Lost while doing Spring yard clean-up. Unknown loss location, other than “somewhere in yard”. Potentially flung off when tossing sticks out into brush piles.
55 minutes to recovery, found in leaves near second brush pile search area. 24k gold band, worn for 30 years. Found with Nokta Legend 2 detector.
It was Wednesday evening and I was enjoying dinner with my BFF and detecting partner in Gulf Shores when I got a call from Justin who was vacationing at the beach from St Louis, MO. In spite of my phone displaying an unknown number, something told me to answer it. He explained that he had lost his wedding band over on Dauphin Island and sounded quite desperate to find it. Since I was visiting my friend for a week, I suggested I could probably look for it on Friday when I was planning to pass through on my way back home to Mobile. Hearing the disappointment in his voice, I decided my friend and I could go ahead and hop on the ferry first thing Thursday morning instead and try to help him out.
Justin anxiously met us upon our arrival at his rental and explained that he had thrown a football and felt the ring come off as he did so. They had been looking in the sand for it but, being platinum, it blended right in with the sand. He showed us where he had been standing and had even staked out an area where he believed the ring to be. By the time I was getting my machine set up, Cheryl had already completed her first pass of the area we were going to grid. I took about three steps toward the area to start when I heard Cheryl right behind me say, “I found it”….. pretty much right where I had been standing when I turned on my detector lol. There’s a good reason she is becoming known in the area by her well deserved nickname – “Beach Angel”. For the second time this week, I was thankful to have her with me as she seems to have an uncanny ability to go right to the exact area when we are doing a search. And Justin was very thankful to put his ring back on his finger where it belonged ! And please check out his awesome ministry channel on YouTube – Trial by Faith ……
https://youtube.com/shorts/lSIAHajTR1s?si=4LUfxCD8RLXUu2Pd
I received a text from a girl who said she had lost an important necklace in the snow in Morgantown, West Virginia and wanted to know if I could help her find it. I gave her my phone number and had her give me a call. After talking to her on the phone, I gave her the number of a ring finder that was in Pittsburgh, which was only an hour and a half away compared to the 3 Hour drive to Morgantown that I would have. I told her if he could not do it then let me know. Well, she got back with me and stated that he could not do the the search so I asked her details about what had happened and how she lost it. She stated that she and her friend got into a snowball fight and her friend was trying to shove a snowball down her shirt and of course, she did not realize at that time that the necklace had broke. The Cross pendant had fell at that point, but the necklace was still hanging around her neck. They only lived two blocks away from the establishment that they were leaving, and when she got to the house that they are renting, she fell on the steps. They apparently have some sort of surveillance because she said the next day they looked at the video and noticed that the necklace was gone before she fell.
She also told me that they went back to the parking lot to try to find it, and the owner of the parking lot had plowed all the snow into a big pile. She told me that she was heading back home to Virginia on Tuesday, but I could not make it until Wednesday to look for it. I was worried that if she lost it in the parking lot and it was not in the snow pile that when the snow melted, somebody would see it in the parking lot or on the sidewalk and pick it up, so I told her that I would go ahead and head up on Wednesday to look for it even though she would not be there. She gave me the phone number to her roommate and her name in case I found it. So I head up that way around 6:45AM and get there around 9:30 Wednesday morning and found the necklace in a big snow covered crack in the parking lot. Took me about 20 minutes to find it. I called the roommate and she came down and met me in the parking lot and I gave her the cross necklace and she said that she was going to see her on Saturday and she was going to surprise her with it. The owner does not know that I found it. The roommate also asked me if she had told me about the cross and I said no, just that it was important. She told me that her grandmother gave that necklace to her when her grandmother was very ill and she was giving her her last goodbyes before her grandmother passed away!! That is why she has been extremely upset ever since she lost it.
A friend of mine, Ray Mann, who is also a friend of Justin Wahrenburg, referred me to his neighbor whose wife had lost her wedding ring set in their backyard about a month ago. My friend Justin was actually my very first ring recovery I ever made as a member of “The Ring Finders.”
These rings were incredibly special — over 100 years old and originally purchased in Charlotte, North Carolina. Because of their age and history, they were truly irreplaceable in so many ways.
He contacted me, and I told him I could come out that same day to search for them.
After carefully scanning the entire backyard using a VDI range of 40–75 and not finding anything, I decided to adjust my settings to 35–65 and start again from the beginning. Within minutes, I got a signal reading VDI 37 and uncovered the first ring. About five feet away, I picked up another signal reading VDI 38 — the second ring!
Turns out I had simply missed them earlier because of my original settings.
Needless to say, the whole family was overjoyed. They had been praying and believing the rings would be found.
Her husband actually filmed the moment, and her reaction when the rings were returned was captured on video.
Moments like this are exactly why I love doing what I do — finding something so meaningful and getting it back where it belongs.
