Detector Finds Nothing and They Are Happy, by Ken

I received a phone call to assist looking for Gold Krugerrands. I attended their property with high hopes, a gold coin is the top of my bucket list. Their property was isolated on the top of a hill in Glenmore. They showed me the garden, and a flower bed around the house where they suspected the coins were. The story was that his Mother in-law who had suffered with Dementia just passed away. She always mentioned that her husband, who predeceased her had buried some Gold Krugerrands in their garden. They want to sell their family estate, and are concerned about the Krugerrand’s. I spent almost 2 hours searching the property, and got very few signals. Eventually, feeling defeated, I told them that there are no gold Krugerrand’s in their garden area. They both smiled and were delighted, I was surprised with their response. They told me that they had found some Krugerrands in a safety deposit box, so they suspected that there may be more, that were buried in the yard. Now they know for sure that there is none in the garden, they can sell the property with confidence. What a nice couple they were, we spent some time talking together, and they invited me to their home out by the airport. He told me they Winter in Costa Rica, so I took him some Costa Rica coins that I had found. After a meal and more discussion, he was so taken in by the detecting machine, that he bought one off me. I gained another friend, what a great hobby.
 


Lost Engagement Ring Found & Returned, by Ken

Faith was by the Shopping Centre, and was wandering around her car on the boulevard when she noticed her Engagement Ring was missing. Devastated and not wanting to tell her fiancé, she purchased a Metal Detector to try to locate it, after 2 hours she gave up. The Detector Salesman told her if you don’t find it, call this professional on The Ringfinders. That evening her fiancé knew something was wrong, and he got the information out of her. The next day she called me, and I responded right away to her location, after her story, I checked the area she suspected with no luck. The lost item often is not in the specific location they mark, so I gridded further out on the boulevard and found the Ring, restoring happiness to the engaged couple.
 


Wedding Ring Return, by Maretta

I was detecting a Penticton beach early one morning when a young man walking two dogs came over and asked if I could help him.  It turned out that he had lost his gold wedding ring several days earlier.  So he took me to another beach and showed me the area.  I’d only taken a couple of steps when I got a signal, and in the first scoop, had the ring.  We were both amazed. quickest search ever! 



Ring Recovery, by Paul and Gilles

I noticed her ad on Facebook looking for someone with a metal detector since she had lost her promise ring on her front lawn. I was probably the 3rd person to offer to help in the comments. I believe I was the only one to actually look for the ring. When I got to her house on the Saturday her daughter explained to me the area they believed it would be, it was approximately a 30 feet by 15 feet lawn. She then told me that they had used a weed whacker to clear the grass to try and find it. Within the 30×15 area she gave me a 6×6 area she was convinced it was in…..I spent 2 hours that day in the heat to no avail. I presumed the weed whacker had flung it. Later that day I got in contact with Gilles and he was willing to come to Oliver from Kelowna the following weekend to give it another go. The ring owner was very happy we hadn’t given up. Within 75 minutes Gilles shouted “I’ve found it“. It was right up against the hot tub on the perimeter of the search zone right on the surface. When the ring owner came over she started to cry with happiness…..it was very dear to her…hugs all around. The whole family came out to see what was happening.

                                                                                                       



Ring Lost in Lake, Found and Returned, by Ken

David called me with his lost Wedding Ring in Okanagan Lake, he was on his way home to Calgary, and tried to tell me the secret location, I could not find the location. He sent me a map, it is a property just taken over by Kelowna Parks. Once I got the location I responded the next day. After 45 minutes of searching the Lake I found the ring and shipped it off to the Calgary owner.
 


Lost Ring Found in Kelowna City Park, by Ken

Nick had been married for 2 days and was honeymooning in Kelowna BC. On the busy Beach at City Park, with the temperature over 30, he decided to go for a swim. His wife said maybe you should take your ring off, he didn’t and he lost it in the Lake. He called me for assistance, and I responded within 30 minutes. He walked me out to the location, and said right here. I got a signal and in my first scoop was his ring, two feet further out was the deep drop off, and it would have been too deep. An early response and a good location marked was the key to success.
 
