic finish! I got all excited about soon presenting the ring back to Toni that night! After packing up my things and taking some pictures of the ring, I prepared to share the happy news with the bride-to-be! She was beyond surprised! What an incredible moment! The look on her face was worth all of the hours of searching and persevering in order to bring this very special family heirloom back to the finger that it was meant to be secured upon!

 

What a wonderful feeling I had saying goodbye to Toni that night! I told her to congratulate Clay for me when he would arise from his sleep later that morning! It was like living a dream knowing that I had found what was so very difficult to detect! As I walked to my car in order to prepare for departure, I heard some of the farm animals in the background, including a couple of friendly cats that had kept me company during my search. It was almost as if they were congratulating me on a job well done and wishing me well as I started down the driveway to the main road and then headed off on my long journey towards home!

 

“Thank you again Brian for everything! I can’t thank you enough for finding the ring for us. My heart is just pounding with enjoyment. Thank you again!!!! Clay and I are very grateful to have found a guy like you to come out in the night looking for my engagement ring. Brian you have a positive outlook especially bringing some positivity and commitment on finding my ring. I would highly recommend you to anyone who would be in need of the services that you do. Thank you for everything!”

– Toni and Clay of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

 

If you would like to watch the SEARCH VIDEO and RING REVEAL pertaining to this story, the YOUTUBE link will be provided shortly. To receive the notification letting you know when the video is uploaded to YOUTUBE, feel free to SUBSCRIBE to BRIAN’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL by typing: THE RING RETURNER.

 

CALL BRIAN RUDOLPH WITH THE RING FINDERS AT (301) 466-8644 AND HE WILL RETURN TO YOU WHAT HAS BEEN LOST!

 

SUBSCRIBE TODAY TO BRIAN’S SEARCH VIDEO YOUTUBE CHANNEL TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATIONS WHEN THIS LATEST SEARCH VIDEO IS UPLOADED! BRIAN’S SEARCH VIDEOS ARE FOUND ON HIS YOUTUBE CHANNEL – THE RING RETURNER.

 

CHECK OUT MORE OF BRIAN’S SEARCH VIDEOS ON BRIAN’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL: THE RING RETURNER AT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmcn09QqWhHrj-7SGqlUBJQ

CHECK OUT BRIAN’S WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON WHAT THIS RING FINDER IS ALL ABOUT!

READ MORE STORIES OF WHAT HE HAS DISCOVERED AND RETURNED!

VIEW THE MANY PEOPLE THAT BRIAN HAS BROUGHT LASTING SMILES TO!

VISIT HIS WEBSITE AT: WWW.THERINGRETURNER.COM

Lost Wedding Band at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland…Found!

  • from Washington (District of Columbia, United States)

Paul’s Palladium Wedding Band

U.S. Air Force Officer, Paul, Beyond Excited to be Reunited With His Palladium Wedding Band!

Paul’s Palladium Wedding Band Still Showing Chocolate Cream Pie on the Rim!

 

Just after I finished a search for a missing ring in Annapolis, Maryland, I received a call from an Air Force officer who lost his palladium wedding band at a military fundraiser earlier that day which was hosted by his battalion at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. Paul is a high ranking officer who had participated in a pie fight during the afternoon festivities. He went on to explain that the peaceful picnic ended up with the officers throwing pies at one another and he went on the rampage to take revenge on some of his men for smacking him good with a creamy pie to the face! As the battle ensued out by the picnic tables located under a park pavilion, the messy chocolate and cherry cream antics extended out towards an open grassy area. These men had the time of their lives while the family members were watching, laughing, clapping and getting quite entertained by the childlike behavior of these Air Force officers. Paul was throwing one of the pies at another guy when he noticed his wedding band fly off of his finger and land somewhere in the grass approximately 15 or 20 feet from where the pie crust and filling was being smothered all over the men. When the game finally came to a conclusion, it was all about hunting for Paul’s handsome palladium wedding band. Eight officers including other family members joined in the search but no one could find the ring. Even after everybody had left the park area, Paul and his wife continued to search for the missing ring for another few hours, but all of their efforts led to no avail.