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Total ring recoveries since joining “The Ring Finders” 98-99 total!
Ring count for 2026: 5 (5 – recoveries)
GOLD – 5 (5 – recoveries)
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Nicole called me around 8:30 p.m., clearly upset about losing her beautiful engagement ring on the beach earlier in the day. She’d been there with her children, enjoying a beautiful fall day, when she removed her ring to apply sunblock, setting it on her lap. In the flurry of activity, she forgot about the ring, got up, and went down to the water to grab a bucket for her son. Returning to the area where her chairs were set up, she remembered the ring and began searching everywhere, but it was nowhere to be found.
After returning home, she was talking to a friend, who follows my page, and recommended that Nichole contact me, reassuring her that my success rate was phenomenal. After Nicole explained all the details, I told her there was a very good chance I could find it. Checking the tide charts, we decided it would be best to wait for the following afternoon’s low tide to begin the search.
When we met at the beach, Nichole took me to where she’d been the previous day. I started by searching around the chair setup, then moved to the area where her children had been playing, but with no luck. I expanded the search down the hill, about 20 feet wide, toward the water’s edge and then waded out to mid-calf depth, still with no results.
Nicole was beginning to lose hope, but I assured her that the ring had to be nearby. Considering that the current had been moving north, I expanded the search in that direction, moving from high to low tide marks. Just a few steps in, I picked up a signal and hoped it might be her ring. Sure enough, it was.
Nichole’s son, who had been showing his mother every target I had dug, was waiting patiently to see what this signal might be. I leaned over and quietly told him it was moms ring, and to reach into my scoop, take out the ring, and keep it hidden in his hand. When he finally opened his hand for his mom, her expression was priceless—pure joy. Moments like this are what make recovering people’s sentimental items so rewarding.
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Mike was referred to me by fellow Ring Finder, Dave Milsted. He was working on snow clean up at a home outside Philadelphia during the recent storm. While working in the back alley behind the home he felt and heard his large, silver, vintage David Yurman ring fly off his finger. He looked for a while but it fell in the deep snow and a metal detector was needed for sure. I met him that afternoon and found the ring after a 10 minute search. Was very happy to be able to return Mike’s ring to him!
Liz reached out me to 3-4 weeks ago after finding me in The Ring Finder Directory. It was after a huge snow storm dumped 18 inches of snow in the area. She told me her husband, Kevin, was out shoveling and messing around in the deep snow in their front yard when his large platinum wedding band disappeared. Kevin distinctly remembered the feeling that his ring flew off in the front yard while he was playing around in the deep snow. I came the next day after the storm moved out of the area. I spent 90 minutes searching the front yard of their home…but the snow was crazy deep and it was very difficult to effectively scan the area. After a good but futile effort to try to locate the ring we agreed I would come back after the snow melted. Well…3 weeks later I headed back. With another huge storm predicted to dump 18 inches of new snow tomorrow I figured I better get over there! I brought 2 metal detectors with me…one with a 15 inch coil that’s good for covering the grassy yard and another with a 6 inch coil which is good for looking under bushes and in tight spaces. I first started by scanning the entire grassy yard with the machine with the larger coil…no luck. I grabbed my other detector with the smaller coil and start checking under all the shrubs and bushes bordering the front yard and BOOM! I finally got the signal I was looking for…I looked down through the middle of a large bush and without even bending down I could see Kevin’s large shiny band sitting there underneath the bush. Kevin and LIz were both standing close by when I gave my fist pump victory sign! I believe Liz actually shed a few tears and the two of them were so full of joy to see the ring back on Kevin’s finger!
Dockside Wedding Ring Recovery After 3 Weeks Under Ice
While enjoying a vacation in Mexico, I noticed a Facebook post from a gentleman named Tom who was desperately searching for help recovering his wedding ring. The ring had bounced off the end of his dock while he was feeding the seagulls and disappeared into the river below.
I reached out and let him know I would gladly help once I returned home. Tom said that would be fine and planned to contact me in about a week.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans.
Shortly after the loss, we went into a deep freeze and both the river and bay froze solid for nearly three weeks. The ring sat beneath the ice the entire time.
Once conditions improved, Tom contacted me and we carefully went over all the details — water depth, bottom composition, current conditions, and any obstacles near the dock. He mentioned there were a few rocks at the end of the pier where the ring had fallen. I didn’t anticipate that being much of an issue.
But when I arrived and suited up, I quickly realized there were far more than “a few rocks.”
For quite some time, the family had been tossing softball-sized rocks off the end of the dock, unknowingly creating what looked like an artificial reef directly below where the ring had fallen. The rocks were piled high at the exact drop zone.
Thankfully, I received a strong signal almost immediately — and it was the only signal in the area. The target was located right at the edge of the rock pile.
