Steve Thomas
Dunedin Ring Finder
Lost a ring or other metal valuable in a grassy or sandy area? Jewelry slip off of you while working outside, playing with the dog or swimming? Please call me ASAP at (843) 995-4719. I offer a free metal detecting service, reward optional but appreciated upon recovery!
Jeff was enjoying a Sunday afternoon with his family at Honeymoon Island State Park as he and his sons were tossing a football around in waist deep water. Jeff reached back on one toss over his head and his 14k white gold wedding ring flew off of his finger into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Even though there is normally good visibility, Jeff was unable to locate his ring in the water.
Jeff called me the following evening as his wife’s sister had recommended. He gave me the details and texted some maps of the loss area but was not going to be able to meet me on site for a few days. I packed up my gear for a search the next afternoon at roughly the same tide time.
Ocean water searches for rings are truly like “looking for a needle in a haystack” even when someone is there to point you in the right direction and you are already very familiar with the entire beach. Even though I had some maps from Jeff and he had highlighted some distances and directions on them, I was not 100% certain I was in the right location. Speaking to a nearby chair and umbrella vendor about the maps made me a little more confident.
The waters were relatively calm and clear so I began my search in waist deep water gridding the best that I could using parallel and perpendicular landmarks. After searching for about two hours I had recovered a tungsten ring and a crusty penny along with several bottle caps and pull tabs but not Jeff’s ring. I had contacted Jeff as I was beginning my search to get confirmation of the correct search area but he was tied up at work. As I was approaching three hours into the search and having detected the same relatively small area both parallel and perpendicular to the shoreline I was beginning to question my location. I told my wife who had accompanied me that I was going to wrap up today’s search in just a few minutes when I hit a promising target. I didn’t have to scoop deep in the sand because there is a rocky bottom in this area of Honeymoon Island and out popped Jeff’s ring! This is not the first time I have recovered a ring as I was just about to leave the beach. I texted Jeff some photos and obviously he was elated! I later met Jeff at a nearby park and returned the ring.
Jeff, thank you for trusting me to search for and return your ring and thank you for the generous reward. God bless!
