North Myrtle Beach Ring Finders Tag | The Ring Finders

Man’s Yellow Gold Wedding Band Lost in the Ocean, Recovered and Returned North Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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This little adventure started Wednesday around 3:30 pm with a text from Kelly saying, “Hello is this Jim Wren? I was just searching online and came across Ring Finders which lead me to your contact. My name is Kerry, a poor soul who lost his dang wedding ring here in North Myrtle Beach. It popped off while throwing a football around in the shallow water where the tide comes in just outside our hotel. Just curious if you might be available Jim? Feel free to respond via text or call. I’m here until Saturday this week. If not, it’s no problem at all. Thanks for your time, man.” I immediately checked the tide tables; low tide was just before 2 pm.  I then called Kelly to discuss the circumstances. He said he had lost it about an hour prior to his text and was in thigh to knee deep water.  I told him I’d be there in about 15 minutes, grabbed my detector and was on my way.

When I got to the beach, I met Kelly’s brother when he came up to me. He introduced me to Kristen, Kelly’s wife. As we were talking, Kelly came up and showed me the area where they were throwing the ball. Luckily, Kelly is right-handed, so the ring didn’t get thrown off. I was 2 hours behind the tide change, but the ring should be in water no higher than my waist. I started an east/west perpendicular grid search, going low and slow with the detector. I wasn’t picking up any targets at all. As the tide was coming in I was working in deeper and deeper water.  I was finally up to my chest when I got a great signal. The signal was what I expected for a man’s yellow gold ring. I was able to get a scoop of sand out, which was empty – no ring. As I find the target again with the detector, I wasn’t paying attention and got hit with a big swell that knocked me backward. From that point, I wasn’t able to find the target again, even though I tried. To get me back in the area on my return, I walked off the steps back to the beach and even with a drainage pipe. Total of 89 steps, give or take with me getting pushed by the current. I wasn’t able to do a good search, so I told Kelly I’d be back the next day, Thursday and called it a day.

I showed up around an hour before low tide so I could get a head start. I met Kelly and Kristen to let them know I was there and went to work. I walked off the 89 steps, plus another 15 or so steps. I’d rather search too much area than not enough. I started my east/west grid and extended my north and south boundary lines. I was getting nothing! The ring should be right there, but I wasn’t finding it. I then started a north/south grid line running parallel to the beach. For me, parallel grids are more difficult because it’s harder to keep a straight grid line. Still with no luck, I took a break to refocus. After my break, I started another east/west grid, tightening my grid lines. I finally hit the target I found the day before and dug it out of the ocean sand. Boom, it was a cap off an orange juice bottle. I had a few choice words and continued. I took another 4-5 steps and got a very iffy signal with the numbers jumping all over the place. I dug the target, shook the wet sand out in the water, and when I looked inside the scoop and there was Kelly’s yellow gold wedding band looking up at me amongst all the shells. I walked up the beach to where Kelly and Kristen had been sitting all day. I was exhausted but made it look worse than it was so Kelly and Kristen would think I was done. I had slipped Kelly’s ring on my index finger and when he was talking and looking away, I held my hand up and when he turned towards me, he saw his ring and froze. I got him! After I gave him his ring, I learned that his and Kristen’s rings were very special and sentimental to them. Both rings were custom made and each of their rings had 3 stones in them that they got from Kelly’s mother and grandmother. Priceless!

Kelly and Kristen – Thank you so much for trusting me to help find your very special ring. Enjoy the rest of your vacation, have a safe trip back home to Ohio, and I wish you two only the best in life,

Jim

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Man’s Rose Gold Wedding Band Lost in a Severe Storm on the Beach – Found and Returned North Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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Last night I received a text message about 12:20 am from Savannah saying, “Hello, my husband and I are at North Myrtle Beach, and we were out this afternoon taking family pictures with our children and got stuck in a really bad storm and as we were running off the beach my husband’s ring flew off. I was wondering if you guys helped find rings or if you knew someone that could. We know the area it fell off but think sand is over it due to how bad the wind was.” I immediately responded asking her to call me, which she did. I got a few more details and told her I could be there in about 10 minutes. She agreed, so I grabbed 2 detectors and headed out. I don’t like to leave a ring on the beach for too long. There’s so many locals and tourist that metal detect all hours of the day/night depending on the tides. So, there’s always a chance a ring will be found and kept by the finder.

