metal detector rental Ithica NY Tag | The Ring Finders

Lost Ring in Ithaca NY …………Found

  • from New Albany (Pennsylvania, United States)

Matt contacted me about his lost wedding band near Ithaca NY.  He had lost it during a kayak mishap while duck hunting at a secluded beaver pond.

He thought that the ring had came off his finger when the kayak rolled and his hand went down into the mud of the pond bottom. Matt and his friends planned a trip back to the site to see if they could see the ring. That evening Matt contacted me again and told me as soon as he stepped into the water it became too murky to see anything.  Two days later My wife Traci and I set off on our long drive to meet Matt. When we arrived Matt told us it was about a 20 minute hike back to the pond. By this time the temperature was in the forties and it was raining.  I assembled my gear and we set off toward the pond. When we arrived at the pond, Matt showed me where he thought he had launched the kayak and pointed out a 15′ by 30′ area the ring should be in. I tuned on my White’s MX Sport metal detector and stepped into the water. Immediately my feet sunk almost a foot into the mud, sticks and leaves of the pond bottom. I was thinking to myself I hope Matt did not step on his ring while he was here searching.  I waded further out and swung my coil over the area where the kayak was launched. I had absolutely no signals so after 15 minutes I expanded my search. I soon had a signal, but it was a nickel signal and it was about 10 inches deep in the pond bottom. The pond water was so murky that once my search coil entered the water it disappeared from sight.  I asked Matt what his ring was made of because I was not getting a gold signal. He told me it was only gold plated for durability. Immediately I felt I had located the resting place of the ring. Now to get the target to the surface. The water I was standing was almost waist deep so I could not search with my hands without submerging  my upper body and face into the frigid water.  I started using my sand scoop to scoop up mud, sticks and leaves.  Inch by inch I was working the target closer to the surface. When the target was at about two inches I located it with my pin pointer and lowered my scoop until I felt my scoop touch the pin pointer. I scooped up as much debris as I could get in the scoop. As I sorted through the leaves and sticks I spotted the familiar shine of white gold. As I pulled the ring out of the scoop and held it up for Matt to see.  Immediately he exclaimed  » No Way « !  I waded out of the pond and handed Matt his wedding band. He immediately texted a photo of the ring to his wife, smiling the whole time. Even though I was soaked to the bone and shivering I felt warm having been successful in returning smiles to this young couple!

 

 

 

 

 

Tom Watkins

New Albany PA

570-916-2617