#Portland Maine Metal Detector Service Tag | The Ring Finders

Property Marker Found With A Metal Detector, In Cape Elizabeth, Maine

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)
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On Tuesday evening, April 9th, I received a call from Angie. She and her husband, Adrian, had purchased a home in Cape Elizabeth, last fall. They now wanted to put a fence up, in their backyard. The fence would run from the back right side of the property, to the back left side of the property, only. No fence would be put up alongside the home, or in the front. Unfortunately, they were unsure where the exact property line was, in the backyard. They had been quoted $3000.00 for a survey of the property, but if we could find the markers, they could save the $3000.00. They had a map of the property, showing the distances between the property markers but were not exactly sure how to start.

Now, property markers can be tricky because of many different factors. Are they even made of metal? There are lots of granite and rock property markers, here in New England.

I once was called to search for property markers, when a neighbor was caught, moving them. All I found was a lot, and I mean a lot of nails.

Another time, I searched for 4 property markers, finding just two. The other two, had been moved or washed downstream, in a flood, which also changed the direction of the stream. The same flood caused road damage and a new culvert was put in, either moving the marker or burying it, with all the fill that was used for the new culvert. I also know that people have removed property markers, because they were in the way, when mowing the lawn. So, as you see, property markers may be a hit or miss proposition.

I arrived at Angie and Adrian’s home promptly at 8:00 am. I was told that a neighbor had a property survey performed , a few years back and the neighbor had a property marker put in, on the left backside of the backyard. As we walked to the right backside of the property, Adrian also showed me a granite marker, in the ground, on the left front side of their home. Adrian was not sure if it was an actual property marker or not. Once we arrived at the right backside of the property, Adrian told me that the telephone pole on the far side of the property, was supposed to line straight up, to the right backside property marker. As I lined up the telephone pole, to close to the street, where the right backside marker should be, I received a strong Ferrous signal, on my Minelab CTX-3030 metal detector. After digging the target m it turned out to be a rather large and old nail. As I started swinging again, I received another strong Ferrous signal, less than a foot from the nail. I dug the target and SUCCESS, we had found the metal rod property marker. I then told Adrian, that I would like to measure the distance between the property marker, I just found and the granite marker, on the right front side of the house. The distance should be 103.67’. I then secured one one of my 300’ tape measure and walked it down, from the granite marker, to the metal rod marker, I had just found. When I looked at the measurement, I had to smile, as the measurement was exactly what it was suppose to be, 103.67’. We just verified the granite marker was, in fact their property marker, for the right front of the house.

I then wanted to measure from the marker, I had found, to the marker that the neighbor had put in a few years back, and near the telephone pole. The measurement should be 207.87’. As I arrived at the neighbors marker, near the telephone pole, I looked at the tape measure and we had another match. The measurement was 207.87’, just like it was suppose to be. Now, just one more marker.

I walked the tape measure down to the left front of the house, from the neighbors marker, in the back left of the property. The measurement should be 103.67’ and when I got to 105 feet, I stopped and started searching, with my metal detector. I found another 5-6 nails, but no marker, in the area, it should have been. The area has been disturbed, as there is a culvert, telephone pole, looking fairly new. There is also a rock wall that looks fairly new and could have been built over the marker.

Angie and Adrian were extremely pleased that I was able to find their one metal rod properly marker and then measure it out, to the known neighbors marker and the granite marker, in the left front of the property. They can now use the $3000.00 they didn’t spend on a property survey and put it towards their new fence. 

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Gold Ring With 3 Diamonds Found On A Maine Beach, Returned To Owner In California

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)
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On October 9th, 2023, I received the following PM, from Wendy,

“I lost a gold ring about two-three weeks ago somewhere between the tennis courts (GRB Assoc) and the entrance of the beach in front of the Tides – at GRB. Had I known of your service I would have contacted you immediately.

I live in CA – if you think you could help – I would greatly appreciate it. If you think it is a lost cause – I totally understand”.

I immediately replied and told Wendy I would be happy to help. Wendy replied with the details of what transpired, leading up to the ring being lost.

Wendy had been playing tennis at the Goose Rocks Beach Association tennis courts and had taken her ring off and put it in her pocket. After chasing a few errant tennis balls and walking over to a utility shed, Wendy then walked a 1/2 mile to the beach and once there, climbed over the boulders at the entrance to the beach , that the town of Kennebunkport had placed there, in preparation for Hurricane/Tropical Storm Lee, which was scheduled to arrive the next day. Once Wendy climbed over the boulder and got to the beach, she realized her ring was missing. That’s right, the ring could be on Goose Rocks Beach Association property, anywhere along the 1/2 mile walk to the beach and the beach itself. On top of all that, the ring had been lost 3 weeks previously. Wendy had retraced her steps all the way back to the GRBA Property, without any luck. Well, I do love a challenge and this was certainly a challenge.

Two days later, I went to GRB, in Kennebunkport and thought to myself, “How am I going to find her ring that was lost on September 14th, almost 4 weeks ago. Well, start where she found the ring to be missing and work your way up to GRBA property, a 1/2 mile away.”

I decided too start at the Edgewood Avenue beach entrance , which is where Wendy said she climbed over the boulders, then go up to Wildwood Avenue, Community House Road and then to the Association tennis courts. This is the route Wendy said she took. I finished up at the beach entrance 1st and no luck. As I went up Edgewood Avenue, I detected the lawns, as I stood on the side of the roads, reaching onto the lawns between 3 and 5 feet. After approximately 3 hours, I had completed all of Edgewood and Wildwood, up to Community House Road. As I walked back to my car, I also checked some lawns on the opposite side of the street, in the off chance the ring had rolled/bounced across the road, or even thrown by a lawnmower, sometime in the last 3+ weeks. Nothing even close to being gold was detected, but there was still a lot of detecting to do and ground to cover.