 

This is where THE RING FINDERS directory came into play. Paul looked online to see if he could find any tips on how to recover a lost ring. THE RING FINDERS website came up on his Google search which led this desperate military officer to contact me.

 

I assured Paul that I would do everything in my ability to recover his missing wedding band and I told him that I could meet him out at the air base the following day since it was already late in the evening. He was quite happy that I could fit his need into my schedule and that I was so positive regarding the recovery of his ring (if it in fact was still there in the grass).

 

The next day, Paul and I agreed to meet at a restaurant nearby to the air base so that I could follow him to the entrance of Andrews. There was very tight security, and I had to provide all kinds of identification to be granted approval to enter the base. Paul had to explain to the guards what my purpose was for entering and eventually I was given access after they did a search of my vehicle and checked out all of my credentials and paperwork.

 

Once I was through the gate. I continued following Paul and his family over to the picnic pavilion where the big party was held the day before. Lots of people were out playing ball and eating lunch at picnic tables. It was such a beautiful day with sun shining so happily above the perfect blue sky. As I observed all of the military families enjoying their time of recreation, I had to feel so grateful for all the sacrifices that these people have made for civilians like myself. This feeling within led me to thank Paul and his family for their awesome service for our country!

 

Before Paul took me over to the area where he believed he saw the ring fly off his finger, I got all of my gear out of the car and set up my metal detector so that I would be ready to start the search once we observed the grassy area where the pie fight had eventually reached its conclusion. Paul introduced me to his wife Marie and their son who were both carrying their picnic basket of lunch and plenty of other things to keep them preoccupied since they thought that the search could take a few hours to find the ring (as she experienced the day before but without a happy ending).

 

In recounting the story of how Paul’s ring slid off his finger, we both concluded that the chocolate mousse pie filling most likely lubricated his finger enough to cause the palladium wedding band to slide off and “fly away” in the midst of the action-packed moments during the pie fight.

 

Once he finished showing me the basic area that I needed to search, I put the headphones on and began my grid, swinging the detector back and forth in a straight line and then moving back in the opposite direction. At some point I felt that I had covered the suspected area well enough to conclude that the ring was clearly not in that section of the grass. I did have a few potential targets but none of them were directly on the surface of the grass, so I had to eliminate those possibilities. As soon as I moved away from the parameter where Paul thought the ring must have settled on the ground, I went outside of that area (as I commonly find rings beyond the places where people think the item ended up), and I began searching perhaps 10 yards past the suspected hot zone. It took no more than a minute before my detector sounded off a signal that was in the range of Paul’s type of ring. The numbers that were coming up on my machine were exactly what I was looking for. Almost at the same time that the target signal could be heard in my headphones, I looked down and saw something circular and silver-like in the midst of the grass! The wedding band was still there, patiently waiting for me to find it and have it returned to this very kind military man! I couldn’t have been happier for Paul and Marie and they could not have been more surprised when I revealed the good news that the search was over! Believe it or not, there was still some chocolate cream residue leftover from the pie fight, still stuck to the rim of the handsome palladium band!

 

If you would like to see the video of this search and the ring revealed to the family, feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking on the link below and you will receive a notification when the video is uploaded.

 

The moment that I unveiled the ring to Paul, the couple was simply overjoyed with happiness and relief that Paul’s wedding band had been found! He gave me a hug, a handshake and thanked me over and over again right up to the time that I started packing up my gear! I was so honored to help such a patriotic family. Marie was quite surprised that I had found the ring within five minutes of starting the search! She had just settled down when I returned the wedding band back to its rightful owner! And like I said above, because so many people had been searching for such a long time the day prior, she didn’t think this would be such an easy find! The biggest decision of their day was no longer how to go about discovering the missing ring, but rather whether or not they would stay at the park or head back to their house located somewhere on the base!

