Rural Hall Tag | The Ring Finders

Men’s Wedding Band RECOVERED Along I-74, Winston-Salem, NC

  • from Winston-Salem (North Carolina, United States)
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⚠️ SAFETY DISCLAIMER: It is not safe or recommended to walk along roadways, especially interstates, where vehicles travel between 65 and 80 miles per hour. Warning lights and high-visibility clothing were used for safety.

The Call

On Monday morning, October 12, I got a call from a man named Danny who asked if I could find a ring along the highway with a metal detector. I said yes. The interstate had been open only a short time, so trash and distracting signals should be minimal. Besides, I enjoy a challenge.

Danny had been driving in the fast lane of I-74 in Winston-Salem, talking on the phone. Just after passing the bridge, he casually tossed his gum out the window of his pickup at highway speed, and his wedding ring went with it. He stopped as quickly as he could and walked back to search. When he couldn’t find the ring he gave up, but he’d had the presence of mind to note the landmarks and drop a pin on his phone’s map where he stopped.

He described the ring as a wide, two-tone yellow gold band. We agreed to meet around 6:00 that evening. Danny planned to borrow a metal detector to help, though he had no experience and asked me to show him how to use it.

The First Search

At the interstate, Danny parked on the northbound side and I parked on the southbound side. Traffic leaving the city was very heavy at that hour. We met in the median, which was protected by guard rails. I helped him set up his machine, turned the sensitivity down, and explained what to listen for. I used my own ring so he could hear how it would respond. Then we walked south, carefully scanning the edge of the pavement with the detectors and the pavement itself with our eyes.

After about 90 minutes, a DOT Safety Patrol truck pulled up behind my car, but we kept searching. As daylight faded we called it a night. Before leaving, Danny handed me a $5 bill he’d found while searching. It was a very long walk back to my car, and I noticed the DOT Safety Patrol was now on the other side, talking with Danny.

To shorten the story: I returned alone the next afternoon and came up empty.

Turning to AI

My coworkers are programmers who rave about AI, so I fed it a very detailed prompt. It returned specific search areas based on speed, velocity, height, and the coordinates of Danny’s pin. I was impressed by how much it factored in: the vehicle type, speed, lane position, a 10-gram gold ring tossed from the driver’s window, and the GPS point where the truck stopped. It told me, in feet, how far back from the stop point to search and where to prioritize.

It outlined a “primary” area and an “extended” area, explaining that the extended area was needed because the driver’s reaction time was unknown, so it was making its best guess. It even covered wind drag and how the ring might bounce and roll, given the direction it was tossed and the forward speed it launched from.

I sent Danny the research along with an image showing the target areas overlaid on a Google satellite map. The base image was less than a year old, so it gave clear landmarks alongside the search zones. A real treasure map!

More Searching, No Luck

I returned Saturday morning and searched the marked areas until rain set in after an hour. Once it passed, I searched another 3 hours, again with no luck. I texted Danny to explain the area I’d covered. I was sure the AI had it right and the ring was somewhere in that zone. Danny said he’d go out and search as well.

I tried again the following week, but I arrived late, the sky was overcast, and it was getting dark, so I called it off.

One More Try

Over this Halloween weekend, I had already said “uncle,” but I just couldn’t give up. I went back to the AI with more details and “what if” scenarios about the road angle, including the possibility that the ring struck the guard rail on the median side.

On Sunday morning, I brought fishing weights tied with bright orange string for visibility. With no other vehicles in the area, I tossed each one toward the median at 65 mph to reenact the throw. One of three hit the rail and bounced back into the lane. Since the ring was round and the roadway tilts to the right, maybe it had bounced and rolled that way. Granted, that meant four lanes of traffic, but I had to give it another go.

This time I started at the base of the on-ramp and walked north, detecting the right side where the grass meets the pavement. This side had far more trash, so my detector alerted constantly. I investigated each good signal and moved on.

An hour and over a quarter mile later, I got the double beep I’d been waiting for. I looked but didn’t see anything, then rechecked with my pinpointer and found my treasure. The ring had clearly been run over a few times, but a good polish should take care of the road rash.

The Reveal

I was thrilled and wished someone was there to share the moment. I took a few photos to document the find, then headed out. I messaged Danny and asked if he’d replaced the ring yet. He said he’d bought a rubber one. I wrote back, “Wanna replace the rubber one?” and attached a photo of me holding his ring.

A minute later he replied, “You found it?” I said yes and offered to bring it to him. His kids were asleep, so we’re meeting Monday afternoon.

The Return

Monday afternoon I met Danny at his office and returned his ring.  I had cleaned it and polished the road rash out with his prior approval and he appeared very relieved to have his wedding band returned.

At 21 days, this was my most time-consuming, technical, and largest-area search to date. I’ve labeled this one the proverbial “Ring in a Haystack.”

Thank you, Danny, for reaching out and letting me help search for your treasure. I’m so glad it has a happy ending, even though it took three weeks. “We did it!”

Lost a ring, keys, or other metal item? Visit TheRingFinders.com to find a member in your area.

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Diamond ear ring FOUND!! – Statesville, North Carolina

  • from Winston-Salem (North Carolina, United States)
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On Thursday afternoon, I was contacted by a lady asking for help finding an earring she had lost a week earlier. She was worried because street sweeping was scheduled in the area soon, another member of TheRingFinders.com had referred her to me due to the urgency and I was closer. I told her I’d help, though the commute would take me an hour. I arrived around 6:30 with roughly an hour of sunlight left.

We tested her remaining ear ring with my detector, which registered a VDI of 02 on the Manticore. I started searching where she had parked and, luckily, found the missing earring in the street within minutes. It was where she had exited her car. She’d been putting in her earrings while parked, and after she put in the first one, a phone call distracted her. The second stayed in her lap, and when the call ended she got out of the car and went inside, only realizing later that it was missing.

During the previous week, she’d made many attempts, and several neighbors had helped search daily. One even used a metal detector she described as “$100 off Amazon.”

Ear ring was precious to her as it was a gift and losing it was not an option. As seen in the photo the items blended in very well with the pavement. It had been run over, and the backing was a few inches from the diamond portion. The diamond’s mount was bent and damaged, but the diamond itself was 100% intact.

Another success story and testimony of the international services available thanks to TheRingFinders.com

 

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Clemmons, NC – Wedding band lost exercising in park.

  • from Winston-Salem (North Carolina, United States)
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On Monday 09/14/2026 I received notification from my daughter that a local resident was appealing for assistance locating her husbands ring on a social media site.  Described as lost while exercising in a park.

I contacted Mrs. Brown and explained I was a short distance from the park and would be glad to assist in the search.  I also warned her to not share too many specifics online because it was lost in a public place.   Explaining it was in a heavy traffic area and time was of the essence I assured her I would be on-site immediately following a meeting I had already committed to.

Arrived at the park after 8:00 and darkness had set in.  I immediately realized that no lighting was in this area so I geared up with my headlamp and a spare light in my pocket “just in case”.   Walking towards the trail entrance I scanned beside of the paved sidewalk in case he had dropped in this area. I had many strong shallow signals and each time found where others had dropped fishing weights.   When I entered the trailhead I began scanning left of the trail approximately 50 yards into woods. It became even darker because trees blocked star and moonlight.  Approaching a park bench I recalled her description of his workout that he would stop to do push-ups. This area looked to be where he may stop to do push-ups.  I searched around the bench and approximately four feet off trail I had a strong signal. Looking closer I discovered a black and gold ring.

I texted Mrs. Brown asking if she could describe the ring and she replied with a photo.  Whoo-hoo, ring found in 30 minutes.  I made her aware by texting a photo and she immediately called me overjoyed and saying “I cannot believe you found it”.   We made arrangements to meet the next day.   She was not going to tell her husband so it could be a surprise.

I met with Mrs. Brown and she was very happy and could not stop looking at the ring.  Her husband as of this writing is still not aware of the recovery and hopefully we will get an update in comments of how the reveal pans out.

Thank you for entrusting me to find your husbands treasure.  Although this recovery didn’t cause to much exercise for me I did get some steps in.


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Property markers located in Yadkin County, NC for couple that had tree fall damaging home and side porch.

  • from Winston-Salem (North Carolina, United States)
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I was contacted by a lady whom I assisted almost a year ago when her husband lost his wedding band.  She advised that in a recent storm two very large pine trees had fallen onto their home causing damage.   The property line is lined with many additional trees is the same state of decay causing concern.   They were unsure « if » the trees were theirs, neighbors or shared and wanted to address the situation before additional damage following their insurance carriers instructions.

They had reached out to many land survey companies whom quoted significant fees or responded that they didn’t have availability to help.  Many didn’t even return calls.  Discouraged she remembered my assisting with the ring recovery and knowing property markers are metallic returned to my RF listing and saw I assisted in locating property markers.

We scheduled a day and time for me to assist.  Preliminary research I used publicly accessible tools to research property lines, lot owners and placement of markers.

Arrived, searched and after a little confusion and finding the Plat map that was included with their home purchase information we were successful in identifying that their back yard was deeper than they thought and that the large line of trees was in no way on their property.  🙂   To be 100% sure I located the driven markers digging one and clearing growth away from the others.  To maintain visibility both were spray painted white.

Full disclosure I am not a land surveyor.  I only located the markers placed by surveyors of years past that matched up to the written description on their plat map which is official record at the Yadkin County, NC Register of Deeds.

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Wedding ring recovered in Catawba, NC lost while fighting off angry yellow jackets. see link at end for WXII-12 News Story.

  • from Winston-Salem (North Carolina, United States)
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Received message from Mr. Ashe asking if I could assist him in Catawba area of Lake Norman.  I advised I was at work but could meet him afterwards and I was almost an hour away.  We made arrangements and I will let todays news story pick it up from here :)…

CATAWBA, N.C. — A Catawba man has been reunited with his wedding ring weeks after losing it while swatting at a swarm of yellow jackets in his backyard. He was helped by the metal detecting skills of a Forsyth County ring finder.

It all started in early August when David Ashe was doing some landscaping in preparation for a pool to be constructed in his backyard.

« Had the weed whacker, and I kind of went over a yellow jacket nest, » Ashe said. As the insects swarmed, Ashe tried to fend them off.

« I was swatting hard, and my ring shot off, and at that point I just ran, » he said.

Ashe escaped with more than 100 stings, and his wedding ring missing. He knew it was lost somewhere in the wooded ravine behind his home.

« My ring is very, very sentimental and precious to me because my wife picked it out and engraved it, » Ashe said.

Married since 2012, Ashe says his wife means the world to him. He said being without the ring felt strange.

« It feels naked because in the 12 years I’ve had this, I wear this every day, like it’s just every single day, » he said. « And my wife was reassuring me. She’s like, ‘You know, it doesn’t mean we’re not married, just means you don’t have your ring.’ But for me, it felt like something was missing. Something was just not right. »

Weeks passed before Ashe could return to the area to search for the ring, as he first had to deal with the yellow jackets. Heavy rain further complicated the search.

« It fills with water and kind of pushes,” he said, referring to the ravine where the ring was lost. “And at that point I thought for sure that’s what was happening. It was just going to keep pushing out on out into Lake Norman.”

Ashe purchased a metal detector to aid in his search, but the low-cost device didn’t yield any results. He said he was constantly picking up on the beeps and pops of other metal items.

That’s when he searched online and found out about a group called The Ring Finders. On the group’s website, he discovered Brad Trogdon, a Forsyth County resident with a simple description of his beloved hobby. « Obsessively metal detect if you ask my wife, » Trogdon said.

Trogdon discovered his passion for metal detecting during a beach trip two years ago.

“I refer to a metal detector like a foreign language; you can hear them speaking, you don’t comprehend it until you’ve studied awhile,” he said. “And that’s how I understand what I’m hearing in the beeps and the pops and whatnot.”

Now, he uses that skill to help people recover lost valuables, using higher-end metal detectors and an unrelenting attitude.

