Professional Metal Detectorist Maryland Tag | The Ring Finders

Brian Rudolph, Lost Item Recovery Specialist (also known as THE RING HERO) searches Land, Water, Sand, Snow, Leaves, Cliffs, Houses and Vehicles. He Will Find Your Lost Item! Call ASAP (301) 466-8644!

By Brian Rudolph – Professional Ring Finder & Metal Detectorist
Owner, METAL DETECTING ADVENTURES INC (Clarksburg, Maryland)

CJ was having a fun time fishing at a pond near his house. Unfortunately, his luck ran out when he put his backpack over his shoulder and suddenly heard something fall out of the backpack, hit the dock, and splash into the water.

Moments later, he realized what had happened—his Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max had fallen into the pond!

CJ felt completely helpless. He wasn’t about to go into the water, and even though he searched everywhere he could through the relatively clear pond water, he could not see his phone anywhere.

This is where CJ’s girlfriend, Brittany, comes into the story.

The phone contained an enormous number of precious memories that had never been backed up. In fact, CJ had not backed up years’ worth of photos and other data. Memories from CJ and Brittany’s years together—including their time dating and the birth and early years of their beloved child—could potentially be lost forever if the phone could not be recovered and its data retrieved.

Brittany immediately went online looking for someone who might be able to help CJ recover the phone. That’s when she discovered an international directory of metal detectorists called THE RING FINDERS.

Through THE RING FINDERS, Brittany found me, Brian Rudolph, owner of METAL DETECTING ADVENTURES INC in Maryland. She also learned that I specialize in recovering items lost in water.

When I spoke with Brittany late one night, she was extremely upset about the possibility of losing all of those irreplaceable memories. I told her there was a good chance that I could help recover the phone, and I explained the different options available for conducting the search. She agreed to move forward with the recovery.

At first, it appeared that I might have to scuba dive while metal detecting for the phone. However, when I went to the site to survey the pond, dock, and surrounding water, I lowered a weight attached to a rope to determine the depth. My assessment showed that I could probably wade around the immediate area of the dock. Approximately five feet beyond the dock, however, the bottom abruptly dropped to an estimated eight feet or more, which would require scuba equipment.

On the day of the search, I loaded my vehicle with all of the necessary equipment for both wading and scuba diving. I had to dodge a couple of storms before finally making my way to the pond, where I met Brittany’s very kind father, Wayne, who would oversee the search.

I got into my scuba gear, grabbed my sand scoop and waterproof metal detector, and headed into the extremely swampy, muddy, silty water. The pond was filled with tall grass as I slowly made my way toward the end of the dock.

I metal detected the entire area as I moved farther out toward the deeper section of the pond. Initially, there were no signals that interested me.

Eventually, I reached the left front corner of the dock. The water became considerably deeper, but I was still able to keep my head above the surface. My water boots sank quite far into the thick mud below, but I managed to maintain my balance while swinging the coil of my metal detector across the bottom.

Then, I finally hit a very attractive signal!

It sounded very similar to the response I would expect from a cell phone using this particular metal detector. I lowered my scoop to the location of the target and tried several times to capture the object, but every attempt came up empty.

Eventually, I gave it another try, hoping I wouldn’t accidentally push the object farther toward the deep end of the pond.

Afterward, I scanned the bottom again with my detector.

The signal was gone!

That was a very good sign. Apparently, whatever had been producing the signal was finally inside my scoop.

I slowly brought the scoop up and out of the water.

And there it was—CJ’s black iPhone 15 Pro Max, completely covered in mud and silt!

I was so happy, and so was Brittany’s dad! Wayne let out a loud « Congratulations! » and I joined in the celebration as we congratulated one another on the successful recovery.

As soon as I made my way out of the water, Wayne contacted his daughter. We all celebrated together while Brittany was on the phone.

It was a wonderful moment.

I had been able to help this family recover something that represented far more than the monetary value of an expensive smartphone. Inside that muddy iPhone were years of precious family memories that otherwise might have been lost forever.

Brittany and Wayne were extremely grateful and relieved that their decision to move forward with a professional underwater metal detecting search had resulted in the successful recovery of CJ’s lost iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Another successful water recovery for METAL DETECTING ADVENTURES INC and THE RING FINDERS!

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