 

Once my things were packed up and I was ready to head off to my next search site, the four of us said our goodbyes and the family thanked me again for my successful efforts. It meant a great deal to me that I could help such great Americans! There’s nothing like leaving a military family with smiles on their faces, knowing that every day they are making sacrifices for people like me. I would never be able to help others recover their missing items if we did not have men, women and children like this family supporting America’s efforts to preserve our freedom and democracy!

 

May God bless Paul and his family and may God continue to bless our great United States of America!

 

Revealing the ring to Paul and his family was a blast! If you would like to view the RING REVEAL  and the reaction that followed, feel free to subscribe to my YOUTUBE VIDEO CHANNEL to see all of the latest and previous ring recoveries. This story and more will be posted over the next couple of months and you will be notified when it’s uploaded to the video channel!

 

CALL BRIAN RUDOLPH WITH THE RING FINDERS AT (301) 466-8644 AND HE WILL RETURN TO YOU WHAT HAS BEEN LOST!

 

SUBSCRIBE TODAY TO BRIAN’S SEARCH VIDEO YOUTUBE CHANNEL TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATIONS WHEN THIS LATEST SEARCH VIDEO IS UPLOADED! BRIAN’S SEARCH VIDEOS ARE FOUND ON HIS YOUTUBE CHANNEL – THE RING RETURNER.

 

CHECK OUT MORE OF BRIAN’S SEARCH VIDEOS ON BRIAN’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL: THE RING RETURNER AT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmcn09QqWhHrj-7SGqlUBJQ

 

CHECK OUT BRIAN’S WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON WHAT THIS RING FINDER IS ALL ABOUT!

READ MORE STORIES OF WHAT HE HAS DISCOVERED AND RETURNED!

VIEW THE MANY PEOPLE THAT BRIAN HAS BROUGHT LASTING SMILES TO!

VISIT HIS WEBSITE AT: WWW.THERINGRETURNER.COM

Metal Detecting Sterling Silver Wedding Band in Rehoboth Bay, Dewey Beach, Delaware…Found!

  • from Washington (District of Columbia, United States)

Carla’s 925 Sterling Silver Wedding Band with Colorful Accent Stones

 

Searching for lost property can take you down all kinds of windy and unexpected roads. You will meet wonderful people and you may find yourself in certain situations that you would never have expected prior to when the initial adventure had begun. Here is what I mean:

I had taken my boat out onto Rehoboth Bay, located on the other side of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, just west inland of the Atlantic ocean. I was on a search for a lost ring that had fallen into the bay while a guy was pulling up his anchor shortly after his family went swimming in the water weeks earlier. They took their boat from New Jersey all the way down to Delaware to do some vacationing over a long extended weekend. I was hoping that I could retrieve the ring from the water, but unfortunately my boat ran into problems just prior to me anchoring at the exact GPS location where he lost the ring. My engine stalled and the current was too strong to paddle up the channel where I had traveled from. I probably cruised about a mile and a half down the canal area into the bay when my engine suddenly cut off. I was really close to my target, but it wouldn’t be my day to find the ring. Instead, I needed to find help!

Eventually, I drifted over to a shore area located on the opposite side of the bay, completely in the wrong direction from where I was trying to travel to. I was now a half of a mile south of where I was trying to anchor, and each time I tried to get further back into the center of the bay, I was pushed back towards the shoreline by the strong current and choppy water. I had a choice: either ground the boat on the private shoreline property and see if I could get an Uber or someone to drive me to my car and then retrieve the boat on the way back (which would have been very difficult because there were no launch sites anywhere nearby), hire a boat tow service (which would have been costly), or lastly, to try to flag someone down that was out boating who would be willing to tow me in.

Carla’s Wedding Band that had been at the Bottom of the Rehoboth Bay, Dewey Beach, Delaware for a Year!