« I have a bad habit of not wanting to give up, » Trogdon said.

The two searched the woods behind Ashe’s house for hours, even continuing after dark. Ashe assumed his ring had flown in a certain direction, but searching that area proved fruitless. Then, Trogdon turned to a different section.

« It was late. It was very hot. I was soaking wet, and I said, I’m going to give it one more go because I hadn’t searched that area but once,” Trogdon said. “And when I did, the second search is when we came across it. »

Finally, Trogdon’s metal detector emitted the distinct beeping sound they had been waiting for.

« With a flashlight shining on it, that ring glowed back at me,” Trogdon said. “And that’s when I grinned real big, and I asked him, I’m like, ‘You didn’t say it had diamonds in it!’ »

The white gold wedding ring with a line of diamonds embedded in it was found tucked into a rotten tree stump just feet from Ashe’s house.

« I put it on my hand, and it just felt like everything was just back to where it was, where it should be, » Ashe said.

Ashe has since added an adjuster to his ring to prevent it from flying off again, but if it ever does, Trogdon and his metal detector are ready to help.

Learn more about Brad Trogdon’s ring-finding work by clicking here.

Lead in to news story: WXII 12 – Lead In

Full news story:  WXII 12 – NBC News

Read the rest of this entry »

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Concord Mills, NC – Lost wedding ring cleaning garden – FOUND!

  • from Winston-Salem (North Carolina, United States)
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Received text message Tuesday asking if I could help find her husbands wedding band.  I advised could help tomorrow afternoon as would be in area and another ring finder services that area.  She is out of town and timing is perfect husband contacted another but wasn’t available for a few days.  Story is that husband was cleaning garden and while tossing bad tomatoes over the fence he realized his ring was missing.   I advised I would arrive at 6:30 and would text when enroute and again at 10 minutes out.

Arrived at their home and husband led me to the garden area and reenacted his work pattern of throwing with left hand backwards over the fence. I searched the immediate area and V pattern towards to fence. Negative results…. Relocated to outside of fence and began search carefully from fence and 10 feet back. This was a little more difficult because of small trees and overgrowth.  After 10 minutes working across the fence line I heard the desired tone and visually spotted the ring at the base of a tree. I retrieved the ring and handed to its owner whom was very happy.

Conversation following the recovery, owner admitted he had purchased a metal detector locally and searched without success. Said « the thing just made a lot of noises ». He then described purchasing a pen pointer off Amazon and searching following an online search suggestion.  Great that he tried himself and fortunate the area was in his property but had it been in a public space the delay and prolonged time laying on the ground a stranger could have just happened by and found it and gained a new ring to his loss.   Absolutely nothing better that the big smiles folks make when their items are found and returned.

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Wedding ring returned to owner. – Mount Airy, NC

  • from Winston-Salem (North Carolina, United States)
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On Wednesday, 06/10/2026, I was scrolling Facebook when I saw a post in a local group inviting anyone offering services or running a small business to share what they do. I had a few minutes, so I created a post that said I help lost jewelry find its owners and owners find their lost items and attached my business card .

Within an hour, I received a call from Jamie, who said he had just seen my post and had lost his wedding ring a few days earlier while cleaning a cooler after a weekend gathering. He explained that he lived in the Mount Airy area and asked if I could help. My reply was, « Absolutely. » As long as someone hadn’t picked it up, I was confident I could locate it.

I told Jamie that I was in Wilkes County (about 45 minutes away) and currently at a meeting, but I would head his way afterward and text him my ETA.

After the meeting, as I walked to my car, I noticed the sky was dark and angry to the northeast—toward Jamie’s location. I entered his address into my GPS, which showed an arrival time of around 6:00 p.m. I texted Jamie the details and got on the road.

During the drive, I entered a heavy downpour and thought to myself, « I may be detecting under an umbrella for the first time! » Fortunately, I was out of the rain after only about 10 minutes.

When I arrived, I met Jamie, who explained that he had washed the cooler and then flung his hands backward to dry them. You don’t have to guess what happened next. The ring flew off, and he heard it hit the ground somewhere in the distance. Although he searched extensively, he was unable to find it.