I arrived at the location and Savannah and her husband, Dwight was waiting for me in the parking lot. They walked me out to the area, and I could see that they had put in a good effort to try and find the ring with their hands. It wasn’t a real big area, but after quite a while of gridding and then cross gridding, I wasn’t finding Dwight’s ring. They decided to call it a night sometime after 2 am, after I assured them I’d text them when I found it. I grabbed my second detector, with a 15” coil out of the car and started all over again. I expanded the search area 10 ft past the end point and worked an east/west grid. I went from the bottom of the dunes to the top of the slope, probably 35-40 yards end to end. By now, I was way outside the assumed area Dwight said he felt his ring slide off his finger. After at least another 30 minutes, I got a very loud and solid signal. It showed me a vdi (visual display indicator) of 20-21. Of all the rings I’ve found, a man’s Rose Gold band was not one of them, so I didn’t know what number to expect. I dug a shallow scoop of sand and saw a quick glimmer of gold as I lifted up the scoop. Shook the scoop and there was Dwight’s ring sitting in the bottom of the scoop. BINGO! It was now 3 am, but I text Savannah anyway with a picture of the ring. Almost instantly she responded, “Coming down now, thank you SO MUCH. We met up and I handed Dwight back his lost treasure. Both were extremely happy. We met up again this afternoon so I could get some pictures. This is their last day of vacation so at least it’ll be a good one! Looking back on this find and discussing it with Savannah and Dwight, there’s no logical explanation of how the ring ended up so far away from where it should have been. The only thing we could come up with is that the wind was blowing so hard, it literally blew his ring 30-40 yards down the beach. It was a very strong wind though!

Savannah/Dwight – Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to help find your treasure. Best of luck to you both and have a safe trip back home.

Jim

 

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1920s Platinum Diamond and Ruby Ring Lost in the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), Found and Returned Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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Shortly before 3 pm on Saturday, May 18th, I received a call from Ashlee asking if I could help find her mother, Alison’s ring that had been given to her by her grandmother years ago. Ashlee said that the ring had been dropped from their elevated dock into the ICW. I knew the tide was coming in but wasn’t sure of when high tide would be. Ashlee said she had been under the dock doing a reach and feel search and the water was about waist deep. I told her I was just finishing up another search and I was on my way.

It took me about 20 minutes to arrive and I met Alison, her granddaughter, and Ashlee in the driveway. As we walked around back, Alison described her ring and showed me the location where the ring fell through. I asked if it could have gotten stuck in the planks and was told the granddaughter heard a “plunk.” I got a few more details and walked down some stairs into the water. This was a perfect search scenario, water was warm, soft sand bottom, no waves and not above my knees. Walked out to the location, swung the detector twice and got a solid 12 (perfect number on the Nox 800 for Platinum). Took a scoop of sand and as I pulled it out of the water, I saw Allison’s beautiful ring sticking out of the sand. As I’m walking up the stairs, I hollered at Allison saying, “where you at?” She said something like, “you find it?” I held it up for her to see. She was so grateful she had her ring back. What a thrill for me to be holding a beautiful ring with 100 years of history. I found out that Alison was going to pass the ring down to her granddaughter but not for many many years. Ashlee told me that her great grandmother had lived in England with her husband (Ken and Lillian Scott) and that’s where the ring came from.

Ashlee – thank you for trusting me to help find your mother’s ring.

Alison – so glad I got to meet you and return your lost treasure.

Jim

 

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Condo Key Lost on the Beach Access Path, Found and Returned North Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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Evan called me asking if I could help find a condo key that was lost along the beach access path from the condo to the beach. I got the address and was on my way. I arrived about 20 minutes later and met Evan, his wife Taryn and their son Jagger. The story goes that Jagger was walking along the path with the ‘only’ Condo key on top of a towel, a dog barked, Jagger twisted around, and the key went flying. I had my Nox 800 and knew the VDI (visual display indicator) would ring up around a 19-21. I searched down the path, then both sides with heavy undergrowth with no luck. After roughly 45 minutes I called it. I was exhausted from another ocean search and had no energy.

This morning, I text Evan saying I was coming back to give the key another shot. I also said that he didn’t have to be out there, that I’d let him know either way. When I got there, I concentrated my search on the right side of the path and further out in the undergrowth. After Taryn telling me what happened and running the scenario through my head all night, it only made sense the key would be on the right side. Things are never as they seem! After a bit of searching on the right, I moved to the left side. After about 5 minutes, I hit the 19 VDI I was looking for. Used my pin pointer and nailed the key buried along the edge of the path in the sand. I had noticed that Taryn was sitting on the balcony and pointed up at her. She yelled down, “Did you find it?” I held the key up and she disappeared into the house on her way down. A great day, Jagger was out of the doghouse, Evan or Taryn didn’t have to stay in the condo while the rest of the family went to the beach or out for the day.

