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Wedding Ring Lost at Russell Beach – Found

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)

Paul phoned me at work yesterday, « Is this Pete with the metal detector? »It transpired he had been enjoying a swim at Russell in the Bay of Islands, and had put his hands down into the beach gravels, and lost his wedding ring.He had lost it around high tide, so I arranged to meet him on site at low water later that afternoon.
Russell beach is a very steep, highly mobile pea-gravel, your feet sink up to the ankle as you walk and it ‘eats’ rings.  I have done a few lost ring recoveries here and they are always deep.
Paul had done the right thing though and acted promptly to contact me, as well as being able to meet me on site which always hugely increases the chances of a successful recovery.
I arrived shortly before he did, and decided to make a start. I selected an area as the most logical place for him to swim and started on the low tide mark – No sense in getting in the water if it wasn’t necessary.
Paul turned up in a few minutes and confirmed I was in the right area.  He then marked out the boundaries for me.I started my first grid pattern and within a minute I had a handful of gravel containing his ring!
It’s nice to have an easy one once in a while 🙂

 

 

One Day Old Wedding Ring Lost in Kerikeri, Found in Grass.

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
One of the the things that drew me into ringfinding was the chance to allow people to continue the sentimental journey with the jewellery they are emotionally connected to.
Sometimes that story is in jeopardy before it’s even begun…
Yesterday Adam got married.
 
He had been playing cricket on a large grassy area below the house, when he realised his brand new gold wedding band was missing.
 
The question was, where?
 
Kikuyu lawn seems to absorb rings with its open, low thatch and their attempts to locate the ring visually had drawn a blank.
 
His wife found me online and messaged me to see if I would be able to help as they were leaving the area soon. It was nearly sunset so I headed straight out.
 
There were several areas and times when the ring might have slipped from his finger without him realising. First check was the shrubs and bushes where he had been looking for a ball. Nothing.
 
I then focussed on the cricket area. The party lights were still on which illuminated the grass enough to track my progress. The pinpointer was definitely getting a workout checking the many historical trash targets buried in the surface soil.
 
After an hour, I picked up a strong signal outside the original area. In the glow of the party lights, out came a bright yellow and brand new gold ring!
 
Adam was walking back to the party having been down to collect a bag, as he passed I asked if he would like this ring…
 
He let out a yell, which was echoed by the guests up at the house.
 
His wedding ring had definitely started its story in dramatic style. Out of all the memories that will attach to it over time, hopefully this will be the only escape story.

 

Wedding Ring Lost on Urupukapuka Island – Found!

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)

Ring Finder – Ring Recovery Specialist…Lost ring? Lost necklace? Lost keys?… Metal Detector Service – Call ASAP 021 401626

I got a call yesterday evening from Laura, who was camping on Urupukapuka Island.
Her husband had just lost his wedding ring in the grass. He took it off and put it in his lap, and forgot it was there until it was too late.
Missing.
After a bit of to and fro organising logisitics that evening, they booked a fast ferry ticket for me. The following morning I was heading to the outer edge of the Bay of Islands with my gear.

Urupukapuka is both the largest and outermost of the islands in the Bay of Islands, and due to the sterling work done by Project Island Song, it is pest-free. This allows several endangered species to safely call the island home.
Waiting for the ferry, I had a short chat to one of the team who was taking a couple of trained dogs out to Urupukapuka as part of the pest-eradication program. These particular dogs are trained to find rats, which can apparently swim up to 1500m, thus able to island-hop to even the outer islands. The patrols around the islands have to be relentless to maintain this pest-free status.

The 45 minute trip was very pleasant over a flat sea and I soon joined the queue of people making their way down the jetty onto the island.
Some immediately established their ‘spot’ in the shade for a day at the beach, others dispersed in order to meander along the various tracks that lead around the island.
One, with detector slung over his shoulder, made a bee-line up the steep hill out of Otehei Bay bound for the campsite. I was booked on the midday return ferry so was on the clock…

It should be noted here, that metal detecting is illegal on Department of Conservation land and historical reserves. I hold a permit from DoC, with very strict conditions, for the purposes of ring recoveries only. This has to carried with me at all times when detecting on DoC estate.

I duly arrived at the campsite and went through the backstory, looking for clues, verifying actions, movements and timelines. These would influence how I conducted the search, and maximise the chances of getting this ring back on the finger where it belonged.
This lovely couple are from Argentina, and to the best of my ability I was going to ensure their ring went home with them!