I carry rings with me so we can perform a test toss and estimate how far a ring might travel. The test toss indicated a distance of approximately 25 feet. I began my search beyond that distance and worked my way back toward the porch, but with no success.

Jamie then mentioned that the ring could have gone farther to his left than the test toss suggested. I started again, this time from the porch and worked my way out into the yard. As I did, I began feeling raindrops. Remembering the strong storm I had driven through earlier, I picked up the pace. About a minute later, I heard exactly what I was hoping for.

Under my coil was his ring.

I picked it up and quickly walked over to Jamie, asking, « Is this it? »

« Yes! » he replied. « Where did you find it? »

By this point, the rain was really coming down. I asked him for a quick photo, you can even see the raindrops on the business card.

Found in less than 30 minutes and barely missed the monsoon. 🙂  Thank you for trusting me and allowing me to assist you, Jamie!

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Forsyth, Stokes, Davidson, Davie, Yadkin and Wilkes Counties Metal Detecting Service… Lost your Ring, Cell Phone or Keys… Call ASAP – TheRingFinders Brad (336) 793-5698.

  • from Winston-Salem (North Carolina, United States)
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I received a message on social media reply to a post where I had assisted a lady in locating a tool she had dropped in her yard.  She explained that she had lost her diamond ring in her yard while randomly pulling weeds over a year ago.  Her main question was could it be found after this amount of time.  I responded absolutely that rings have been found that have been lost for hundreds of years and precious metals hold up very well in the soil.

We scheduled a day and time for me to review the area that she thought it could have dropped.  We searched four areas of her home with negative results.  After an hour she wanted to stop the search so she could prepare a meal for her family.  Even though not immediately found we know where the ring is not hiding and I hope to schedule time and perform a broader search around her home.

Most important if you are reading this and have lost a ring or valuable item « Do Not » post specifics on social media with pictures and where you last saw the item.  Social media is great but also not so honest people are there as well that will gladly take your information and search for your item for their personal gain.  Its sad but does often occur.  Please reach out to me or another reputable individual that may be able to assist you in locating your item.

This is a hobby for me and not a business so any reward you provide other than expenses I gladly accept and in turn share with local non-profits and St. Jude Children’s hospital.

I love my hobby and more importantly the smiles on peoples faces when their items are found.

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Missing wedding band found in Yadkinville, NC

  • from Winston-Salem (North Carolina, United States)
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Sunday morning assignment:

10:22am I received the following message…
« I located your information through Ring Finders and would like your help in locating my husband’s titanium wedding band.  It slipped off of his finger into our yard yesterday and we have been looking to no avail.  We live In Yadkinville and hope that you are able to help us find his ring. »

11:32am I spoke with Sue whom was able to provide detailed information that her husband had worked in the yard on Saturday, ending by washing his hands beside their home.  He shook his hands to dry them and immediately realized his wedding band slipped off.  Sue said they searched and raked the immediate area until after dark with negative results.  Recently moving to North Carolina she advised they had a trip planned to visit the Baltimore Estate and that her husband had said he feels naked as he has not been without his wedding band since they married.  In hopes to find a solution she searched the internet for « how to find ring » and discovered The Ring Finders website and contacted me being her closest resource.  I let her know I was in the next county and would be glad to assist them and would arrive after lunch.

2:00pm I texted Sue and let her know I was en-route and would arrive in 15 minutes.

2:18pm arrived and met with Sue and husband whom escorted me to the location of the loss. They walked through the series of events including how he was standing when shaking his hands and the direction of the thud sound.  I retrieved my equipment and began a scan of the area.  The area did have many iron signals however I located the ring within a few minutes.  Recovered only 4-5 feet from where he was standing and immediately in the area they searched previously.

The smiles on both of their faces cannot be described other than to say they mirrored those of my grandchildren at Christmas.   Thank you Sue for allowing me the opportunity to assist you and your husband.

If you the readers of this message ever lose something of value, contact a member of The Ring Finders, we will be glad to assist you recover your lost treasure.

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