white gold Tag | Page 5 of 8 | The Ring Finders

Lost Ring … Del Mar Beach, CA.. In Surf at High Tide

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)
Contact:

Saturday – July 20, 2013     I received a call from Kathleen in Del Mar, CA. after she found my number on  » The RingFinders  » website.  She and her husband Jeff had been to the beach a couple days before at 6:30pm, which was about high tide.  Jeff was boogie boarding in the surf when he took a big wave and when he recovered from a wipeout he was missing his wedding band. While  talking with with Kathleen, I explained that it is a difficult search, because the detector can only detect ring size metal to a depth of 6″ to 8″ inches. Depending on surf conditions the sand can move more than a foot of sand in one tide. Kathleen gave me good directions, which made it easier to start hunting.

I drove to the location, arriving about 12 am. two hours before low tide. Setting up a grid search of 75 yards parallel to the beach. After five passes towards the receding tide I got my first and only signal.. There it was and I knew right away it was Jeff’s ring. It was just about 5″ or 6″ inches deep. I had been slowly swinging the detector for about 30 minutes overlaping each swing as not to miss a ringsize area. Missing a 3 inch area could make a 30 minute search turn into hours of hunting. I always tell people that I’m searching for,  » Just don’t watch me work, because it will drive a normal person crazy » It’s a slow and methodical process.

I text Kathleen a photo of the ring and asked her to call. She immediately called back with an excited voice. We set up a meeting and Jeff was outside his home waiting at 1 am when I drove up. I handed him his ring and he told me how he lost it. He is vacationing from Louisiana and is not familiar with westcoast surf.  Jeff said the wave picked him up smashing him under the water. When he came up he had sand in every orfice. Then he noticed the missing ring.  He just knew it was gone forever and probably half way to Hawaii by now.  He explained to me,  how he had told all his friends about his surfing experience and the loss of his ring. I only wish I could tell Jeff’s story the way he told it.  Now he can tell them a better story.  » The Recovery of his ring »   It was a pleasure to meet Jeff and talk to his wife on the phone and I am realizing that there are so many nice people in this world.. I love helping people with a skill that has taken me many years of experience and research to learn.. ( And Lots of Luck )

IMG_2312 IMG_2307

Tags:
Category:

Found Lost Wedding Ring in Lake Wilson in Weatherford,Tx

  • from Dallas (Texas, United States)
Contact:

IMG_1367 IMG_1368

We got a call from the gentleman above late on a Friday afternoon.  Said he had fallen out of a boat on a small private lake in Weatherford,Tx and wondered if we would come try to find it.  I said we would be happy to but it would have to wait a week as were on our way to the airport to leave for vacation in Cancun for a few days.  I loved his response, he said « well it ain’t going nowhere ».  We agreed I would call him in a week when we returned.

As promised we called the following week and spoke with John about his ring, he explained that he and a friend were coming in from fishing on a small boat, he had stood up just at the moment his friend decided to pull the boat up a little higher on the bank.  When that happen, John lost his footing and fell into the lake.  He said he could feel his wedding band slipping off but could do nothing about it.  The waters edge was slippery and covered in algae and dropped off about 5-6ft in depth.

John found « The Ring Finders » website and located us.

Ellen & I drove 75 miles to the spot on the highway to meet John and have him and buddy lead us back on the dirt roads to where the lake was.  I set up my gear and went into the lake, it was amazing how deep it got so close to the shore.  John told me while I was in the water that he had used swimming pool cleaning poles to try and drag the ring up on shore and he also had a friend bring out his metal detector but no luck finding the ring.  I spent maybe 20 minutes in the water getting a feel for the area where John thought the ring would be.  I was getting lots of hits on my detector and using my water scoop was very difficult in the muddy bottoms.   As I went to change hands with my equipment my detector passed over a flat rock covered in algae  and my Garrett AT Pro went off loudly so I knew something was there.  I reached over with my hand and felt along the top of the rock and there was John’s wedding ring.  My wife and John had been talking along the bank and I said « hey John would you like to have your ring back? » and held up his gold wedding band .   He was flabbergasted, he said over and over « I thought I would never see it again ».  These reactions are what make this so much fun.

