Soldered Rings Lost While Swimming…FOUND in Gilbertsville, Kentucky!
Christina McCree – Ring Finder/Metal Detectorist for northern Alabama and southern/middle Tennessee…call or text ASAP, anytime 24/7…610-504-6135
On Wednesday (May 1st, 2024), I received a text message from Jillian stating she had lost her engagement ring and wedding band (soldered together) on Sunday in about 4 feet of water at Kentucky Dam Beach in Gilbertsville, Kentucky. She had contacted another Ring Finder that lived closer, but she hadn’t heard back from him yet. She asked for advice on what to do. I told Jillian that if she hadn’t heard back from him by Friday, I would come out for a search. Kentucky is further than I like to travel, but I have a hard time saying no to a ring search, lol. That evening, I researched if metal detecting is allowed at the beach area. It’s not, so I called the Kentucky Dam Lodge on Thursday morning to obtain special permission. They granted me permission to metal detect for Jillian’s rings, but anything else I found would need to be turned in. I said absolutely and told them that I would be there Friday morning.
I made the 3-hour and 20-minute drive from Huntsville, AL to Gilbertsville, KY early on Friday. I stopped by the Kentucky Dam Lodge first to check in and make sure I was still good to detect. Permission was granted, so I made my way to the beach to meet Jillian and her husband, Chris.
I put on my 3mm wet suit, grabbed my Minelab Equinox 900 and long-handled Xtreme Scoops sand scoop, and got in the water. I had Jillian and Chris line me up with where Jillian had been standing. She was playing with her daughter and was tossing her in the water. On the last toss is when she felt her ring catch on to her daughter and slide off.
I started a grid search in that area. The bottom was sandy when you first walked in, but quickly turned into small sized rocks/pebbles around the 4-foot area. Over the course of an hour, I had one good sounding target in the ladies gold range, but could not get it in my scoop. There were harder packed rocks in that area, making it difficult to get a good bite with my scoop. I thought maybe it was a larger item beneath the surface, so I continued to check the area and expand my grid. I easily dug a couple of pull tabs, but nothing else.
I kept going back to that one target. Jillian really felt like it was in the area where she was standing during the loss. I tried diving to retrieve the item, but I was too buoyant to stay on the bottom. I had my diving weights in the truck, but Jillian offered to dive for the target. I lined her up with where it was, and she dove with my pinpointer and flashlight. I gently pushed her down, so she would not float back up. Teamwork makes the dream work, lol! She tried two times, but kept losing the spot. On the third try I kept my coil over the target until she was there. She instantly popped up and had the rings in her hand!! Jillian was so excited and relieved to have her rings back! I was slightly surprised, because I had so much trouble getting the item in my scoop. Nonetheless, this elusive target was what we were after, and Jillian got to make the exciting recovery!
We both got out of the water and dried off before taking pictures. I chatted with Jillian and Chris for a few minutes before I headed over to the Lodge to give them the good news and thank them again for the special permission. Today (May 5th, 2024) is Jillian and Chris’s 8-year wedding anniversary! It makes me so happy that Jillian has her rings back to celebrate their special day. As always, I give all glory and praise to God for the recovery and safe travels. Until the next adventure… please take care and God bless!
Kate reached out to me wanting to know if it was possible to locate her engagement that slipped off her finger during the day somewhere at the beach. It was late in the evening, and after determining that it was close to high tide when it most likely came off, it would be best to wait until the early morning low tide. We arranged to meet early the next morning at the dune walkover. As we were heading to the location I had asked her to mark in google maps we talked about the main things she could remember leading up the the ring disappearing. Once we got to the spot, she showed me some pictures she had, before and after the ring went missing. Something didn’t look just right, but I figured I would check the area that was marked. After coming up empty handed I asked her to see the pics again, it was then I knew that was not quit the right location. I adjusted the location about 40′ to the north, and things looked just right, including the piles of seaweed that had pushed high up on the hill the prior day when the pics were taken. Kate confirmed after looking at the pics that this was absolutely the right location. Combined with the rough surf, was the fact that she was boogie boarding, and that is never a good thing when doing a recovery. Kate did remember one wave that knocked her down, where she lost the board, and that was luckily close to the beach in waist deep water. I decided to hit that area real quick, and while Kate was in about knee deep water looking, I got a signal that made my eyes open wide. With the waves crashing right where I was, I took extra time to zero in on the exact spot, and hoped to grab it on the first scoop. Sure enough I had it on the first try, BINGO, it was her absolutely stunning ring!!!!! Kate had no idea what had just taken place just a few feet behind her, as I scooted up the hill , past the waves to get a better look and clean it off. At that moment I decided to make a video to capture her response, which you will see I’m not very good at. (Will be posted soon) Her reaction was something that makes this profession SO SO rewarding that no words could ever explain.
