Ocean Isle Beach NC Metal Detecting Tag | The Ring Finders

Birthday Wish Comes True, Kind of, on Ocean Isle Beach, N.C.

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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Sam called me on Sunday, July 5th saying he had lost his gold wedding band in the ocean. My first questions were “what time” and “how deep?” His replies were around 4 p.m. and knee deep. Whew, these were good answers because low tide was about 2 hours before he lost it, so I felt like I had a fighting chance. We set it up that I’d meet him on Monday at 1 p.m. and I’d work the outgoing tide.

I called him as I was walking out on the beach and saw him waving. As we met and walked towards where he and his wife, Elizabeth had set up their umbrella for the day, I started asking more questions. Sam assured me that they were in the same spot they were yesterday and that he was straight out from there in knee deep water. He told me that when he lost his ring, he wanted to take one more swim before they left. He continued saying that as he was riding a wave in, another wave hit him and he felt his ring come off. I started a grid search and did 3 or 4 grid lines parallel to the beach to get a starting point. I then headed out in the rough surf in a perpendicular grid. I’m on my 6th grid line when I notice Sam out in deeper water, diving in an attempt to feel for his ring. When I got to him, I asked if he thought he was out that deep, he responded that he really thought he was. From his previous answers, my thoughts were he wasn’t, but I did a complete grid in the area to put his mind at ease. After finishing the area I continued on with my original grid search. After a few more lines, I noticed Elizabeth was standing at the water’s edge. I stopped and asked her what she remembered. She said she remembered Sam was more at an angle when she saw him frantically looking for something in the water, and she knew he had lost his ring. I knew then I needed to expand my search area to the west, just not sure how far. I knew I was in the hour and a half window before low tide, keeping in mind he was knee deep. So, I just kept plugging along and starting to second guess myself. Like, did I miss it, was I not out far enough, and all the other things that go through your mind when you’re looking for someone’s treasure. By now, I was at least 30-40 yards west of Sam’s suspected loss area. Then BAM!!!! I got the 16/17 on the Equinox 800 VDI I was looking for. One scoop and I had the target, I washed it out in the surf and there was Sam’s gold wedding ring, all by itself, sitting in the bottom of the scoop. I made it look like I was still detecting as I walked up to where they were sitting. I told them I needed a break, as I was grabbing my cell phone from my rolled up towel on the beach. I had his ring half way on my finger as I’m recording, waiting for his response. Elizabeth saw it first, but was speechless with her mouth open. It took Sam a couple of second as the video shows, and then all smiles.

Happy Birthday Sam, I’m sure it’s not the gift you wanted for your birthday, but it turned into a pretty good present!

Sam & Elizabeth – Thank you for trusting me to find your 2 year old treasure.

Jim

     

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White Gold Wedding and Engagement Rings Lost on Ocean Isle Beach NC – Found and Returned

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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I had gotten a referral off of a Face Book page about a young lady who had lost both her wedding and engagement rings on Ocean Isle Beach, NC. Her name, Leanna, and phone number were in the referral, so I called her. When she answered, I introduced myself and told her that I was a member of The Ring Finders, explaining what it is that we do. I also gave her The Ring Finders.com web site so she could verify the service as well as who I was. She asked about the cost of the service, and I explained I did this on a reward basis, so if she wanted to do a reward it was totally up to her. Leanne and her husband had traveled back home and weren’t in the area so after talking with her husband, they agreed to have me look. She explained that she had taken her rings off and put them in a bag and left them in a cup holder on her Aunt’s beach chair. It wasn’t until they left the beach and got to the end of the beach access, did they check and find the rings weren’t in the bag. The chair and all the rest of their belongings had been sitting in the dry sand. Her husband stated they were set up to the left of the beach access, about 3 houses down.

This would be my second search for the day on Ocean Isle, just 4 blocks apart. I had already called Jim Brouwer to help me search for the other ring. Thinking this would be a quick search; I decided we’d look for this one first and then get the second one. It never fails, the ones you think should be quick and easy never are. Jim and I got to the beach and saw people set up right where we needed to search. We started our search weaving in and out of chairs, umbrellas, and people. There were a few couples that moved for us after they knew what we were looking for. I took a quick picture and sent it to Leanna to confirm we were searching in the right area. After about 45 minutes, with no luck, we decided to go after the other ring. Our plan was to come back a little later when most of the people would be gone.

After a successful find on the other ring, we showed back up to look for Leanna’s rings. There were still a few people but not near the crowd. As I’m doing a grid search, two young ladies (Virginia and Nadia) walk up to me. They tell me their cousin had lost her wedding and engagement rings the day before. I asked them if their cousin was Leanna, which they replied “yes.” I told them those were the rings I was looking for. We went back and forth about what happened, and I told them Leanna and her husband thought they were behind the 3rd house. I asked them what they remembered about the loss. Right off, they both said that they thought they were a little further east and about the middle of the dry sand. I talked to Jim, and we dividend the new search area in half. I worked the middle of the dry sand walking east, and Jim worked closer to the slope going east. About 10 minutes, I see Jim digging out a scoop of sand, and reaching down and picking something up. He walked over and handed me Leanna’s wedding band. He then walked back to the spot, swung the coil over the area, took another scoop and pulled out her engagement ring. I took both rings and laid them in the sand to get a picture. I sent it to Leanna with a text saying BA-BOOM! I then called her and ask if she got the text, she said she hadn’t checked her phone for a while, I told her she needed too! I heard her kind of gasp and said something like “Oh my goodness.” She was one happy young lady.

Leanna – Thank you for trusting us to help find your lost treasures.

Virginia and Nadia – if you read this, Thank You both for getting us in the right spot, it made all the difference.

Jim – Once again, thanks for your help!

Jim

  

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Man’s Rolex Watch Lost and Found in the Lockwoods Folly River, NC

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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I got a text message from Mark on Thursday, Aug 29th saying that he had lost his Rolex watch, while fishing, in the Lockwoods Folly River and wondered if I could help. At some point, Mark told me that his wife, Joanna, had gotten him the watch as a present and it had a great deal of sentimental value attached. He knew the watch, itself, could be replaced, but not the memories.

I was concerned about the depth of the water and what the bottom of the river was. He said the depth was about 5 feet at low tide, which is pushing my limit, and didn’t know about the bottom. A lot of the marsh bottom in North and South Carolina has what’s called “Pluff Mud.” In earlier century’s it was called “Plough Mud,” because it was used to fertilize cotton fields that were depleted of nutrients. Anyway, it is nasty, it’s made up of dead grasses, fish, crabs, shrimp, and anything else that dies and decays in the water, it stinks, literally! When you step in it, it sucks you down, and what was at your ankles is now at your knees or thighs. So I was real anxious about searching in those kinds of conditions, but agreed to meet him on Saturday. I talked to my son-in-law, Donnie, who is a certified diver, about it and was thinking of him taking this call, but decided I’d give it a shot. Donnie has helped me on a number of searches, and I knew he’d jump at the chance of this search.

On Saturday, Mark and Joanna picked me up at one of the boat docks in Holden Beach, NC and we took a 20-25 minute boat ride to get the search area. Matt told me that the evening he lost his watch that he was having problems with his outboard motor so he was getting his trolling motor ready to use to get him back home. At some point in the process, he hit the trolling motor with his watch making the clasp come apart sending his watch in the water. When we got to the search area, Mark beached his boat and told me the search area was within 15 feet of the stern of the boat. We were bucking a strong current, but managed to search the area for a couple of hours or so. After searching what I could, I knew I was in over my head, and I’d need Donnie and his scuba diving abilities to help. While we were waiting for the tide to come back in, because we were now high and dry, and grounded on the beach; I called Donnie. I let him and Mark work out the details on the date and times both were available.

Fast forward to Monday, Donnie and Mark met at the same boat dock and headed out around 6:30am. I got a text from Donnie about 11:30 saying “No luck” but he was going to get lunch, fill up his air tanks and go back out with Mark and try again. At 6:22pm Donnie texted: “found it!” I got a few details from Donnie about his search, and the picture and video of him and Mark.