                                                                      


Hearing Restored by Metal Detector, by Ken

Shelby posted on the OTHC website that she had lost her hearing aid on the Beach in Kelowna. I checked the website before leaving for work in the am, it was on my way so I stopped at the Beach. By 6:30 I had the hearing aid, and delivered it to Shelby the next day. She was happy that I had saved her a lot of money.
 
                                                                              


Mission Hill Winery – Water Shut Off Valve, by Ken

Got a call from Mission Hill Winery, they needed to locate a water shut off valve. They showed me the location on the hillside where they thought it was, after 45 minutes on the hillside covered with periwinkle finding junk metal and lighting, I was getting tired. As I got to the top of the hill by the building, I visually saw a capped plastic white pipe sticking out of the ground. I told them that is what they cover the shut off valves with, they said we have to reward you, that`s the 2 bottles of wine by the cover in the picture.



A Ring Return Not Soon To Be Forgotten, by Brett

I was detecting at Kinsmen Park in Kelowna on a Friday afternoon as I had a couple of free hours. The weather did not co-operate fully and I had to shelter in my car as much time as I actually spent detecting. As I was heading back to where my car was parked I saw a young lady seemingly walking towards where I was. I was not really sure whether she intended to speak to me or was just out to enjoy a stroll through the park. She had come from one of the homes that bordered the park and the lake. She caught up to me and began to ask me about detecting and whether my detector could find a gold ring. Of course, I replied that we certainly could find a ring, especially if recently lost. Well, as it turns out she lost the ring the previous Saturday while watching a soccer game at a sports field. She said she knew where she was and the area was fairly small. She had taken her ring off so that she could apply suntan lotion to her children. She said that she looked endlessly for it that day but sadly she did not find it. She asked if I were able to look that evening, but unfortunately due to previous family commitments I was not able, however I offered to help her the following morning. 
I met her at 9 am on Saturday morning, she had her two young children with her. She explained where she was and that she kept to a fairly small area (though she did walk a long way to her car – that was a concern). I explained a bit about what I was doing and how we go about gridding an area, using our detectors and our pinpointer to hopefully find her lost ring. My first target turned out to be a loonie, and her 7 or 8 year old son excitedly grabbed it and showed her mom and was amazed that it could be found. I had to smile at that. I made another pass and mentioned that I had heard a few iffy targets, that I did not want to spend any time on unless we were not able to find the ring, in which case I would circle back to them. Moments later, I suddenly got a very good signal and I told her so. She had been distracted by her young daughter at the time, but on hearing that she suddenly stopped and watched in anticipation. Her son was watching closely with interest and joined me when I kneeled to use the pinpointer to the area I had the signal. I got a good signal with my pinpoiner and gently parted the grass and there it was. It had been stepped on so only the rim was visible but I knew without a doubt that it was her ring. All I said was (“found it!). She had a shocked look and rushed to where I was. I passed the ring to her and she instantly put it on her finger, fell to her knees and brought her hand to her face and began sobbing. she stood, and with tears streaming down her face and obvious relief and joy she gave me a big hug and her two children joined as well. 
Later, she communicated her gratitude to me once again. I told her that I was happy that we were able to find it for her and said that this day would be one that neither she or I would soon forget.
 
                                                                                      
                       


 A Very Happy Husband, by Michael and Karen

Michael and I got called out Sunday Morning for a lost ring, thanks to an under the weather Ken D.  The ring was Very Close by our place and was supposedly in the creek in a very small area about 6 feet square maybe 12 inches of water and muddy bottom.  After hunting for an hour with 2 detectors and pin pointer on hot targets that turned out to be an elusive aluminum screw, no joy pulling all kinds of muck out of the creek bottom I finally said to Michael time to change up his game plan.  He looked at me oddly and I said it is not in the creek.  The husband said he lost it in the creek while pulling garbage out of the creek.  Michael took a couple light swings on the creek bank a few feet away from where he was working and BINGO!!!  scratches the ground a little then straightens up and says to the Husband, are you sure you didn’t throw your ring?  He said No, Michael says I think you DID.  Then holds out the ring.  One very happy Husband to have his very nice custom made Diamond Ring back.

