Lost a ring? Don’t wait to call! 215-850-0188 Nicole lost her engagement ring in the sand in Cape May, New Jersey. The ring fell out of the cup holder in her chair. After she realized it was missing, she searched the area but could not find it. Then she reached out to fellow Ringfinder Jeff Laag who was unavailable at the moment, so he referred her to me. I searched a quick grid pattern and the ring was recovered.
Cynthia and her husband Juan were cooling off in the waters of Mission Bay. Cynthia’s ring was bothering her finger, and when she adjusted it, it came off and sunk into waist deep water. Try as they might, they couldn’t find it. An online search brought them to TheRingFinders.com website and my contact info. We arranged to meet an hour before the afternoon low tide at 1pm, which should be low enough to where the ring might be just in the wet sand instead of waist deep water. That makes searching much easier. I arrived a bit early and a short time later Cynthia and Juan arrived and found me down by the water. They directed me to the search area and I proceeded to start a grid pattern from lower slope out into thigh deep water. Some time,
and lot’s of good sounding junk targets later, still no ring. Being a hot Sunday afternoon, there were lots of other people and children playing in that area too, so, it could be I may have missed it in dodging around them. I then started a grid 90 degrees from my last one. I started up on the slope and worked my way into the water. In ankle deep water, I got a sweet sounding 11 on my Equinox, sifted the sand out of the scoop, and saw Cynthia’s beautiful ring in the bottom. I looked over to where they were sitting, gave them thumbs up, and held up her ring in triumph. An emotional Cynthia fell into her husband’s arms, people on the beach were amazed, and I ended up answering many questions about our service. Cynthia and Juan were high school sweethearts, so, it was wonderful to help continue the ring’s story for them. A pleasure to meet you both, and thank you for the reward.
Montague contacted me about a ring his wife lost in the water at Ocean Beach. She had been in waist deep water holding their daughter when her family heirloom rose gold ring slipped off and into the surf. In looking at the tide chart, Montague agreed to meet me there at 1am for the low tide and a better shot at finding the ring. Being Saturday night, there was still lots of people partying and parking was still a problem, but, we eventually met and proceeded to the search area. Running a grid pattern from lower slope into knee deep water didn’t produce the ring, so, after re-evaluating where she was probably standing, I moved higher up on the slope. After a few more passes, I got a much higher reading than a rose gold ring should produce, but, I like to remove all targets to reduce the chance of them masking the signal I expect to receive. I scooped down, and pulled up a ring, but, as I suspected, it was a silver ring. Well, it turns out that was a second ring that she dropped into the water! Another search of the immediate area produced the nice low tone that I was hoping to hear, and the rose gold ring was in my scoop. A happy Montague now got to head home and bring the good news with him. A pleasure to meet you Montague and thank you for the reward.
Patrick and his family spent the day at the beach in Coronado. Toward the end of the day, he went to brush some sand off his hands, and his platinum wedding band was brushed into the beach as well. The good thing was, that they knew where in the area it should be, and they didn’t leave until they could get help. When I got the call, I grabbed my gear and headed straight over. We managed to find each other in the dark by meeting by one of the lifeguard kiosks, and then proceeded to the search area. They cleared their gear away so I could sweep the area. 10 seconds, two steps later, and first target, I had Patrick’s ring in the scoop! If only all of the hunts could be this easy. A pleasure to meet you Patrick and thank you for the reward.
Chris lost his platinum wedding band trying to catch a ball in ankle-deep water today. I received a call from fellow Ringfinder Jeff Laag who gave me Anouska’s phone number so I could get the details for the recovery. I started a search of the wet sand shortly after I arrived, and the ring was found on the slope. It was Chris’ and his family’s first day of vacation in Ocean City, New Jersey-it can now be a relaxing one!
Bonnie and her fiance were visiting here in San Diego and went to La Jolla Shores to enjoy the sand and water. They went out surfing, and when coming in on a wave, her engagement ring came off in waist deep surf. An online search brought them to The Ring Finders website and my contact info. I got the call later yesterday and after looking at the tide chart, figured I’d give it a try this morning at low tide. It wasn’t going to all that much lower than when she lost it, but, every little bit helps when detecting in the surf. Bonnie sent me a Google map and I used that to start my search at 6:30 am this morning. They showed up about 20 minutes later and I discovered that I needed to move north about 50 yards and was told it should be just north of where they had cones placed on each side of the lifeguard kiosk the day before. Being early still, they hadn’t put the cones out yet, so, we just had to guess where they had been. After a new starting spot, I began my grid and after a short time, they said they had an appointment to go to, wished me luck, and left.
I continued on with my shore-to-surf grid pattern heading north through the search area. After an hour and not a single target, I decided to go back to the starting point and head south. Half hour later and still not a signal, I began a crossgrid working parallel to the shore and working from deeper water toward the beach. At this point the tide had turned, started to come in,
and the surf was getting rougher. After reaching ankle deep water and nothing to show for it. I was wondering where to search next. At that point, I noticed that the lifeguards were putting the cones out. Since they usually put them in the same area each day, I took a closer look, and realized that I needed to go south just a little more to completely cover the supposed search area. After a bit, I was just about finished with that area too. Wet, cold, tired, hungry, I was going to call it a day after the next pass or two. Just then, I got the signal I’d been waiting to hear all morning. One scoop later and I was relieved to see Bonnie’s ring. I emailed them the good news and headed home. They came by my house a little before noon and a happy Bonnie was reunited with her beautiful ring. A pleasure meeting you both, good luck with your move and upcoming marriage, and thank you for the reward.
Nicole’s call to her father was returned with a link to TheRingFinders.com. After a short conversation with Tim I was on my way to the bay side of Cape Cod. At the end of the road I tried to call Tim but due to No Cell Phone Service I could not contact him. He was somewhere out on the beach among the 100s of beach goers. One such beach goers was kind enough to let me use her phone to call Tim. When she heard me asking about the ring she was ready to tell me the story. It seams the loss was well known by many of the beach goers.
Tim showed up and off we went eager to start searching for his ring. After about 20 feet of searching to my surprise there were no signals. Oh, my mistake, I had left my detector set to a very specific setting to find a hearing aid. A quick change of a program setting and I was searching again. Quarter, soda bottle cap, 2 beer bottle caps and then the platinum wedding band was in my scoop. I left the ring in the scoop for Tim to remove and place on his finger. I wish I had my camera handy to catch the kiss between Tim and Nicole. As I didn’t and that they would not repeat it for a camera I will just have to settle on attached photos for the Book of Smiles.
In the short talk we had after finding the ring it was revealed that the ring went missing after re-applying sunscreen and not removing the ring from the beach chair’s pocket before moving the chair to a different location. The second bit of information was that Tim had proposed to Nicole on the same beach. Only fitting the wedding band was found and returned with enormous gratitude and smiles.
Richard spent the day fishing on Fiesta Island. While cleaning some of the fish he had caught, he shook his hands to get some of the fish scales off, and his wedding ring went flying into the dry sand. He spent 3 days searching through the sand in that area, even buying a detector and trying his luck, but, he couldn’t find it. His online search brought him to TRF and my contact info. I met Richard at the site in the late afternoon where he showed me where he was setup the day of the loss. I’ve searched many areas of Fiesta Island before, and could understand why he had trouble trying to find his ring without any real experience using a detector. This area is tough even for seasoned pros. People have been burning wooded pallets and other scrap lumber on this Island for decades. Aluminum cans were thrown into the campfires and pull tabs litter the landscape. Anywhere you take a scoop of sand will result in 4-5 metal objects, so, it’s a real challenge to find just one signal in all that mess. It wasn’t a particularly big search area, but, it was slow going. 1 1/2 hours later, I had run 3 different grid lines over the entire search area, my trash pouch was almost full, and still no ring. I attacked ground zero at still a different angle and got another mixed signal on my Equinox…..the kind I’d been digging for the last hour and a half. After filtering out the sand, and pulling out 3 nails and 2 other pieces of melted aluminum, I finally see a ring in the scoop with the shells and rocks. Sure enough, it was Richard’s ring. Richard was overjoyed and was able to head home and give his wife the good news. A pleasure to meet you Richard, and thank you for the reward. 
Lorena was visiting town and enjoying Ocean Beach with some friends and placed her ring in the cup holder of her chair. Time to leave, the chair got folded up, and the ring ended up in the dry sand. A common way rings get lost. Searching was fruitless and Lorena had to go back home up north. She contacted me to ask for my help in finding it. She had planned on returning the next morning to show me the search area, but, having already been a full day on the loose, I had her give me directions as to where she was when the ring fell into the sand. She did better than that. She had some photos that were taken while she was there in that location. Knowing that beach well, I could find that spot fairly easily. Finding the ring might be another thing! I waited until the sun went down so I could actually find a parking spot on a Saturday night. Not easy, but, I lucked into one. The beach was still mobbed with party goers. I made a beeline west toward the water and straight through the middle of search area. Before I got there, I see another guy detecting right through where I planned to search. He didn’t stop for any targets, so, i began my grid. Off to the right was a large group still camped on the beach, so, I started on the left. Made a dozen passes or so without so much as a pull tab. Not a good sign. Somebody (maybe the guy who I first saw) had already scoured the area? At that point, the crowd on the right was picking up and leaving. Great, I can now search the other side before I try to track down the other detectorist to see if he may have found the ring. Still not much in the way of targets until I made 5-6 passes and got a solid 6 on my Equinox. That’s usually a foil drink seal, but, I scooped it anyway as small gold can read in that range. Sure enough, a drink seal. Drat! Moved another 2 feet and got another solid 6 reading. Another juice seal I bet, was what I was thinking, but, after scooping it up, I discovered her ring! As I surveyed the spot I found it, I realized that the other detectorist had missed it by no more than a couple of feet! I texted Lorena that she would have to come back down to San Diego after all, but, instead of having to show me where the search area would be, she could pick up her ring. A pleasure to meet you and Pierre, and thank you for the reward.
Melissa, with great hope in finding her husband’s wedding ring she had dropped in the fluffy sand, took a local lifeguard’s advice to call “Rick, he is amazing at finding lost rings.” The lifeguard remembered me when I had help find another lost ring. All was great for me to go and follow Melissa’s description of where on the beach she was when the ring was dropped.
This was the second time for Ezequiel losing a ring. His first wedding band was lost in the water and never found. Ezequiel promised not to wear the replacement ring into the water. Keeping his promise he took the ring off and gave it to Melissa. Now they both had a bad moment with this wedding band on a beach.
I arrived a few minutes before Melissa and Ezequiel arrived at the beach. I went straight to the area that was described to me. A few words with the lifeguard that remembered me and my search began. It was not but less than a minute and I had the ring in my scoop. Again an amazingly quick recovery. Next I had to find the owner. In the parking lot there they were, waiting for me.
I was told the ring would never see a beach again. It will be left in a safe place when the family with smiles frolic in the summertime sandy adventures and return home with the same smiles.