My wife was filming with her IPhone and began to ask John some questions.  He said this was the first time this ring had been off his finger in 57 YEARS.  He buddy then said, ‘tell them what you did’.  John replied with a sheepish grin, « I did not tell my wife »  he said I have a friend who owns a Pawn Shop who got him a temporary wedding ban to wear until we could hopefully find his ring.  We laugh and laughed.  Then John said…. « I wonder if the Pawn Shop with take the other ring back ».

It was a wonderful day.

Another great find for « The Ring Finders »

Don & Ellen Wilson

 

Tags:
Category:

Found Wedding Ring in Trophy Club,Texas

  • from Dallas (Texas, United States)
Contact:

IMG_1424

We received a call from a lady who said « thank God I reached you »I have a lost ring for you to find.  I said OK and ask for the details.  She described it as a Men’s gold wedding ban.  I ask her where is was lost and she said in her backyard.  I ask as I always do, « are you sure that’s where you lost it » and she said she was positive.

I said OK then we can find it, then I asked the most important question.  How was the ring lost, what was he doing when he lost it……. there was a long silence and she said « I know it’s there because I threw it there ».  I said that was no problem and we would drive the 28 miles to Trophy Club,Tx around 7pm to let the heat go down, it was 101 degrees warm.

We arrived at a beautiful home, got our equipment out, the lady kindly showed us where she was when she threw the ring and then my wife her re-inact the event (this is a must we have learned).  We spent maybe 20 minutes detecting the yard and there was a lot of underground trash.  We knew the ring would « Hit Hard » on our detectors because it had only been 3 days since it was lost and men’s wedding bands are typically large in size.

We were correct in our assumptions and the Ring was returned for another happy customer for « The Ring Finders ».

IMG_1425

Don & Ellen – The Dallas Ring Finders »

PS…. the husband was in counseling while we were looking for the ring.

 

Tags:
Category:

Lost Man’s Gold Wedding Band in the Surf… Del Mar Beach, CA, .. found

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)
Contact:

July 4, 2013.. 8:50pm

I was in Newport Beach sitting with a couple thousand people getting ready for a 4th of July fireworks display. I had rested up all day thinking I would detect the beach after the people left. That’s when Isaiah called saying he had just lost his wedding ring. I asked him where he was calling from and he told me Del Mar Beach which is near San Diego. He was in the water about chest deep and said he never went in water over his head. He didn’t feel the ring fall off, but he was certain that it was lost in the water. I told him that it was a long drive and he could locate another member of  The RingFinders in our directory and if he couldn’t get them I’d come search.

After finishing the call, I went to my tide chart app on my trusty iPhone. He lost it only a couple minutes before calling me which was approximately 5 ft high tide begining to fall to a minus tide at 3 am. I called Isaiah back and told him the tides would be perfect to try to search for his ring tonight and I would be there at 12:30am. He said he could be there about a half hour later and was going to try to rest because he had to work in the morning. After arriving in the dark of the night, I began my grid search as the tide reseded. He had given me a good idea of where he was when he lost the ring but I extended the search area 50 yards each side . At 1:00am Isaiah and his brother in law showed up. He pin pointed the location where he had been and I changed my grid search towards the water and away from the water.  They went off with their flashlights looking in the surf. After 10 or 15 minutes I got that special gold tone and there was a beautiful gold ring in about 3 inches under the wet sand.  I walked up to Isaiah and asked him how big was the ring and if it was gold. Then,  asked him to hold out his hand. He looked at me puzzeled, but he held out is hand. That’s when I dropped it in his hand. I did not expect him to be so emotional, it must have ment a lot to him. After gaining our composure all three of us started shaking hands and celebrating the find. Another special night and meeting people I will not forget..

IMG_2209IMG_2221

Tags:
Category:

Wedding Set Lost on Day of Anniversary at Rehoboth Beach: Found

  • from Lewes (Delaware, United States)
Contact:

Michael OMalley Ring Recovery 001Michael OMalley Ring Recovery 002

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I received a phone call at 7:30 am on May 27th 2013 regarding a Platinum Wedding  set that had been lost the day before on May 26th 2013 in the sand at Rehoboth Beach, Del. The story was that the couple were celebrating their wedding anniversary on May 26th and that they were at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The owner had taken her rings off and placed them in her lap in order to put suntan lotion on the couples child. Forgetting that she had placed the rings in her lap she stood up and the rings fell into the sand. There were attempts made to recover the rings by sifting the sand, but the rings were not to be found. Upon getting the phone call I arrived at the beach about an hour later only to find that the beach had been raked by the city workers using a tractor and a sand rake. My fear was that the rings had either been gobbled up by the sand rake or that they had been carried in an unknown direction down the beach by the sand rake. I began my search in an area that was pointed out by the ring owners husband with negative results. I then adjusted the area of my search due to the husband believing that they had been closer to the water than he originally thought. The husband left the beach in order to help his wife pack as they were to leave to go back  home on this day, I told him that I would call him with the results of the search. The husband had’nt made it back to his parked car before I recovered the 1kt diamond Platinum ring right in the area where I began my second search. I called him and told him that he might want to come back down to the beach which he did and at that time I returned the recovered ring to him. I then conducted a spiral search from the area that the diamond ring was found and I failed to locate the wedding band. I then searched north of that same location without recovering the band. Then a search of the area to the south of the recovered diamond ring resulted in the recovery of the wedding band sixty feet south of where the diamond was recovered. It appeared that the sand rake had moved the wedding band from the area of where it had been dropped. I actually saw several of the small diamonds on the wedding band glistening in the sunshine before my metal detector passed over top of it. A small portion of the top of the wedding band was exposed just above its hiding place in the sand. The wedding band was recovered and returned to its rightful owner. Another anniversary saved by the Ringfinders!

Tags:
Category:

Lost Gold Wedding Ring… Long Beach, CA… Found

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)
Contact:

This afternoon about 5pm I got a call and an email from Krista. She had been at Mother’s Beach in Long Beach, CA. with her two young daughters. Krista took her diamond wedding ring off and set it on her lap while she put sun screen on her daaughter. About a half hour later she realized she had not put it back on and it was somewhere in the dry sand. They searched through the sand for a long time and could not find her ring. When she got home Krista found my contact information on  » The RingFinders » website and called me.   We met at the beach about 7pm and I set up a grid search. By 7:30pm I got that special gold tone and when I scooped up the target there was her ring.  Now the ring is back on her finger where it belongs.

The highlite of this search was when Krista’s young daughter came up to me and said, « Thanks for finding my mother’s ring » The little girl is only about 5 or 6 years old.. It was a special thanks and there were smiles on everybody’s faces. Even all the spectators..

IMG_2148 IMG_2161

Tags:
Category:

Diamond Ring Found… Seal Beach, CA.

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)
Contact:

Annika called me at 11:30am , just as I was leaving my place to go metal detecting. I was able to meet her at 12 noon it was only  a 14 mile  drive. She was in Seal Beach and had lost her diamond wedding ring while teaching a fitness class on the beach. This is her regular job and she always puts her rings in a zippered pocket in her workout pants. This time she had not zipped it totally closed and one of her rings fell out into the sand while doing some of the exercises. It was lost in an area about half the size of a football field.  I started  in the middle of the field and began a spiral type grid. It took an hour and a half to locate the beautiful ring. Everyone was happy and there were plenty of smiles.  This was another time we beat the city sand sifting machine to get the ring..

IMG_1994 IMG_1991

 

Tags:
Category:

Fireman Looses Grandfathers Wedding Band while Fighting Brush Fire, Fort Worth,Texas – Found!

  • from Dallas (Texas, United States)
Contact:

IMG_1268        IMG_1267

 

Fort Worth,Texas Fire Fighter Looses Grandfathers Wedding Ring in while Fighting Brush Fire!

On Friday afternoon we received a call from a Fort Worth fire fighter.  He said that he and his crew had been fighting a brush/fence fire behind a home where a woman had thrown out some 2-day old fireplace coals.  The coals had set the compost pile and fence and part of the yards of 2 homes on fire.  He said his buddy had lost his Grandfathers ring which he now wears as a Wedding Ring.  It was 3pm on Friday afternoon, they were 52 miles away across Dallas & Fort Worth and 5pm Friday afternoon traffic was a major contention.  I knew it would take a minimum of 2 hours to drive there so I asked if we could come on Saturday due to traffic, but the young firefighter had panic in voice and ask us to please come.

How can you say ‘no’ to a Fire Fighter?  It took us nearly 3 hours to get there due to the heavy traffic.