Donnie – thanks so much for your help and your “awesome” scuba skills and “fantastic” underwater metal detecting services.

Mark and Joanna – so happy and excited for you that Donnie was able to find and recover your lost treasure!

Jim

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=LAk1V40FH2Q&app=desktop

     

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Sentimental Diamond Stud Earring Lost on Ocean Isle Beach NC, Found and Returned

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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I got a call from Daniel early this morning, July 21st, saying his wife Ashley had lost a Diamond stud earring, and asked if I could help find it. He said that they had been walking from their rental across a wooden boardwalk leading, over the dunes, out to the beach. I haven’t had much luck finding small stud earrings, so I told him I didn’t think I’d be able to find it. After thinking about it for 30 minutes, I called him back and told him I’d give it a try but it wouldn’t be until about 10 pm that evening. I also told him to bring his wife’s matching earring so I could test it with my machines to see if one of them could detect it.

Shortly after 9 pm, and after having dinner with family members here for a family reunion, I grabbed my Gold Bug II, and my Equinox 800 and headed out. I called him en route and got his address. Shortly after arriving, we met up on the street and he led me to his rental house, where I met Ashley. She had the other earring so I laid it in the sand next to the driveway and turned on the Gold Bug, wham, I had a strong signal. Ashley lead the way out on the boardwalk stopping at the spot she said that she felt something hit her chest, then she heard it hit the wooden boardwalk. She reached up to her ear and didn’t feel the earring. The spot we were standing at was about 8 feet high above the sand dunes. I made my way out to the beach and came up on the other side of a neighbor’s access. It was a small search area and I was very careful not to damage or destroy any of the undergrowth in the search area. I got a good signal and started sifting the sand through my hand as I continued to check the area. When I hit hard ground I knew it wasn’t the earring. I took a few more steps and got a strong signal and again sifted the sand through my hand. At one point I saw the earring move as I grabbed some sand. I reached down through the sand until I felt the earring, I picked it up, blew the sand off, and held it up for Ashley to see and reach down for. After making my way back up to the boardwalk, I got a big smile and hug. She told me her mother had gotten those earrings for her, and later Daniel had bought her a matching necklace. She was very upset that she had a beautiful necklace and only one earring. Now she has both earrings back and both Ashley and Daniel are an extremely happy couple again, which is why I do this.

Ashley/Daniel – Thank you for trusting me to help find your lost treasure. Have a great rest of your vacation and a safe trip back home.

Jim

 

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White Gold Engagement Ring and Anniversary Ring Lost at Ocean Isle Beach, NC – both Found and returned

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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When I checked my email first thing this morning, I saw mail from Debbie saying she had lost her rings at Ocean Isle Beach, NC and was wondering if I could help. She had put her phone number in the email so I called her to get the details. She said that she had been in the soft sand, took her rings off and put them on top of a cooler. At some point someone lifted the lid on the cooler and the rings fell into the sand and disappeared. I was so excited these were lost in the soft sand, and not chest deep in the ocean.  I told her it’d be a piece a cake and I’d be there in 35-40 minutes.

I met her on the beach and she gave me an area she thought she had lost her 2 rings. One was her engagement ring and the other was an anniversary ring. I drew a line in the sand with my scoop, and started a grid search. On the third row I hit a high signal, which wasn’t what I was looking for for a white gold ring. I dug a scoop and spread the sand out with my foot, when I did I was then getting two separate signals, one the low sound I was looking for. I took a scoop of sand, lightly shook it out of the scoop and saw her engagement ring. I showed her her ring and she flew out of her beach chair with a giant smile on her face. I got a quick hug and went back to get the second ring. I spread out the sand again, this time with my hand and saw her anniversary ring. She now has both rings back and couldn’t be happier, she was sure they were gone for good.

Debbie, thanks so much for trusting me to help find your lost treasures. Have a great rest of your vacation and a safe drive home.

Jim

  

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IPhone lost at Ocean Isle Beach NC, Found and Returned

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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Jessica called me a little before 9 am asking if I rented metal detectors. I informed her that I don’t, but I use metal detectors to help find things for people. She asked if I could find an iPhone she lost in the dry sand. We went back and forth with a few questions and answers, ending with me telling her I’d be there in about 45 minutes.

She gave me the address where she and her family were staying. When I pulled into the driveway she came out of the house with her friend, Maria and said to follow her to the beach access. Once we got on the beach, she said that she had left it on the beach the night before and had tracked it to a general area of where she had been. The area was roughly 20ft by 20ft, and thank goodness it was all dry sand. I started a grid search from the dry sand to the high tide line. On the fourth line I got a good signal, and the numbers were all over the place on the Equinox 800, so I knew I had found her phone. I used my foot to spread out the sand and uncovered part of the phone, and reached down and picked it up. She couldn’t believe it was found, thanks to her putting me in the right area, it made for a quick and easy search. When we found it, it had no power, so when she got back in her car and plugged it in, it started charging up. Thankfully, there seemed to be no damage.

Jessica, thank you for trusting me to help find your lost phone, and have a great rest of your vacation!

Jim

     

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Lady’s 14K White Gold Engagement Ring Lost at Ocean Isle Beach NC, Found and Returned

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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When I woke up on Tuesday, May 8th, I noticed I had a 6:30 a.m. missed call with a voice mail from Michigan. Robert, who had left the message, stated he had found me through The Ring Finders website and was wondering about the details in finding a lost ring. He also said his wife’s engagement ring was lost in my area. When I called him back, we discussed the details of the search. He stated that his mother-in-law had lost his wife’s engagement ring, probably had it on her little finger and it slipped off. One of his questions concerned this being a scam, I assured him everything was on the up and up and gave him a short version of my history. The conversation seemed to put his mind at ease and he gave me the description of the lost ring and the general location. Shortly after, I was on my way to Ocean Isle Beach.

During the forty minute drive, Robert sent me pictures of the rental house they stayed in, the beach access where they entered the beach, and the search area. Actually, there were two search areas, one possible area, and inside that area was a probable area. It looked like this might be a pretty big search, everything considered. I texted him about 10:35 a.m. telling him I was there, and I’d let him know when I found it. I also asked him when her ring was lost and he responded saying either the 1st or 2nd of May.

A couple of things I’ve learned while beach hunting and watching people, one  – they don’t venture to far right or left from where they came onto the beach, and two – they “usually” veer to their right to find their spot. So, I grabbed my PI detector and went straight from the stair access to the mid-tide line, dragging my scoop behind me leaving a line in the sand. The PI was going crazy with all the trash in the sand making this search very time consuming. Luckily, I had brought my AT Pro and hiked back to the car to retrieve it. I was alternating my search grid from the left and right of my center line when I noticed two ladies walking out on the beach. True to form, they were veering to the right of the stairs and started setting up their chairs and stuff right where I needed to search. I nicely told them what I was doing and asked if they would mind setting up about 10 feet left in an area I had already searched. They didn’t seem happy but they moved, thank goodness. Two more passes on the right of my center line, and just about where the ladies would have been sitting, I got a strong signal with a 51 on the screen, exactly what I expected for a small lady’s white gold ring. I looked down at the sand as I waved the detector back over the spot, and actually saw the top third of the ring sticking out of the sand. BOOM!!! I had her ring.

At 12:55 p.m. I texted Robert a picture of the ring, asking “Look familiar?!?!  and then called him. When he answered his phone, I asked him if he got my text, he said he had but hadn’t looked at it yet. I told him he needed to look at the text. I heard him gasp, and he said something like “oh my goodness, I can’t believe you found it.” Before we hung up, we worked out the details to try and get the ring back to him, in Michigan, by Mother’s Day so he could surprise his wife, Abbey. Unfortunately, the ring didn’t make it back in time, but Robert had a backup plan. For Mother’s Day, he had her open 4 boxes inside one another, each box contained a picture. The first box had a picture of my book, “Teardrops in the Tides; The Journeys of a Ring Finder.” The second box had a picture of the search area. The third box was a picture of my scoop in the sand where I found her ring, and the forth box had a picture of her ring. Robert shared with me that Abbey was so happy she cried.