                                                                      



A Very Happy Bride, by Syd

On Fri the club received an email that a wedding ring had been lost just prior to ceremony at Mara Lake.  Cathy asked if anyone could help. As we had business in Salmon Arm on Sat Syd said we could stop bye on way home if not found. We arrived at Mara Lake in pouring rain and in 15 minutes the ring was found and returned to a very happy bride.



Phone Tag For A Lost Key Fob, by Ken

Friday night I received a phone call from a fellow detectorist, who asked if I could assist a lady with a lost key Fob. He gave me the ladies number, but the group of ladies stranded could not identify the park where they where at, they forwarded me on to their Aunt from Edmonton. By the time we figured it out it is was dark, I told them I would be there the next morning. Saturday morning I got there at 7am, without any specific location, just by the parked red Mazda, sand or maybe the grass? I started gridding the sand, and after 30 minutes I had the Car Fob. I phoned the Aunts number, phone not in use, so I called the initial detectors request, and he did not know, but his brother did, I called his brother who contacted the lady and said she would call me back. Her friends turned up and sure enough it was their Key Fob. They started the car and drove it to the owner. Key fobs are expensive to replace, especially with the car stranded.



18k Gold Wedding Band, by Ken

Got a phone call from Victoria, Harry a professor at UBCO lost his 18k gold wedding band 3 days ago throwing a football at UBCO. I responded right away and met his secretary who directed me to the area where he lost it. His football partner also came to show me, I worked that area with no luck, then started to grid the location. After 30 minutes of gridding, I found the ring that once again had been stepped on into the ground. Another Happy Customer.



Sentimental Ring Lost, by Ken

Deeanna contacted our Metal Detecting Club to say that her husband had lost their first Wedding Anniversary ring. He was in their driveway removing some furniture from his truck to take indoors, once finished he noticed his anniversary ring was missing in the snow. I emailed Deeanna and set up a time when my visit would be good for her. Once there I first noticed lots of power lines in her driveway, Interference from them was a big issue. I turned down my sensitivity as low as I could, after an hour and only finding bottle caps, I increased my search area and found the ring up the driveway banking in the flower bed. Another happy lady.



Drew’s Ring, by Ken

I was having a pleasant time detecting in Okanangan Lake, when a man approached me and asked if I would help him. He had lost his ring on the beach the night before. I told him , that’s what I do, I would get out of my wet clothes and meet him at the location. Once there I could see where Drew had been scraping the sand with no success. I started detecting below where he had been looking and within minutes we had the ring back on his finger. Another happy customer.



Justean’s Ring, by Ken

Justean lost her ring while swimming in Lake Okanagan. After spending an hour with a snorkel, she gave up and sent a message to the Club FaceBook page. She sent a great picture of the location, without it I would never have found the ring. I love returning lost items.

                                                                                               



My Second Ring Return, by Greg

As one of the administrators of the club’s facebook page, I heard that a young man in Penticton had lost his gold wedding ring at Sudbury beach. I was familiar with the layout of that beach since it’s where we do our annual Treasures in the Sand event. I contacted the owner through Facebook and advised when I would be searching. I searched Saturday evening from about 7 until 9:30 and as darkness fell, I had to report back to him that I had no luck. I found a black titanium ring, several coins, and a rusty old box of fish hooks (yikes!) but nothing gold in colour. I gridded the whole area, and thought it possible that the ring might be lost forever.  I advised the owner that I would try again Sunday evening. So, the following day I returned and after the owner explained exactly how and where he lost the ring, I made my second attempt. Success! After only about 5 minutes of searching I heard the strong telltale chime from the detector and on my first attempt to scoop it up, there was gold inside my scoop!



My First Ring Return, by Greg

Well, it was a long drive to Osoyoos and over a week had passed since the ring was first reported missing, but there’s a great Pho restaurant in town, so even if the ring doesn’t turn up at least I’ll have a secondary reason to travel down. The owner had filed a police report and reported the missing ring on Craigslist. Through subsequent follow up with the owner, who had contacted the club several days later, I found out that the large men’s wedding band was lost somewhere between the hotel pool and the lake – a fairly large search area. They had searched the area with the help of friends to no avail. I arrived at the search area in the morning, and gridded the beach first with only some trash found for my efforts. Then I started searching the grassy field between the lake and hotel. After finding a few coins and after about 45 minutes of searching, I heard a loud signal. I bent down with my screwdriver and brushed the surface of the grass where my detector indicated a target near the surface – expecting to find a bottle cap or pull tab… Up popped the 18K large men’s wedding band! After a quick telephone call to the owner to confirm, the ring was soon reunited with it’s happy owners! Oh, and the Pho tasted that much better knowing that I had worked hard for it!