A principal search area was marked out with towels, hats etc and I got to work, two hours before I had to hike back to the ferry.
I cleared the initial marked area, and started to extend. Assume Nothing, Believe No-one, Check Everything.
The tent had been pitched after the loss, « You know what I’m going to ask, don’t you? » I grinned to them.

A new tent location was verified ring-free, and they started to empty the tent and pull the pegs.
I jokingly mentioned that I would find the ring elsewhere as soon as they had gone to the trouble of moving their camp.
They had handfuls of tent pegs and a partially relocated tent when I heard a soft tone in some long grass under a tree.
I parted the grass and underneath the thatch was a bright gold ring.

Job done, I had time enough to head back to Otehei Bay and sit in the shade with a freshly brewed coffee from the cafe as I waited for the ride home.

Halfway back to Paihia on the ferry, the phone rang, « Are you the ringfinder? »

That story has yet to unfold…

 

 

   

 

View on way to Campsite

 

Cable Bay campsite

 

Lost Wedding Ring Found at Paihia

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)

Ring Finder – Ring Recovery Specialist…Lost ring? Lost necklace? Lost keys?… Metal Detector Service – Call ASAP 021 401626

Having the presence of mind to accurately fix your location, and rapidly contact a dedicated ring finder can make the world of difference when you have lost a ring or other piece of sentimental jewellery.

Josh was enjoying his holiday, lounging in the warm summer shallows at a Paihia beach, when he decided to remove his white gold and diamond wedding ring from his finger to thread it onto his necklace for security.
Fate intervened and the ring fell into the cloudy water.

He spent some time looking for it with a mask, although the zero visibility made it impossible to see.
That was when his wife contacted me.

Josh had made a mental note of a couple of items on shore that lined up, as well as an accurate depth and distance from the beach. It was high tide, but rather than wait for the next low tide the following day, the tight start point encouraged me to make the attempt before the evening light faded.

I waded out, counting my paces and gauging the depth as described by Josh, until I was in the general area. Josh directed me a little further to one side where he felt the ring would be and I started to grid.

Just after I turned to start the second run, I got a clean tone in the headphones – the audio too ‘bright and smooth’ to be litter.

The scoop went in, I checked the hole was clear and shook the sediments out of the scoop. The sand flowed away revealing the lost ring.

One of my fastest recoveries yet – thanks must go to Josh for providing an excellent start point and contacting a Ring Finder ASAP.

 

Gold Wedding Band Lost, Recovered and Returned in Philadelphia, PA!

  • from Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, United States)

Received a late night text from Pedro seeking help in finding his recently lost rose gold wedding band. In speaking with Pedro the following morning he shared that he suffered a sleepless night thinking of his lost band which had disappeared off his finger the day before. We had a big snowstorm in Philadelphia Friday night and the next day Pedro and his wife, Bruna, went for a little adventure in the snowy park nearby. He shared with me that his ring was only 10 months old….a little  loose and he had just put moisturizer on his hands prior to leaving for the park. While at the park he removed his gloves at different times to take pictures with his phone. He did not realize his ring was missing off his hand till later that evening at home.

I agreed to meet them with my metal detector at the park Sunday morning. Here is the good news…Pedro had a pretty good idea as to the areas where they stopped and he took off his gloves to take pictures…he also told me his wife wears the exact ring as him(maybe a little smaller) enabling me to scan it and set up my detector to zero in on it. Here is the bad news….huge park…big crowds…and they covered quite a bit of ground on their walk. When I got to the park I was a little intimidated by the size of the search area…but my experience always tells me to start at the end of the walk and/or where they feel they most likely lost and work toward the beginning. I firstly had Bruna put her identical ring on the ground and demonstrated to them that if they put me over the lost one I will definitely pick it up with my machine…I was also able to eliminate signals from all other metals. We then proceeded to walk a 1/4 mile through the park to the very end of their adventure where they stopped to make a snowman and Pedro took pictures. It was the most amazing thing….while I had a little bit of a feeling that I was  searching for a needle in a haystack I also felt good about the strategy to start searching where I did. I started to detect around the area where they built the snowman and was on my 4th pass when I got a good signal on my machine….I looked down and there was a gold rim just breaking the surface of snow! I couldn’t believe it…don’t think I even searched 10 minutes! I didn’t even bend down… I looked at Bruna and Pedro and smiled. They both said no way! I called Pedro over and pointed at the snow…I think us Ring Finders live for this moment! To say they were surprised and excited would be an understatement. They were such a nice couple…it brought me such great joy to be able to come trough for them. They will be heading back to Brazil next year…its cool that I was able to provide such a great and interesting memory from there time here!

 

Keys Recovered in the Snow

  • from Erie (Pennsylvania, United States)

Recovered Keys

In the early morning hours, I received a text message from Sawn who had been desperately searching for her keys in the snow. She searched for them but with no luck, and knowing the expense to replace these keys, she turned to the internet and found me on the Ringfinders web site.

 

I met Sawn in the parking lot of her apartment complex. After a brief conversation and walkthrough of her path, I got started.

After detecting for just minutes, I popped her keys out of 8 inches snow. Sawn was amazed and delighted. Within minutes of my arrival, Sawn was in her car and about her day.

 

Thank you Sawn, for entrusting me to locate your lost keys!

Lost White 18K Gold Mens Wedding Band Found At Holts Landing State Park In Millville, Delaware

  • from Lewes (Delaware, United States)
Contact:

On 09/12/2021, I was contacted by Steven and he requested my help in locating his white 18K gold wedding band which he had lost in the water at Holts Landing State Park in Millville, Delaware. Steven said that he was in the water at low tide on his hands and knees digging up clams when he felt his wedding band slip off of his finger in the muddy bottom. I then agreed to meet Steven at the State Park to see if I could help him, but before I could attempt to help him I had to call the State Park Office to get permission to do the search. Upon contacting the state park office I was given permission to do the search. When I arrived at the state park I had Steven walk out into the water to give me an idea of how deep the water was in the area that he had lost his ring. At this point the tide had come in and the water was now up to Stevens chest. I told Steven that I would have the best chance of finding his ring at low tide and we agreed to meet at the state park on 09/13/2001 in the morning when it was low tide. I then re-contacted the state park office at which time they agreed to extend my permission to do the search on the following morning. On 09/13/2021 Steven and I met at the state park in order to look for his ring. Steven again walked out into the water in the area of where he had lost his ring and this time the tide was low and the water was just up to his knees. I had Steven remain out in the water so that I could use him as a reference point during the search. I began a grid search of the area working my way in towards the shore and after about ten minutes of searching I located the ring in about two feet of water. I then had Steven come over to the location of the ring at which time he reached down into the mud and did the honors of pulling his ring from the muddy bottom.


Lost Mens Platinum Wedding Band On The Beach In Lewes, Delaware Found

  • from Lewes (Delaware, United States)
Contact:

On 06/16/2021, I was contacted by Joe in regards to his Platinum Wedding Band that he had lost on the beach at Cape Shores Development in Lewes, Delaware. Joe request my help in finding his lost ring. Upon contacting Joe at the beach he showed me two areas that he had been sitting when the ring was lost. I began a grid search of the first area and I was unable to locate the ring. Joe had chairs and an umbrella on the sand in the second area that I was to search so I requested that he move the items so that I could begin my search. While the chairs and umbrella were being moved I walked over to a corner of the area where I had decided that I would begin my search. Joe was still moving the items out of my way so I laid the coil of my detector on the sand at which time I heard a tone in my headset. I scooped up the sand from where I received the tone and low and behold there was Joes lost ring. I called out to Joe and told him that he did not need to remove anymore of his beach items because his ring had been found. The ring was then returned to its rightful owner.

Lost Mens Platinum Wedding Band On Rehoboth Beach In 2020 Found

  • from Lewes (Delaware, United States)
Contact:

On 08/03/2020, I was contacted by Brian in regards to his Platinum Wedding Band that he lost on the beach in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Brian requested my help in trying to find his lost ring. I arrived at Rehoboth Beach, made contact with Brian and he felt that he had lost his wedding band in the sand in an area where he and his wife had been sitting in their beach chairs. I did a grid search of the area where they had been sitting and was unable to locate the lost ring. I then had Brian show me the direction that he and his wife had walked to the beach access/exit path in order to exit the beach. I then began a grid search of that area and was able to recover his lost wedding band in the sand in front of the beach access/exit.

WEDDING BAND LOST IN BATON ROUGE, LA-FOUND

  • from Lafayette (Louisiana, United States)
Contact:

Carrie and Sid got a call from Morgan on Labor Day. Her husband of less than one year had lost his wedding band while working in their yard. He had many tasks so the ring could be in any of the four flower beds, garden, yard around the driveway, two potted plants or the trash can where plants and shrimp shells had been tossed. We each headed in different directions and began the search. The metal flower bed borders were the biggest problem. Lots of hunting was by pin pointer. After an hour, Carrie got a good signal on the grass a foot from a flower bed. Found! Needless to say, Morgan was excited and their marriage is now safe.

Thank you for the very generous reward.