I called the tow service and they gave me a quote. I thought maybe the boat would sink just hearing the number that they gave me to tow me

Claudia’s Sterling Silver that was Out of the Water and Carla’s Sterling Silver that had been in the Rehoboth Bay for a Year!

in! When I tried to see if there were any other boats that might be close enough to possibly stop to help assist my efforts to get up the channel, there was nothing to work with because I was pretty far from where people were cruising. I had very little choice but to call the tow service.

This is where the turn of events took place! I was just hanging out in the boat trying to make my final decision as to what to do, when all of a sudden I noticed a large pontoon boat coming my way! I remembered seeing that same boat earlier some distance away along the shoreline. Apparently they were crabbing and partying out on the deck. They got closer and closer until I heard one of the ladies on the boat call over to me, « Do you need any help?! » Their boat continued to draw nearer. They we’re coming to rescue me! This was awesome! I yelled back and explained that the motor stalled and that I had been fighting the current for quite a while. They weren’t surprised because they had noticed what was going on with me for some time and wondered if I was in trouble. Before long, Claudia, who was steering their boat, maneuvered the pontoon as close to me as possible, and then another lady onboard named Carla, threw me a tow line and I quickly tied it to the bow of my boat and in no time we were headed towards a launch site where I could get the boat out of the water! I could not be more grateful for these people’s assistance! Not only did they tow me in, but they went past their own slip and took me to a launch site that was out of their way just to make life easier for me by getting my boat up on shore so I could break my gear down. In addition to this amazing kindness, when we got to the site where they would release me from their line, they offered to pick me up in their minivan, haul my boat and all of my gear and take me back to my car which had to be a good 7 to 10 miles away. Then, they would have to drive themselves all of the way back home! Who were these amazing people?! I was beyond touched! I gratefully accepted their offer and prepared to break down my gear upon Claudia and Carla releasing the tow line when we got to the launch site.

Thirty minutes later, the ladies returned to me in their minivan, ready to further assist! The moment they got out of the vehicle, one of them walked over to me and handed me an ice cold bottle of beer to cool me off! I couldn’t get over the kindness! Wow! Was that sweet of them! And boy was that beer refreshing after all that I had been through!

I loaded everything up, which they both assisted in helping me with the gear and the boat (so very nice of them and they were extremely strong, too!) and in no time they were taking me back to my vehicle up river! I felt so much love and compassion coming from these two ladies!

As we drove, I offered to take care of their gas expense and I asked them if they had ever lost anything that perhaps I could help find with my metal detector as a way of showing my gratitude for all that they had done for me! I don’t remember if it was Claudia or Carla that had responded to my inquiry, but one of them said that there was actually something that was lost a year ago but that they had no confidence that it could ever be recovered. I asked what it was and the two of them shared that Carla’s custom made sterling silver wedding band from Hawaii was lost a year earlier in Rehoboth Bay while working in the water. Carla rents kayaks and paddle boards on the bay, and I believe she instructs, as well. While securing the kayaks and boards one day, her ring slipped off her finger and ended up at the bottom of the bay. Though she attempted to reach below the two and a half to three feet of water to retrieve the ring, it was impossible for her to find it in midst of the murky and muddy conditions. At some point she resolved that the ring was not obtainable to retrieve and that it was gone forever. That was a year ago.

Upon hearing the story, I assured Carla that as soon as I loaded up everything in my car, I would start heading over to Dewey Beach, Delaware on the bay side, about 20 minutes or so away, to start my search for the missing ring that had been underwater for over a year. They weren’t holding their breath that I would find the ring and I too wasn’t sure if I would be able to pull it from the bay. However, I was excited to take the challenge and see what we could find! Claudia and Carla continued to share with me that they were a married couple and that Claudia had the matching ring since they acquired the custom rings in Hawaii for their soon after wedding ceremony. I never ended up testing the other ring to use for my upcoming search.