He was waiting for us when we arrived and explained that he had been inside the backyard of the home and was knocking out the burning fence slats with the palm of his hand while fighting the fire.   He knew exactly where he was standing (in the wet, smelly compost pile) when it came off, and it was lightly raining… Get the picture?, pretty much a yuck site.

With a desperate customer, our Garrett equipment and rubber boots we went to work.  Thinking the ring flew off some distance into the field behind the home, we searched everywhere.  Eliminating nails, iron, junk, etc. doing everything we could to find the ring.   After an hour it was starting to get dark and everyone was loosing hope my wife went back into the backyard and began slowly going through the compost pile with her detector and pinpointer.  Understand this compost pile was about 18-inches thick and 5-ft by 5-ft  in size.  It was soaking wet from the fire being put out, burnt from catching on fire and wet burned trash just really stinks. But this is what the fireman was standing on when he was knocking out the burning fence slats.  I was coming into the backyard to help her when I heard her yell out « I Found It », the fireman was standing right there when she found his ring, he was so excited.  He kept saying « you guys are awesome, you guys are awesome, unbelievable!, wait till I tell the guys back at the station! ».

This was by far our dirtiest  hunt, but one of our most rewarding.

Our Firefighters across this country will run into a burning home or building for us without thinking twice about it, the least we can do is work through muck to find a wedding ring for them.

This was a very emotional find for us and we are so glad to be part of « The Ring Finders ».

Till next time, detectors ON!

Don & Ellen

Tags:
Category:

Palladium Wedding Found in Double Oak, Texas

  • from Dallas (Texas, United States)
Contact:

 

IMG_1262

We got a call from a wonderful lady that said her husband (a pilot) had lost his ring while working in their front yard.  He was standing in a culvert ditch tossing some large rocks from one side of the driveway to the other and felt his ring slid off; he said he heard it « tink » twice but never saw it land.  He and his family searched for months looking for the ring without luck. He bought a cheap metal detector himself  but without success, his father-in-law came over with another detector but had no luck either.  Months past and his wife was playing around on the internet and found « The Ring Finders » website and called us.

We arrived and met with the couple, I truly think the husband felt is was a lost cause.  The ring had be lost for over 6 months. With the snowy/wet weather we have had this year he felt it was lost forever.

My wife & I got our Garrett Detectors and went to searching; we checked everywhere the husband said he thought is might be but had no luck.  So we went back over to where he stated he had been standing originally when he lost the ring.   The ditch was knee deep in leaves, trash, mud and an 18-inch metal pipe that went under their driveway.   After scanning over that area many times we decided everything had to come out of the ditch due to way too many hits on trash.  So on our hands and knees we began to pull out all the leaves and junk using our Garrett pinpointers to check every handful of trash for the ring.  After a short time I saw something shiny and I told my wife « I Got It ».  There stuck in the mud, 5-8 inches down in the muck, right where the husband had been standing throwing the rocks was his ring.  The « Tinking Sound » he heard must have been the ring hitting the metal culvert not the driveway as he thought.  The ring was in great shape.

And for the fun part, we went up to the door and rang the bell, the wife came to the door and she said « No Luck Huh » and we just smiled and I open my hand revealing her husbands « Palladium Wedding Ring », she said « Oh my gosh, let me go get him »  he was thrilled and we had « Another Successful Hunt for the the Dallas Ring Finders ».

God I love this hobby!

Till next time, detectors ON!

Don & Ellen

Tags:
Category:

Irvine, CA. Lost Diamond Wedding Ring Recoverd

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)
Contact:

Thursday , Jan.10 at about 4:30pm, I recieved a call from Daisy telling me she had lost a diamond wedding ring. She had lost it the week before while playing with friends on a grass slope. They had spent several days searching for the ring with no suceess. I was able to meet her and her husband about an hour and 30 minutes later and it was already dark. I felt it was important to have them show me the location and explain what she was doing when she lost it. After meeting them and seeing the area (100 x 75 ft.) I thought I would try a couple hours. Daisy and Wonjoon offered to hold the flashlight and my coffee. It was a very trashy site with lots of pulltabs, bottle caps and other metallic items which made it a difficult seach. After about 2 hours we eyeballed the ring just before my dectector coil passed over it.  « They were so happy and so was I »  It is so rewarding to be able to help locate misplaced (not lost) valuables.

IMG_1757 IMG_1754

 

Tags:
Category: