recovery Tag | The Ring Finders

Class ring missing more than 50 years returned to owner! TRF Celinà, Ohio

  • from Celina (Ohio, United States)

After missing for more than 50 years this 1966 class ring is returned to the owner!

Dave graduated from Memorial high School in Saint Mary’s Ohio with the class of 1966. He lost his class ring shortly after. Today, Dave (age 74) is the class historian and had not seen his class ring in more than 50 years. He had long ago given up hope of seeing it again and had forgotten about it. Today, through teamwork, Dave has been reunited with his lost class ring. Today the class historian was surprised with a piece of his own history! Another happy ending!

This 1966 class ring was missing for more than 50 years.

Lost 14k white gold heirloom ring returned! TRF Celina, Ohio

  • from Celina (Ohio, United States)

Andrew’s mother was very happy to receive this lost 14k white gold heirloom ring on behalf of her son who was beside himself when he lost it.

Andrew’s mother (Ann) contacted me recently in the hopes that a lost 14k white gold heirloom ring could be found. Andrew had lost the ring during an outside gym class session on some practice fields that amounted to the area of about 1-1/2 football fields.

That’s a lot of area to cover when you’re looking for an item about the size of a nickel. Obviously, an area like this is easier to cover and able to be covered very methodically if you can get a couple of people working a grid pattern. I contacted a friend (Travis) and we headed out to try and locate the ring. After about 4-1/2 hours of searching with no ring to show and a storm blowing in we made plans to come back another day to finish covering the area in hopes of being able to reunite the owner with their lost ring.

Andrew was very close with his grandmother and the ring had been passed down to him when his grandmother passed away in December. He wore the ring on his pinky finger to feel close to his grandmother. We knew he was very sad to have lost the ring and that it was such a sentimental item that we were trying to do everything we could to cover the area and locate his missing ring.

We made a return trip to finish covering the area and hopefully recover his missing ring for him. After a little over an hour of searching, we (Travis and I) were able to locate the ring!

 

We messaged Andrew right away! Unfortunately, Andrew was out of town and was unable to be there for a photo and to take possession of his ring. He did however call his mother, who was more than happy to come down and accept the ring on his behalf! Knowing that there had been more than two dozen people walking around trying to locate the item prior to us searching, and numerous sports practice sessions, Andrew’s mother thought that it was a miracle that we were even able to locate his ring. She had warned him that wearing his grandmother’s ring could result in it being lost, as was the case, but it has now been located and returned to it’s rightful owner! It has been put up so that this sentimental family heirloom will not be lost again. A needle in a haystack really can be found! Another ring returned, another successful search thanks to teamwork, and another happy ending! We were very glad to see the ring turn up and to see it returned!

On a side note Andrew was very glad to have found TheRingFinders service online and says he would recommend the service to anyone!

Lost keys on beach.. returned! TRF Celina, Ohio

  • from Celina (Ohio, United States)

Another successful return and another happy person!

I Was contacted this afternoon because Elaina could not find her keys that someone had buried on the beach. After arriving at the location and beginning to search she had her keys back in just a few minutes! Also got to clean up the environment a bit. First Target was a fork. Ouch! Glad someone did not step on it. Be careful out there..

 

Family Gold Heirlooms Recovered from House Fire in New Jersey by Ring Finders South Jersey

  • from North Wildwood (New Jersey, United States)

In need of something recovered?

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I received a call back in May about several sentimental and valuable items lost in a house fire in New Jersey. After several phone calls and a long wait for permits to enter the home site, we were finally able to search for the lost family heirlooms this weekend.

The fire had taken the home down to the foundation which made the recovery search very difficult. The effort continued over the course of a few days. I was able to recover the gold family heirlooms from the sad and tragic loss.

New Jersey Ring Finder

Treasured Gold Ring Lost at Russell, Found by Metal Detectorist

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)

I had just got home from a recreational detecting session when I received the call for a lost gold wedding ring at Russell in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand.

All the gear was still in the car so a quick battery swap and on my way.

I arrived at the scene an hour later and Nathan and his wife took me through the scenario.
Nathan had been in chest deep water at the local beach when he took the ring off his finger, I believe, to check the looseness of his new wedding ring.
Whatever the reason, fate intervened, the fingers slipped and the ring sank to the seafloor and into the sand.
Fortunately he had presence to mind to stay put and several nearby swimmers and snorkellers all had a go at retrieving it, although as we Ringfinders know all too well, rings are rather adept at quickly burrowing into the sand with any disturbance.

Shortly after, we were joined by Paul (forgive me if I have forgotten your name) who I award the title of Honorary Ringfinder.

Paul had made a mental note at the time of the initial attempts of a couple of landmarks which would help relocate the Point Last Seen. He was also game to snorkel out to find the depression in the sand from the earlier efforts and drop my marker float. This quick thinking and assistance greatly boosted the odds, and I thank him.

The tide by now was far too high to hunt without SCUBA, so I eliminated the shallows « Believe no-one, Assume Nothing, Confirm Everything » then settled in for a wait as the tide dropped.

I passed the time deflecting curious swimmers, and one jet ski, all of whom seemed intent on moving my critical marker float. Drawn to it like moths to a flame… although it was rather amusing watching the behaviours change as they spotted the marker bobbing around and changed course directly for it, only to be intercepted by a concerned RingFinder rushing into the tide to explain what it was, and to please leave it there….!

After a couple of hours, the water was just under nostril height and I could get out to the Search Area. I found the depression and was concerned by the depth of the crater formed by a well-meaning snorkeller and feared they may have disturbed the bottom enough to allow the ring to settle deep into the gravels. I checked the hole with no results so started a systematic search pattern. I would return to the crater if the ring wasn’t located.

After a few grids, there was a bright tone, I’d heard many of these today which had all turned out to be pulltabs from drink cans, but on a ring recovery you have to dig every target.

On the third bite with the scoop I shook the sand and gravel out and was left with a handful of shells – and a ring. I held it up to show Paul, who responded from the beach with a celebratory cheer.

About an hour later I managed to catch up with Nathan and Anita in Paihia for an emotional reunion.

The ring had belonged to Nathans Grandfather who never took it off following his wedding day. Nathan was continuing the tradition, and I am honoured to be able to reverse what they thought was an irretrievable loss and ensure the story of his ring can continue.

Ringfinder members featured in the Tigard, Oregon news!

Ring Recovery in Water at the Fairmont Orchid Hotel, Mauna Lani, Big Island Hawaii

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Happy vacationers on the Big Island of Hawaii celebrate their found wedding rings at the Fairmont Orchid Hotel with Brent and Sylvie Madison.

 

HAPPY WIFE – HAPPY LIFE:
Wedding Band Recoveries in the Water at the Fairmont Orchid Hotel, Mauna Lani, Big Island Hawaii

Logan and Samantha had been swimming in the lagoon at midnight after a work conference at The Fairmont Orchid Hawaii on the Big Island, Hawaii. They, along with friends and colleagues, had been having fun in the water after a work wrap-up party.

Sam realized her wedding band had slipped off her finger into the dark water. But she quickly realized she’d lost not just one but two rings! Her engagement ring must have come off first – but she had no idea where that had been lost – in the water, on the shore – where?!? Her wedding band now also seemed lost in the dark forever.

We got « the call » the next morning and arrived at the small bay an hour before noon to search for the lost rings. Sam looked distraught and Logan looked really unhappy at the situation of his unhappy wife!
We started looking right away, with Sylvie searching the shallows with her Garrett Sea Hunter and me going a little deeper in the water with my Minelab Excalibur II.

The Fairmont Hotel has little water movement so our biggest concern to recovering the ring was that fact that it was so late in the afternoon already – maybe the beach had been searched earlier that morning and the rings had been found by treasure hunters!

