Wedding Ring Recovered from Candlewick Lake, IL
July 4th Paddleboard Mishap
July 4th, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the United States of America. For many Americans that day, it was a day of gathering with friends and family. A day off work. A day to reflect and to relax. To eat good food, paddleboard and… lose your wedding ring? Jack’s Independence Day was memorable in more ways than one.
Jack was paddleboarding. For many paddleboarders, the transition from knees to standing can be a struggle. And like many paddleboarders, Jack’s paddleboarding turned to swimming, and in the process, his wedding ring slipped off his finger.
The proverbial needle in a haystack pales in comparison to the task of finding Jack’s lost wedding ring in Candlewick Lake near Poplar Grove, IL. Established in the early ‘70s, Candlewick Lake is a 210-acre lake in Boone County, IL. Like many manmade lakes, it is generally shallow, has low to no visibility, and has a significant layer of mud at the bottom. This makes these lakes especially difficult to search.
I met with Jack on July 7th. After talking with him, I set out to search a rather large area. Metal detecting is a game of inches. One inch off while scanning an area could mean going home empty-handed. It’s not always easy to pinpoint where you fell off a paddleboard 30+ feet from the shoreline. And in the moment, most people are not thinking about a diver with a metal detector searching for the ring days later.
I started my grid search, going back and forth, popping up every few feet to make sure I was staying on course. Jack was helpful from the dock, directing me when I strayed. There were lots of targets, so I had to sift through the mud for pennies, fishing lures, sinkers, pipes, etc. I even found a fishing pole, but no ring. Each time I turned around to start a new path, I watched the sun descend toward the horizon, and I knew I might just run out of time.
I swam back to the dock and asked Jack to get into a kayak. Could he put himself in the spot where he remembered falling in? Once in position, I started scanning in concentric circles around his held position. It wasn’t long before I hit a good signal, and after sifting through the muck, I felt the shape I had been hoping for. I surfaced and swam over to Jack. There was the smile I had been searching for nearly two hours. His ring was found.
If you or someone you know has lost a phone, ring, or other jewelry item, please call. The smiles I enjoy when returning lost items are one of the best parts of what I do.