The next day, October 12th, I went back and detected the GRBA property. All the walkways, around the tennis courts , out near the shed and the lawns. Again, 3 hours and nothing. All I had left was Community House Road. I wasn’t able to get back there until October 20th. When I did, I decided to try detecting around the entrance, across from The Tides Club. Wendy had originally mentioned she entered the beach there and it was 1 block south of Edgewood Avenue entrance. Well, no luck there either, so I drove back up to the GRBA property, parked and worked my way down Community House Road to Wildwood Avenue. Still no luck. I the crossed the street and searched that side of Community House Road, back up to GRBA property. Absolutely nothing.

On October 26th, after watching the news all day, about the Mass Shooting, in Lewiston, Maine, just 45-50 miles away from my home, I just had to get out of the house. I decided I would go detecting at GRB and a negative low tide was enticing. I would also check a few spots on Edgewood and Wildwood, that were on the opposite side of the road Wendy had been walking. I detected the low tide 1st with only a few coins found. As I was searching the beach , I found myself about to exit the beach at Proctor Avenue, when, BANG. A very solid low tone and a 12-20 repeating on my Minelab CTX-3030’s VDI Screen. Definitely got excited on this target, as it was definitely in the gold range. I removed my pinpointer and stuck it into the sand. I found the target and hand dug out the item that was 4-5 inches deep. The last hand of scooped sand revealed a gold ring with 3 diamonds. YES, I had found Wendy’s ring, by accident, or had I?  Wendy never mentioned she entered the beach across from Proctor Avenue. She had only mentioned Tides Club entrance, which was 2 blocks north and Edgewood, one block north. Could Wendy have gotten her street names mixed up. She was after all back home in California.

I texted Wendy and had her accurately describe the ring and telling her I had found a ring but not in the area she described. Wendy immediately texted back gold ring, 3 diamonds and a spring clasp on the inside of the ring to fit her finger better. I had never seen a ring with a spring clasp and the ring I found, had one Wendy described the ring perfectly. When I told her I had definitely found her ring after being lost for 6 weeks, to the day, her response was “OMG!!!! Where and how did you find it”? After going over the details, Wendy agreed she most likely had gotten her streets mixed up. She then told me

“Bless your heart. I am so happy! I never, ever thought I’d see that ring again”.

Now the only thing left to do is to mail Wendy her ring, in California, which I did, asap.

Wendy received her ring, in California on 10/30/23 and texted me the following, “Thank you so much Dennis! So thrilled to get my ring back”! Wendy also sent me a photo of her holding her ring for the 1st time in almost 7 weeks.

I just absolutely love helping people like Wendy. There is no better feeling than to help people in need.

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Gifted Necklace From Grandfather Lost On A Beach In Saco, Maine. Found with a Metal Detector

  • from Old Orchard Beach (Maine, United States)
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I received a message from Gary, a friend and fellow detectorist. Gary told me about a lost necklace and it was just 3 1/2 miles from my home, that he had seen on a Facebook post. Would I be willing to look for it? Of course, a lost necklace in my hometown is a given. I took the information and contacted Ashley, the originator of the Facebook post. Ashley told me the necklace belonged to her daughter, Kalleigh and Kalleigh was upset she lost it because the necklace was a gift from her Grandfather. Ashley described the events leading up to the necklace being lost on Bay View Beach, in Saco, Maine. I sent a photo of an aerial view of the beach and asked Ashley, if the areas I had marked, on the photo, were where she thinks the necklace was lost. Ashley replied yes but they had also been about another 100 feet, further south and she sent me a photo with an area marked off. In total, I was looking at an area of approximately 250-300 feet long, running parallel to the shore and about 30 feet deep, from the high tide mark to the dune grass. I then Told Ashley that I would go down to Bay View, 1st thing in the morning, when the sun came up.
I arrived at the Beach at 6:30am and admired the sun, which was just starting to rise. A beautiful scene, as always. I decided to start my search where they had been on the beach and work my way towards the lifeguard station, where Kalleigh realized the necklace was missing. I performed a grid search, starting parallel with the water. I broke up the approximately 250-300 feet by breaking the area down to 4 quadrants and slowly gridded each area. Not many targets either. Other than a quarter, there was nothing else, other than an occasional pull tab and the metal handle of a few sparklers. As I was about to finish up my 3rd quadrant, I received a signal that kept bouncing between 12-45 and 37-47. The first set of numbers indicated a non-ferrous item, most likely a dime or quarter. The second set of numbers were definitely a ferrous target. Depth on my CTX-3030 was indicating 4-5 inches deep. I then took my scoop and pulled out the sand. The target wasn’t in the 1st scoop of sand. I took out my pinpointer searched the hole with it. Once I found the target, I scooped a handful of sand and there it was, the gold necklace. I had found Kaleigh’s lost necklace. I immediately took a picture of the necklace and sent it to Ashley. Her reply was, “OMG, Thank you so much. She is going to be so happy “. Ashley and I then made plans to meet up a little later and return the necklace.
When Ashley and Kalleigh arrived at my home, I could see Kalleigh’s very large smile just beaming, as the walked across the street, towards me. Those smiles are the reason I absolutely love doing this. There is no better reward that to see pure joy and happiness on someone’s face. I then learned that Kalleigh’s grandfather had personally made the necklace and gifted the necklace to Kalleigh for Christmas, 2 years prior. This is the absolute best job in the world and on top of all the smiles, I got to see a beautiful sunrise.

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