#Old Orchard Beach Metal Detector Tag | The Ring Finders

Key Fob Lost On Old Orchard Beach Maine, Found With A Metal Detector And Returned To The Owner

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)

Recovery and Return #40
On Thursday morning, June 20, 2024, I arrived at the beach, in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. I was searching for a lost necklace, but didn’t have a lot of time, to complete the search. I had a previous commitment, in Norway, Maine and I needed to leave the beach, no later than 7:00am, in order to make my appointment. It was now 5:00am and I got straight, to the search. It was a fairly large area to search and I knew, I would not be able to finish, until the next day.
As I searched the area, I was performing a vertical grid search,to the beach. That is, I would start my search, near the dune/seagrass and search towards the water, turn around and start the search, back up to the seagrass area. As I was searching, I found the usual suspects of trash, coins and to my surprise, a Key Fob. The Key Fob had no name of ownership on it, but it did have a # on it. Perhaps an apartment, condo or hotel room number. The search continued, until I had to leave and unfortunately, no necklace was found. I will return to continue the search, in the area I wasn’t able to complete.

I now had to find the owner, of the Key Fob. I called the Old Orchard Beach Police Department and they had no record, of someone making a report, for a lost Key Fob. The OOBPD, took my information and said if anyone calls, they would give them my contact information.
I decided to post the missing fob, on my Facebook Page, The Ring Finders of Maine, along with 5-6 other local Facebook pages. I did not show the number, on the fob, and asked for the number to be revealed and if correct, I would personally guarantee the return of the fob. Almost immediately, I started getting tips that it looked like a Key Fob, that belongs to Grand Victorian Hotel Condominium. The Grand Victorian is an oceanfront beach property, that is at the base, of the OOB PIER.

One of the messages was from Ryan and said “Hello, I am the Manager, of The Grand Victorian. Unit # *** recently lost keys, so I’m hoping, these are the ones”.

I replied, “Ryan, This is fantastic! The # is ***”. Ryan gave me the correct 3 digit number and I knew we had found the owner.

I told Ryan that I would swing by The Grand Victorian, once I returned, from Norway, around 4:00pm to 5:00pm and return the key fob. Ryan told me that if he wasn’t there, there would be staff available and I could return the fob to them. I arrived at The Grand Victorian and Ryan was not there. I was able to talk to and return the key fob, to Bill. Although I was not able to meet the owner of the key fob, Bill told me that they would be ecstatic to have the fob back in their possession.

So, what started out as a search for a necklace, turned into a very hectic day, with me being able to return someone’s key fob. A hectic but very satisfying day and another smile on my face.

Men’s 14K Wedding Ring Lost on Old Orchard Beach, Maine Found With A Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)

I received a call from William on Monday morning, 9/11/23. William had lost his 14K wedding ring, the previous night, as he and his wife Sarah, enjoyed their last evening in Old Orchard Beach, Maine.  After leaving a local restaurant, William and Sarah returned to their oceanfront hotel for their last night in town and decided to sit on the beach and enjoy the fresh air and beautiful views, around 8:30pm to 9:00pm. When they decided to go back to their room, they were covered in sand, from where they were sitting. William brushed off the sand from both his and Sarah’s pants. Once they got back to their room, William noticed he was no longer wearing his wedding ring. He and Sarah immediately went back down to the beach to search for the ring, but with no luck. William then tore his hotel room apart, praying it was in the room, but still no luck. They both searched the beach again, the next morning,  9/11/23, still no success. William then called me after receiving a couple of very strong recommendations and referrals.
I told William that I would be right there to meet him, as I live less than 5 miles from their current location and being retired, I am able to just get up and leave. He and Sarah needed to start their 5 hour drive back to Sherbrooke, Quebec but would stay to show me the location. Once I arrived, about 10 minutes later, William showed me the area where he thought they were sitting but it now looked different because of the daylight and the tide was different. I searched the area where they thought they were sitting but absolutely nothing. He then said they 1st went to a bench and then moved down to the sand. Still nothing around the bench. At this point, I knew I would need to perform a grid of an area of about 75’ X 75’. I started near the bench and searched down to the high tide line, then back up to the sea grass, turn around and back to the high tide line, etc.. I was finding the usual trash of pull tabs and tent stakes but not much else. After about an hour and as I was at the top of the slope, heading to the high tide line. I received a very loud low tone on my Minelab CTX-3030. VDI screen was reading a very solid 12-24. I stuck my pinpointer into the dry sand and found my target. I caught a small glimpse of yellow and I just had to break out in a big smile. I pulled the ring out of the sand, turned around to show William and Sarah, who were now sitting in the sand up near the sea grass and said, “I got it”. As William saw the ring, he jumped up and said “No Way” and broke out in a smile from ear to ear. He then came over to where I was and we shared a nice big enthusiastic high five. The ride back to Sherbrooke, Quebec just became much more bearable. A Beautiful Day indeed

Gifted Silver Ring From Grandmother Lost and Found By A Metal Detector on Pine Point Beach,Maine

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)

On Friday Night, July 7th, I received a text from Domenic. In the text, Domenic stated that a ring, gifted to him by his now deceased Grandmother, had slipped off his finger, while “diving into a wave, approximately 75-100 feet from the high tide line”. Domenic went on to describe the ring as a “simple metal band with LOVE inscribed in a groovy-funky 1970’s – esque writing with a spot below the O, for a gem”. In Domenic’s own words, “I haven’t taken that ring off since she gave it to me 2016, and I’m heartbroken that I lost it”. Domenic also told me he found me through an internet search and that he was back in Boston as he had to work the next day.
I immediately called Domenic back and he described the area where he lost it, while swimming the day before. Since he was swimming at high tide, I told him I would go down 1st thing in the morning and follow the tide out with my metal detector. I arrived at Pine Point, Maine, an area within Scarborough, Maine and about 20 minutes south of Portland, Maine. I fired up the Minelab CTX-3030 at 5:20am and started a grid search, parallel to the beach and just followed the tide out. After 1:44 minutes, I received a strong loud signal, reading 12-46 on the VDI Screen. I scooped out one scoop full of sand and I saw just a sliver of something silver in color, laying on the beach. I picked it up and it was a ring with a funky “LOVE” written across the front. After 2 days of being in the ocean, I had found Domenic’s gifted ring.
Domenic had already gone home to the Boston area, so I sent him a text telling him I had recovered his ring. Domenic sent back a text saying “Oh wow, what a great message to wake up to! You are amazing”. We then made plans to meet up the following day to return his ring. Domenic made the approximately 2 hour drive from his home in the Boston area to Pine Point. We met in Old Orchard Beach and a very happy Domenic received his VERY SENTIMENTAL ring back. Who doesn’t just love a good ending? I am proud to be able to help people like Domenic and return something they thought would be lost forever.