Once we got everything out of the minivan and placed on the concrete next to my car and got the boat re-situated, we took a quick video and we said our goodbyes. I had many words of thanks to both of these ladies for the amazing rescue and all of the ways that they helped me after dropping me off with the boat at the launch site and taking me along with all of my things back to my car.

Because I had to abort my original mission out on the bay, I was now taken in another direction south of that location to search for another ring just off the shore of the same Rehoboth Bay.

Carla gave me the address where she worked and soon thereafter, I had reached the search location. Then, I unloaded all of my gear, walked out onto the bay shoreline where I took note of my surroundings and looked for all of the landmarks that Carla had told me about in order to put me in position to search for her lost ring.

Carla told me that the band slipped off about 10 feet from the pier, which was to the left of where the kayaks and paddleboards were locked up. She shared with me earlier that she lost the ring somewhere between one of the boards or kayaks while she was locking them up. Exactly where, of course would be the mystery to be solved.

Remember, this happened a year earlier. Tides had rolled in and out over and over again. Storms blew through the bay area over the course of the past 12 months. Ice and other severe conditions affected the bottom of the water over time.There were so many factors that could have affected the original location of the ring.

When I started metal detecting in the water, it was low tide and night was falling fast. Within a short while, I had my headlamp blazing bright, my scoop was in hand, and I was ready to attempt a recovery of Carla’s lost wedding band. As I walked in the water, the surface started with a pleasant sandy bay bottom floor. But, as I moved into the deeper areas I quickly found out why it was nearly impossible for Carla to retrieve her ring when she attempted to do so on the day of its disappearance. Everything turned to mud out by the kayaks and boards! It was awful! Every time I was bringing the scoop up with a potential target inside of it, I was faced with a massive clump of mud that smelled so viciously evil! It was horrible! I dread environments like this, as do most detectorists!

For those who are not metal detectorists who are reading this article, one of your biggest enemies being a metal detectorist is searching for a lost item in solid mud under the water! Your dive boots constantly get stuck in the mess and you barely can move without one of the boots slipping off your foot! You can’t use the existing water to help sift through the mud in the scoop because the mud is too thick and it doesn’t fall through the holes of the scoop. Every time you have a potential target to search for, you have to take the scoop with all of its mud over to the shallow area and dump it on the dry sand unless you have a floating sifter. Then, you have to metal detect the mud with your pinpointer to see what you brought up from the water. If you didn’t find what you were looking for, you have to repeat the same process over and over again!

Every time I brought the mud up, the stench was almost unbearable!  It was just disgusting! I kept searching and searching, and I pulled up all kinds of hardware of sunken boats, along with coins and miscellaneous pieces of trash that had signals in the sterling silver range. There was a lot of garbage scattered about and it did not make my job any easier.

Carla Happily Holding the Ring that She Lost in Rehoboth Bay a Year Earlier!

I metal detected for several hours but unfortunately I could not find Carla’s ring. All kinds of questions went through my mind. Could someone have dug it up the already? It was possible, but very unlikely because of the terrible conditions out there. Few metal detectorists would have had the patience to try to find anything in that horribly forsaken mud mess! Also, I found enough coins that had been down there for some time which made me believe that no one had disturbed the « scene of the crime » since last summer.

It was probably around 11 p.m. or so by the time I had to wrap things up for the night. I was disappointed that I didn’t have better results to share with Carla and Claudia upon getting back to my vehicle empty-handed. I needed to start heading back home which was three hours away. I would resolve to return next week to try again and see if I could pull the ring from out of the water.

I couldn’t wait to get back in the bay and try again to find the sterling silver band. The challenge of pulling up something that had gone missing for over a year was extremely exciting to me! I get huge adrenaline rushes for such hunts!

When I arrived back at the search site, the sky was mostly blue with some overcast skies heading my direction. A storm had emerged in the southwest area but it didn’t affect my efforts. Once I got all of my equipment back on the bay’s shore, I introduced myself to the employees who work for the same rental company as Carla. They were very nice people. One of them called up Carla to verify that I did in fact have permission to search for the missing ring.