After an hour of carefully detecting back-and-forth I suddenly hit a strong signal. There had been no other solid signals until then, deepening our fears that the area had already been detected. I scooped the signal in the water – nothing – then scooped again. A diamond-encrusted wedding band was in the scoop! Logan ran over and while happy for the find, was now concerned to find the second, more valuable engagement ring. We continued to search – going over and over the area we thought it was in.

Sylvie expanded the search area and signaled that she’d found something under the sand. Her detector does not discriminate between metal objects like mine does, so she dug in the sand (under about 2 feet of water with her long-handled scoop), not sure if she’d be pulling out a bottle cap or a ring.

Sylvie looked into the basket of her scoop and grabbed something and held it high for Logan and Sam to see who were down the beach. The entire beach – even the beach bar – all started clapping! Sylvie held a large, gleaming two-carat engagement ring in her fingers. The beachgoers must have been watching the long hunt and the applause was great, but seeing Sam reunited with her treasures – and Logan’s praise and relief were worth a million!

Sylvie always says that we’re in the Business of Saving Marriages This time it really was our own ‘married teamwork’ that saved the day with one ring-recovery each!

Follow our Big Island Hawaii adventures on our Website and Facebook too:

https://www.facebook.com/TreasureBeachS/

http://bigislandmetaldetecting.com/

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These gold and platinum rings were found and returned in the water by Big Island Metal Detecting. A whopping $30,000 was the combined cost of these beautiful treasures!

Lost Men’s Wedding Ring Found at Makalawena Beach, Big Island, Hawaii!

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I got a phone call in the late afternoon from a woman asking if I were « that Ring Finding guy ».

« That’s me! » I replied and another lost-ring story unfolded…

Marina and Sergey had been down on the remote Makalawena Beach taking photos while on their honeymoon. The couple, visiting from Oregon, had only been on the Big Island of Hawaii for a few days.

After applying sunscreen, the two posed for fun photos, playing in the wet sand near the water. One photo Sergey had his ring on – then the next –  he didn’t! They literally showed us photos in the series on-and-off!

« My ring!, » he’d exclaimed. A heavy, tungsten ring, it had vanished without a trace in the deep sand. The group spent the rest of the afternoon digging for it to no avail.

The next morning Sylvie and I picked up Marina and Sergey and their cousin in our truck and started the long, bumpy 4×4 trail that headed down to the remote beach.

Once we’d hiked to the spot along the beach, my heart fell. Though we’d checked the tide charts, high tide was on its way in force – washing higher and higher over the spot Sergey had noticed the ring had gone missing.

Switching the detector on right away I got a target signal but digging the spot only hit lava rock below a thin layer of sand. Sylvie scanned the beach above the tide line in case the ring had been washed up there during the night’s high tide. I came back and back to that same place where I’d gotten the signal, fighting the water and waves as they got higher.

Sergey had tried digging with his hands while I showed him the place. Our long-handled scoop was useless as it was blocked by the lava rock buried beneath the sand – the water came in waves too strong and too rapid to have a chance to get to it. Sergey was on his hands and knees. « Try to feel under the rock and in crevasses for anything that moves, » I told him as both his arms were buried in sand.  Almost two hours had passed at this point and we’d all lost hope that we’d find it.

Suddenly, Sergey stood up and yelled, « I got it! » – He’d felt under the rock and took hold of what moved in his fingers. If it had slipped, the ring would have been sucked out into the now-heavy surf.

All of us jumped around and celebrated. « This ring couldn’t be replaced, » explained Marina. « It was blessed by the church and we believe that we can only get one of these in our lives! »

Better get it resized!

 

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bimd-sm-biz-card--with-bleed-legAlso check out www.BigIslandMetalDetecting.com for more photos!

Click here for a Google link to pics of the beach.

Two Lost Diamond Rings Recovered in Hawi on the Big Island of Hawaii

Avesta and Hamid with Brent and Sylvie Madison after finding their lost diamond rings in Hawi on Hawaii's Big Island.

Avesta and Hamid with Brent and Sylvie Madison after finding their lost diamond rings in Hawi on Hawaii’s Big Island.

The beautiful lost and recovered rings of Avesta from the State Park in Hawi, Hawaii (Big Island).

