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FOUND…Ladies White Gold Wedding Ring Lost in Lake Mitchell, Clanton, Alabama!

  • from Huntsville (Alabama, United States)
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I received a call from Greg and Jamie right before lunch time on Sunday, July 12th, 2020.  They explained that Jamie had lost her white gold wedding ring while swimming in Lake Mitchell on the 4th of July.  Jamie’s ring is normally a snug fit, but after swimming for a few hours making the ring slightly loose, her ring slid off and into the water after getting snagged in the back of their boat’s wooden platform while she was climbing out of the water.  Jamie watched in dismay as the ring fell and she tried her best to grab it before it sunk to the bottom, but to no avail.  Greg borrowed a mask and searched the lake bottom, but was unable to come up with her ring.  Jamie’s wedding ring was custom made by a friend and had huge sentimental value.  I could tell just how much it meant to her as she was unable to talk about her ring without getting emotional.  Greg ended up buying a Nokta Makro PulseDive Pinpointer and searched with SCUBA gear, but only found pull tabs and bottlecaps in the area that he was able to cover.  During a Google search, Greg’s sister found the blog I wrote about the ring recovery I did a few months earlier for a ring lost in a lake in Tuskegee, Alabama.

There was a large storm passing through Huntsville when they called me, but it was supposed to pass to the east.  Lake Mitchell is in Clanton, AL and about a 2.5 hour drive south of Huntsville, so the weather was clear down there.  Greg and Jamie asked if I would be willing to do a search and I told them I’d be more than happy to!  I could come out that Sunday or wait until the following weekend when I was off again from work.  Jamie preferred that I come as soon as possible as the lake was a public area.  I agreed and my husband, Lindell, and I gathered up our gear and were on our way within the hour.  We met up with Greg and Jamie and were on the water by 2:30pm.  The area the ring was lost was about a 10 minute boat ride from the marina.  We made it out there and I had just got in the water with my detector when we realized the storm took a turn south and was upon us.  We decided to take cover and wait out the storm.  Lindell and I were finally able to get in the water and conduct a search around 4pm.  We searched for about 3 hours, but only came up with the usual pull tabs, bottle caps, and fishing gear.  Jamie decided to call it as it was getting late.  She asked if I thought that her ring was gone forever.  I told her that if her ring was there (which she saw it fall off), it could definitely be found.  I just needed more time to complete a thorough grid search.  If you miss it by an inch, then you miss it by a mile.  We planned to do another search the following Saturday starting earlier in the day.

Lindell and I went back out to Lake Mitchell and met up with Jamie and Greg on Saturday, July 18th.  The ring was lost in about 3 feet of water, but there was a possibility that the water level had changed.  There was a permanent marker buoy there as our reference point.  The search area was now around 3-5 feet of water.  During the week I made marker buoys with dive weights to mark a 4 corner grid.  We set-up the grid and I got in the water with my Equinox 800 and long handled XTREME Sand Scoop.  I told Jamie not to be discouraged as the search may take a few hours to check all signals that came up in the white gold range.

Greg brought 2 SCUBA set-ups.  Greg and Lindell planned to conduct SCUBA searches.  I was unable to dive as I had a craniotomy to remove a benign meningioma about 7 weeks prior.  Greg helped Lindell get set-up and Lindell got in the water with our brand new Excalibur 2 about 10 minutes after me.  Lindell started on the opposite side from me (area we had not had time to search the week prior).  Greg was just getting in the water when Lindell came up to me.  Inconspicuously, Lindell showed me a ring.  It was Jamie’s lost wedding ring!!!  Lindell’s 4th target after 3 pull tabs was Jamie’s ring!  Lindell said he was going to surprise Jamie.  Lindell then went up and showed Greg.  Jamie hadn’t noticed, because she was trying to keep busy by walking around in the water.  We all remained calm.  Lindell went up to Jamie and had her scan his hand with the Excalibur.  She said his watch was setting off the detector, Lindell then opened up his hand and revealed her ring.  Jamie stood in shock for a moment, because she thought the search would take a while.  Once Jamie realized it was her ring, she was just overcome with emotion!  What a great feeling!!!  This is the best part of being a Ring Finder!  The second best is finding the ring.  Celebration hugs and high-fives followed.  We took a few pictures and took a few moments to let it all sink in.  Jamie’s ring is absolutely gorgeous!!!  I had never seen a ring like this before!  As always, I thanked the Lord for a safe and successful ring recovery!