Robert, thank you for trusting in me to help find Abbey’s ring.

The smile on Abbey’s face says it all, how can it get it better. Robert also sent Abbey’s Mother’s Day surprise!!!

Jim

 

  

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Man’s Wedding Band Lost in the Ocean at Ocean Isle Beach NC, Found 3 months later and Returned

  • from North Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, United States)
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I had originally received an e-mail from Katy L. on Sept 23rd telling me her husband had lost his wedding band while body surfing on Sept 15th. They were back home in Tennessee after a family vacation on the beach when the accident happened. We exchanged quite a few e-mails back and forth, one being a very special and extremely sentimental picture and story from Katy. After reading the story and seeing the picture my heart melted and I was determined I would give it my all to find this ring. I got to the beach and conditions were horrible, the waves were big and crashing on the beach. I waded out and was getting hammered by the waves when I got a good signal (which was not the ring). In the process of trying to dig the target I literally got picked up by a wave and slammed down in the water causing me to try and catch myself and ended up breaking the arm cuff to my detector. Anybody that metal detects knows how difficult it can be in rough seas without an arm cuff. So basically I was without a machine for the surf and called my son-in-law, Donnie and asked for his help. When he showed up he did the surf, getting knocked around and I did the wet sand with no luck.

A few days later, still without an arm cuff for my machine, I borrowed a detector from Matt Fry, TRF Myrtle Beach to give it another shot. When I got to the beach the conditions were just as bad as the first try. Again I waded out in the waves, getting pounded as I went. At some point I again got lifted up by a wave and slammed down. This time I tried to brace myself but buried Matt’s coil into the sand and ended up breaking the shaft holding the coil. Ok this was not turning out to be an easy recovery but I got both machines fixed and was ready to go.

Meanwhile, we had been getting some big hurricanes and storms off the coast that was driving tons of sand up on the beach. From the details I got from Katy on where her husband lost his ring, I knew it was there but getting buried deeper by all the sand. I was bound and determined I was going to find this ring so I kept going back hoping for better conditions and less sand.

After at least 7 trips by me and a couple from Donnie, today (Dec 18th) was the day. When I got to the beach at low tide I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Calmer seas (at least for this beach), at least a foot to a foot and a half of sand off the beach and a big cut in the sand. I started a north/south grid search from low tide out to about thigh deep, the water was cold!!!! Worked my way up the beach and started an east/west grid. Probably about 7 grid lines and I got a so-so hit on my White’s Dual Field PI that I dug. The target was down a good 12-15 inches and when I pulled it out of the hole I thought I had a bottle cap because it was covered in sand. I shook the scoop and bingo there was the lost ring. I knew in an instant I had the right one. I just stood there in awe, 3 months and 3 days, 8th trip and I had it. Even I couldn’t comprehend this one.

I flew home to check the picture Katy had sent me and I had her husband’s ring in my hand. I called Katy and reintroduced myself and said I’ve got 2 questions. First, what is your husband’s name and secondly what’s the address to mail his ring back to him. She lost it, made me lose it and neither one of us could talk. Then we had a true serendipity moment, her and her family were just finishing up with an early Christmas, opening presents, etc. when I called. She put me on speaker phone and I think everyone there was in shock. She also informed me a little later that on Dec 28th her and her husband, Will will be celebrating their 4th Wedding Anniversary. The timing on finding their ring, calling at the moment I did and getting their ring back to them before both Christmas and their Anniversary couldn’t have been better. This is exactly the reason I’m a member of The Ring Finders, it does NOT get any better than this!

Will and Katy – Merry Christmas and Happy Anniversary, hope you have many many more of both!!!

Katy, thank you for contacting me and trusting in me to help find your lost treasure. I wish you and Will all the best.

Katy gave me permission to post this very special picture.

Jim

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