Working carefully, I had to move several rocks by hand in frigid water to isolate the signal. After six to eight precise scoops — making sure no rocks interfered — I finally lifted the scoop and saw gold.
Tom stood there in disbelief as his wedding ring emerged from the water.
We were extremely fortunate the ring had landed on the outer edge of the rock pile. Had it fallen deeper into the center of the stones, this recovery would have been far more complicated.
A successful recovery after three weeks under ice — and a great way to start the new year.
The storm didn’t disappoint. It was Sunday, January 25, 2026 and as predicted the Philadelphia area was blanketed with 15 inches of snow…and for good measure the storm added 2 inches of frozen icy crust to the accumulation. I was in the process of digging my way out of my home in Downingtown, PA. That’s when the call came in…
The call was from Godesh (Desh). In my close to 10 years as a ring finder I don’t think I ever sensed such desperation (and have had several recoveries involving diamond engagement rings with upcoming wedding dates!).
Desh’s father was a notorious and powerful man during the 1970 and 80s back in Puerto Rico. His nickname in the area was “the Boss’ and he was a legend in his community for his entrepreneurial spirit and support of countless families. In the nineties he consolidated and sold everything he had of value to support his family’s move to Pennsylvania. The only thing of value he held onto was a large, beautiful, 24k gold ring with his initials…the gold used for the ring was sourced from the melting of family jewelry that was in his family for generations. Desh’s father died young, and Desh was raised by a single mother in Philadelphia. They struggled financially and had to sell anything of value to survive in Philadelphia. Through it all, Desh and his family held onto one thing, one thing that connected them to the past and reminded them of a great man…his ring!
On that Sunday night, as the snow was still falling Desh’s car got stuck in the snow at the corner of Battersby and Cottman…right in front of St Matthews Church. The streets had yet to be plowed. Desh got out of his car to try to clear the snow away from beneath the car. He didn’t have gloves and his hands began to freeze. He tried to rub them together…but his ring got in the way. He took the ring off…actually put it in his mouth before rubbing his hands some more. He then decided he needed to find a shovel so he can clear more snow from underneath the car. He took the ring out of his mouth and put it in his pants pocket and walked over to the church where he saw people shoveling snow. He asked to borrow a shovel and went back to his car to clear more snow. He spent another hour clearing snow and was finally able to free the car. He returned the shovel and drove 1 block down Battersby to his home. The next morning Desh woke up in a panic…his ring. Gone.
I met Desh at St Matthews Church on January 28th at 1:30 pm. Desh brought a friend along to help with the search. While waiting for him in the church parking lot a clergy man ask If I needed help with something…I told him the purpose of my presence. He wished us luck and gave us a blessing. While waiting I also had a chance to look at the area…snow everywhere…up to 3 feet in some areas. The street and sideways still covered. Bitter cold and windy. This was not going to be a fun search.
When Desh arrived we walked the area before I got my metal detector out of the car. The search area was about half a block when you consider where his car was stuck and where he walked to borrow and return the shovel. As I always do…I asked where he felt that the ring most likely fell out of his pocket. He felt confident it most likely fell out in the area of the street where the car was stuck. He said he was on his hand and knees digging in that area. We walked over there….it was dirty snow…2-3 feet deep in places where the plow came through. It was variable in depth because of cars driving through with big snow boulders here and there. I told Desh and his friend that I need to be able to sweep my metal detector so the area needed to be flattened out. The peaks and troughs are going to make it impossible for me to effectively scan the area. He and his friend began working with shovels to smooth it into a flat surface. The metal detector I was using would, at best, pick up a gold ring to a depth of 15 inches. It is a new and amazing machine featuring Bluetooth headphones to alert me to potential target signals. I was 10 minutes into scanning the area when I received a strong signal in my headphones. The signal identification number on the machine was suggestive of gold. Could it be? The signal came from a huge boulder of icy snow. Desh and his friend surrounded me in anticipation. I kicked the big ball and broke it in half. Now I was getting the signal from one half. I kicked that half and it broke into 2 pieces again. Again I was getting a signal from one piece. I kicked again and it broke into 3 apple sized snowballs. I scanned the 3 and was still getting a good signal from one of the snowballs. I picked it up and handed it to Desh. I told him something was in it. I was watching Desh intently as he gently broke the little snowball into smaller pieces. As I watched Desh choked and his eyes welled up with tears. He couldn’t speak for 30 seconds. Then he finally got the words out…you found it!!! Divine intervention? I’m not sure. I know this recovery will go down as one of the most meaningful for me for sure. Not just because it was so unlikely I was going to find it but because how much this ring meant to Desh. Over the next 10 minutes Desh welled up with tears 3 more times while sharing the history and significance of the cherished ring that I’m proud to say is back on his finger where it belongs.
Dockside Wedding Ring Recovery After 3 Weeks Under Ice