Once I was cleared, I set up my gear and started my second search attempt. Detecting in daylight was definitely an advantage because I was able to see my surroundings a little bit easier, and the muddy conditions did not appear to be as eerie as in the dark. I detected every signal that was in the sterling silver range. I brought up all kinds of stuff and yet, there was no band to be discovered. I detected between the kayaks and paddle boards, carefully moving them to the side or placing one partially on top of the other. I moved farther away than the approximate 10 feet originally remembered. When I still couldn’t find it, I called up Carla to re-gauge my positioning and I continued on, detecting, scooping, emptying the scoop on shore, pinpointing the object, and then returning to the search site where I repeated the process again. Still, I came up with nothing.

Hours upon hours had passed by this point. I was getting extremely frustrated with the mud. I didn’t think that I could continue digging much longer because my attempts were failing over and over again. Each time that I found a potential target to pull up, it would take me sometimes up to10 minutes or more just to get the object in the scoop. Then, it would take more time to find out what it was that I pulled up because of how dense the mud was. Though the boots I wear are ankle high and can be zipped up, they were no match for the black glue-like substance that made up the bottom of the bay! And again, the smell was horrific! Just terrible! I had to hold my breath most of the time!

Finally, I got to the point where I decided it was time to wrap things up. I had tried so very hard to find this ring which I didn’t even know if it was still out there. I believed I searched every possible location. I even recreated the scene by going through the motions just as Carla would have done when she was tying up all of the rentals a year earlier. I knew that I was in the basic location because the rope that tethered all of the kayaks and paddleboards got tied to the same latch on the pier. It had never been repositioned. Therefore, the area that I was covering was definitely the right location. But the question was whether or not the ring may have moved because of the currents and or the tides. Or perhaps it got buried even farther down into that forsaken mud mixture where my detector might not have been able to pick up the signal. I didn’t know what the reason was that I couldn’t spot the ring, and that frustrated me greatly.

I decided to make my next signal to be my very last target to bring up. If you don’t believe this account, the search video will prove my testimony! I decided to aim my last attempt between two paddle boards that I had searched somewhere in that vicinity before. But, this time I would move one of the rentals over just slightly more to one side to give me a little bit more clearance to swing the detector at the bottom of the bay. Just moments after I started maneuvering the coil of the detector along the surface of the mud, about three feet below the surface, and about a foot deep in the mud, I heard a high tone signal that matched the zone I was looking for. Also, the numbers were coming up really well and within the range that I needed the signal to show forth. I did not want to get too excited but I thought, ‘this could really be it’. I kept scooping, repositioning the detector to get the signal again, scooped again, pinpointed the signal with the detector and then I tried to scoop up the target once more. Then, at some point there was no longer a signal coming from the hole that I was scooping in and I was positive the target was in my scoop. Like all of the other times, I walked the mud pile over to the shore and dumped the contents onto the sand for checking. I took my hand-held pinpointer and searched more carefully. Then, I knew that whatever this piece of metal was, it was finally between my fingers. I had to clean off much of the black mud that surrounded it, and then everything came into view. What I had in my hand was a black colored, circular piece of metal that resembled a ring. I took it up closer to me, and there I could faintly see through the outer layer of the black crust surrounding the object, a colorful stone inserted in the middle! I found it! I found Carla’s ring! I remembered seeing the stones in Claudia’s. I almost couldn’t believe it! I had looked for so many hours during my first hunt a week ago into the darkness of the night. Then, I returned again today to search many more hours all to find nothing but trash right up until the very last target that I would get a signal worth digging! And it was the very one that I was looking for! I was shouting the victory cry, yelling with fists towards the air and people that were on their balconies could not have been more excited for me and more importantly, for Carla! They had seen me out there for so long, and a couple of the condominium residents even remembered seeing me search a week earlier. It was just a marvelous moment in time for me! I could not wait for me to show my findings with Carla and Claudia!