Evan and Taryn – Thank you for trusting me to help find your key. Have a great rest of your vacation and a safe journey back home.

Jim

 

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4th Generation Wedding Ring Lost in the Surf, Found and Returned North Myrtle Beach SC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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On Wednesday, Aug. 3rd I woke up to a text message saying, “Good morning Mr. Wren, A gentleman on the beach (native of Scranton) recommended you. My sister lost her wedding ring in the surf yesterday afternoon. It’s in N. Myrtle Beach, in front of 817 S. Ocean Blvd. If you have time, I would appreciate your assistance. Regards David.” I called the number associated with the text so we could discuss the details. David said that she lost it at approximately 1 p.m. the previous day, which was about 2 hours after high tide. After a few more questions and answers, I told him I’d be there at 3 p.m. After thinking about the summer crowds, I texted him that I’d be there at 2:30 so I could be ahead of the crowds moving down the beach as the tide was going out. About an hour later I got an email from Daniel saying in part, “Hi we need your help to find a wedding ring and my mom lost her ring. She fell out from the sand under water and ring thick gold ring.” I asked him to call me so I could get more details. When the phone rang it was an interpreter for the hearing impaired. Through the interpreter I asked for a hotel name and street address. The interpreter said that Daniel would look up the name and address and email it to me. Meanwhile, I called Matt Fry, TRF Myrtle Beach and let him know I was working on a possible ring call for him and gave him what details I had. When the email came in from Daniel the address was the same as the address David had given me. I called David real quick and asked him if he knew Daniel, thinking 2 lost rings at the same resort was highly improbable. David said Daniel was his sister’s son. This made sense now; I emailed Daniel back and told him his Uncle David had already contacted me and that I was going to be there at 2:30. I thought that was incredible that this young man was trying so hard to take care of his mother and make sure she got her ring back.

I got there on time and met David in the parking garage. We walked out on the beach, and luckily there weren’t too many tourists on the beach when I got there. We made our way to where Michelle, David’s sister that lost her ring, Daniel, and David’s younger brother Andy were sitting. I got the full story from Michelle on what happened and the general area of where she lost it. I grabbed my Equinox 800 and sand scoop and headed in the water. I did a grid search from the top of the slope out to where the water was breaking over the sand bar. I worked my grid to the north back and forth with only an occasional pull tab or bottle cap. When I finished searched of the probable area, I took a break and asked a few more questions. I asked Daniel what he remembered because he pulled his mother up out of the water when she got hit by a wave and knocked over. Daniel moved me further north about 20 yards, so I started from there working back south. Still no luck!!! I took another break while I contemplated my next move. By now I’d been in the water for almost 2 hours, no biggie, but I was running out of real estate to search. I went back to where Daniel had moved me and did a few more grid lines to the north. Still nothing, so I worked parallel to the beach moving out to the breakers and south past where David had set the southernmost border. As I made my turn to head back towards the beach, I got a big hit on a target. Knowing I was looking for a heavy yellow gold wedding ring, I was expecting a VDI (visual display indicator) around 15-17.  The VDI on this target was jumping all over the place but did get an occasional 16/17 as I ran the coil over the target. I did the bouncing trick with the coil to rule out a bottle cap. Convinced it wasn’t a bottle cap, I dug a couple of scoops of sand to get the target out. Once I had the target in the scoop, I swished the scoop around in the water to remove the sand. BOOM!!!! After 2 hours of searching, I had Michelle’s wedding ring in the scoop.

Now for the surprise, I made my way back up to where everyone had been sitting since I started. I asked Michelle to come over to where I was standing so I could show her the area I’ve searched, not that she didn’t already know. As she’s walking over to me, I slipped her ring on my right index finger. When she got to me, I held up my arm to point to the areas I searched, she immediately saw her ring and the tears started flowing as she buried her head on my shoulder. I think we all shed a few tears just seeing her overwhelming joy. There are no words to express how important it is to give something back to somebody that they thought was lost forever, especially when it’s something that has been passed down for 4 generations. Michelle’s husband’s great grandfather gave this very ring to his new bride many many years ago.

David and Daniel – Thank you for caring so much about your sister and mother that you took the extra steps to help get her ring back to her.

Michelle – I’m so happy I could return your treasure to you.

Jim

   

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