Jamie and Greg are such a sweet and friendly couple!  They brought sandwiches and offered to take us around the lake on their boat for the rest of the afternoon.  We graciously accepted and had a blast!  Lake Mitchell is absolutely beautiful!  What a great day!!!

If you or someone you know has lost a ring, jewelry, or other metal item, please contact a member of The Ring Finders.

 

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High School Class Ring worn for 30 years Huntsville, Alabama…lost, but now…FOUND!

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I received a voicemail and text message from Matthew on Friday, 8 May 2020.  I called him back and he told me that the day prior, he lost his very sentimental high school class ring that he’s worn every day for the past 30 years!  Matthew explained that he was doing some yard work, and he saw his ring fly off while tossing a stick over his fence and into the wood line.  He rented a metal detector and tried to find his ring, but quickly realized the detector was not top notch.  He went back on Google and came across The Ring Finders.  I told him that I would be able to come out that Sunday for a search, since I was helping a local flower shop deliver Mother’s Day orders on Friday and Saturday.

My husband, Lindell, and I went out on Sunday afternoon armed with our Equinox 800, AT Pro, and Garrett carrots (pin pointers).  We thought that the ring should be behind the fence based on Matthew’s story and test ring throw.  Matthew remembered one item flying straight and one item flying towards the right and into the woods.  The search was fairly difficult based on the amount of brush, old fence posts, and trees to detect around.  There were also a lot of signals to check from random items being discarded over the years.  We did our best to detect around everything while trying to keep a tight gridline going.  We also used our pin pointers where our detector coils wouldn’t fit.  After about 2-3 hours we had to call it quits.  Matthew thanked us, but based on my persistence, I knew I would be back out.  He lived close by in Huntsville, so the drive was fairly short.

I went back out in the morning that next Friday, 15 May 2020, so that I would have plenty of time to search.  I decided to check the yard first in case the ring didn’t make it over the fence.  No ring, so I headed back out in the woods.  I thoroughly searched around all the fence debris in case the ring bounced down in one of the gaps.  After another 2 hours, I felt confident that the ring was not in that area.  I decided to try back out in the yard.

One of the last areas I searched in the yard was where Matthew was standing when he threw the stick, which I didn’t check earlier in the day (lesson learned lol).  The grass was very short, and I thought we would’ve been able to eyeball a large gold class ring.  I checked a couple of surface targets with my pin pointer and started to see a gold outline of a ring move that was barely sticking out of the ground.  Matthew’s lost ring!!!  The ring had definitely been stepped on and was flush with the ground.  Barely visible and couldn’t be seen by just eyeballing it.  I jumped up and started celebrating!  I ripped off my gloves, tossed up my hat, and thanked the Lord!  I was so happy, relieved, and honestly shocked that the ring was right under my nose the entire time.  Matthew was probably standing on the ring when he did the test throw.  A great reminder to always think outside of the box, because rings sometimes end up where we least expect them to.

Matthew had to work that day, but his wife and daughter were in the house.  They didn’t hear me celebrating, so I calmly took the ring to the front door for the surprise reveal.  This is the best part of the job and it never gets old!  It’s hard to put their reaction into words, but I would say it’s pretty close to pure joy, happiness, and amazement!  Matthew’s wife and daughter then decided to surprise him at work.  I can only imagine his reaction.  Matthew’s ring has a 30-year story attached to it, and now that story gets to continue.

I’ve been waiting for Matthew to send a smile photo before I posted this blog, but haven’t received it yet.  I really wanted to get this posted before Memorial Day.  I should’ve had his wife or daughter take a photo while I was there.  Or I should’ve taken a selfie with the ring.  Until I receive his photo, I’ll just post one of me with a big smile and a thumbs up for another successful ring find!

 

 

If you or someone you know has lost a ring, jewelry, or other metal item, please contact a member of The Ring Finders.

 

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