For those who are not aware of what happens to sterling silver in water over time, the metal oxidizes and the surface of the silver darkens in color. One can easily remove the outer layer that forms on the metal and return it to its original appearance. I did not do any removing of that layer just in case I might accidentally leave a scratch on the ring. I would leave that up to Carla to take care of. When I saw the colored stone in the ring, I knew that the blackened condition of the ring most likely meant that it was silver in content. I was so happy to see this outer color change because it was the best clue to indicate that I had found what I had been searching for this whole time!

What a great feeling to pack up my gear and leave the search site with the keepsake that I had come to look for, pulling it from the bay where it had resided in a foot of mud, in the water below for over a year! Absolutely fantastic! My mission was completely successful!

Now it was time to bring the ring back to its owner. I wasn’t going to call Carla up and share the news on the phone. I definitely was going to do a fake-out! As I drove in the direction of their home, which was very close to where the two of them had rescued me out in the Rehoboth Bay a week earlier, I came up with my surprise strategy. Carla and Claudia got a fun reveal waiting for them!

Watch the upcoming video to see how I surprised the ladies! Subscribe to my YouTube Channel at: THE RING RETURNER and hit the notification bell to get a reminder when the video is finally uploaded.

It brought me so much happiness to return the ring to Carla! As a result, we all became friends. I also got to meet their lovely children back at their place. We celebrated with a couple of drinks and the next day we sat out on their deck and shared life together. Not only that, but they offered to take me back out to the initial search site to help me recover the ring for that other gentleman. Can you believe such selflessness and kindness?! Because my boat engine was not repaired yet, we would take the pontoon boat out the next day and I would check the search site out for the missing ring. Unfortunately the water was too deep even at low tide and I was not able to use my equipment. Also, I was not equipped with additional scuba gear in order to attempt a dive for the ring at that point. However, I got to jump in and cool off in the water and so did Claudia after I climbed out! It was quite refreshing! Then, we headed back towards their slip and hung out outside for a while as I shared earlier. It was a blast!

So, what started out as a time of adversity for me in trying to help somebody find their lost ring, it ended up with me being helped, which in turn allowed me to help them with finding their missing ring, and then also in turn, they ended up helping me once again with a final search attempt to help that other person who lost his ring overboard!

I look forward to stopping by and saying hello to my new friends the next time I’m out in that neck of the woods again!

We will always have fond memories of this story that the three of us shared together. A story that was quite special indeed!

 

If you would like to watch the SEARCH VIDEO and RING REVEAL pertaining to this story, the YOUTUBE link will be provided shortly. To receive the notification letting you know when the video is uploaded to YOUTUBE, feel free to SUBSCRIBE to BRIAN’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL by typing: THE RING RETURNER.

 

CALL BRIAN RUDOLPH WITH THE RING FINDERS AT (301) 466-8644 AND HE WILL RETURN TO YOU WHAT HAS BEEN LOST!

 

SUBSCRIBE TODAY TO BRIAN’S SEARCH VIDEO YOUTUBE CHANNEL TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATIONS WHEN THIS LATEST SEARCH VIDEO IS UPLOADED! BRIAN’S SEARCH VIDEOS ARE FOUND ON HIS YOUTUBE CHANNEL – THE RING RETURNER.

 

CHECK OUT MORE OF BRIAN’S SEARCH VIDEOS ON BRIAN’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL: THE RING RETURNER AT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmcn09QqWhHrj-7SGqlUBJQ

 

CHECK OUT BRIAN’S WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON WHAT THIS RING FINDER IS ALL ABOUT!

READ MORE STORIES OF WHAT HE HAS DISCOVERED AND RETURNED!

VIEW THE MANY PEOPLE THAT BRIAN HAS BROUGHT LASTING SMILES TO!

VISIT HIS WEBSITE AT: WWW.THERINGRETURNER.COM