The beautiful lost and recovered rings of Avesta from the State Park in Hawi, Hawaii (Big Island).

 

We got an urgent call from a family on vacation who had lost two diamond rings in the water near Hawi, Hawaii (Big Island), while swimming with their children in the ocean.

We drove about 1 hour and 45 minutes to the small State Park of Keokea to recover the rings and met them in the parking lot.

It turns out that Avesta had lost both of her precious rings – one a diamond ring with a whooping 2.75 carats in platinum. The disappointment of both Avesta and her husband, Hamid, was visible at loosing their valuable rings but they were both optimistic at our chances of finding them.

I put my mask on and hit the shallow water with my Excalibur II metal detector. After a 30 minute search we had found a pocket full of coins but no rings. Swinging back into a sandy area, suddenly I heard the low growl of platinum in my metal detector’s headphones. « I don’t want to give you false hope but think I’ve found a ring, » I said.

Sure enough, the basket held a gleaming ring with nine diamonds in a row. Hamid picked it out of the basket, happy, and eager to see if the second ring was also nearby. As I put the detector back in the water, a second signal was instantly in the headphones!  And right there, we recovered both rings, one after the other, where they had been lost and sunken into the sand. The second ring we recovered was a whooping 2.75 carat diamond ring – you can see the joy and surprise on their faces on the video – when getting back their lost – and now found – treasure!

« Lucky me that I found you guys. Thank GOD!!!!! » Avesta wrote in an email the next day.  « Phewwww so lucky I am!! FYI it was our 8 year anniversary the day you found the ring, makes it even more special. »

 

Lost Ring Found Waikoloa Beach Area, Hawaii – Speedy Recovery

This was a great recovery for several reasons!

First, it marked the first ring recovery we’ve done since moving to the Big Island of Hawaii and joining Ring Finders three months ago.

We were so happy to help Pedro and Martyna from Poland find her lost engagement ring!

Second, this recovery set a new personal speed benchmark for finding lost rings!

Martyna had put the ring on a hat to shoot at sunset in memory of their one-year engagement at the same spot. Unfortunately the ring fell off the hat the moment a wave swept up and it was gone…!

They spent the evening looking for the ring with their fingers in the sand, and by the time they’d called us and we could make the hour’s drive to their location out at Anaeho’omalu Beach, Waikoloa, it was noon. Martyna told us she’d spent the night in tears.

Arriving on the beach, I was a little worried to see Pedro and Martyna’s friends – about six of them – all on their hands and knees raking fingers thru the sand and digging piles of sand here and there. Fortunately, they showed me the exact spot she’d lost the ring. I asked everyone to stand back and switched on our Excalibur II metal detector. Two, then three sweeps of the coil and, « HELLO! » I hear the growling lowish tone of platinum. 5 seconds… I asked Sylvie to switch on the GoPro but by the time she’d turned the power on, the ring was in the scoop and Martyna was hugging, Pedro, me, Sylvie and all her friends! Total search and recovery time was about 10 seconds! I wish all recoveries were that straight-forward – for everyone’s sake!

Brent and Sylvie’s Ring Recovery Feedback:

Pedro and Martyna did a few important ring-recovery steps right at the beginning which helped the speed of our recovery. We were fortunate that the waves were small with no rip along the beach. They were lucky enough to know exactly where they’d dropped the ring, so made a note of that exact location. They also marked the time – which gave us a chance to check tide levels and approximate wave height when they’d lost their ring.  On the challenges-side, having their friends dig around seems natural, especially if one knows the locale, but…it can dislodge a ring’s precarious place in the sand and allow it to be swept out with the waves. Fingers-in-the-sand-technique has about a 2% chance of finding anything… Also the chances of recovery get smaller and smaller quickly with passing time. By the time we got out to the site, 18 hours had passed. Call as soon as possible and we’ll be there as soon as available! Again, so happy for small waves and good « X-marks the Spot » info!

So happy Pedro and Martyna are still rejoicing!

 

 

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