Returned Ring, by Brett

“Good morning!!  My name is Holli Hyatt and I wanted to let you know how amazing the fella who found my wedding ring this morning is! I was playing at Kelowna City Park with my 2 year old daughter and my mom and I lost my ring!! I took my ring off to put goopy sunscreen on my kiddo and put it in my pocket… then forgot I did that. I noticed I didn’t have my ring on a little while later and went into my pocket to get it and it was GONE!! After panicking, another dad at the park noticed the guys in the water with their metal detectors and I went (a little sheepishly and embarrassed) to ask if one of the guys could help me find my ring. He came right up and covered all the ground I said it could have fallen and BOOM he found it!!!!!  I attached a couple of pictures.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!  Sincerely, Holli “



Okanagan Lake Lost Ring Found and Returned, by Ken

I just got home from 3 hours of swinging my detector in Okanagan Lake when there was a phone call and an email from the Club saying that Jamie had lost her ring in the Lake. She was at the Doggie Park throwing sticks for her 2 dogs, Tosh and Reo, when her ring caught on the stick and went into the water. I met her at the park within 30 minutes and she showed me the location of the throw.  I knew from experience that this part of the lake is littered with metal junk, but figured a gold ring should be an easy find. On my first sweep one way with no obvious good target, I did a sweep the other way and dug every signal. After 90 minutes and a bag full of junk I was starting to get discouraged, but I knew the ring had to be there.  So after searching the beach I widened my search in the water away from the target area and within 10 more minutes we had the ring, persistence pays. Jamie had sentimental feelings for the ring as it was handed down to her from her Auntie.  She learned that when throwing sticks into the water do not wear your rings



Ring Return – A Good News Story, by Maretta

A distraught lady was raking the sand with a garden rake and I had just arrived at the beach and offered to help.  She had lost her engagement ring the day before, and was sure it should be somewhere in the raked area.  I searched carefully without luck. We then exchanged contacts.  That night she remembered she had been around the slide, so the next morning I tried that area, but came up empty.  Then a hunch told me to go down to the water’s edge, and after 2 scoops, there was the ring, just as the beach machine was bearing down on me.   She didn’t even mind my phoning her at 5:30 am.



 

iPhone and GPS Made a Return, by Ken

Detecting the beach after the July 1st fireworks I found an iPhone in the sand.  I had to go to work at the airport that morning, so I put the phone in my pouch, intending to open it and look for contacts once I got home.  I had just arrived home from work when there was a knock on my door.  The young couple at the door asked if I had found an iPhone.  I told them yes it is in my pouch in the truck, how did you know?.  Once they realized their phone was missing they went to GPS to locate it, then they went to the airport asking at lost & found, no phone.  They checked the GPS again and it showed my home in West Kelowna, so off they drove the 25k for the search.  I was the second house they checked at.  Success the phone was returned to the rightful owner.



Ring Return, by Ken

Chris was out back of his condo walking his Australian Terrier in the snow, going back inside he realized he had lost his wedding ring. He found me on the website and gave me a call. I responded at 8am the next morning, Chris suspected that it came off while he was shaking the snow off a tree, we went back and searched under the tree, then started a circle around the tree.   Within 10 minutes we had the ring and Chris was happy. A quick response and a good suspect location paid off.



Cell Phone Found and Returned, by Chris

On a Sunday afternoon in December I decided to detect at a school playground close to home in West Kelowna.  I was almost done scanning the area when I got a strong signal and buried in the wood chips was a cell phone with a fancy cover.  The battery was dead so I put an ad in the Lost and Found on Castanet.  Several days later when I was looking through my desk drawer I came across an old power source for my old cell phone and tried it on the found phone to see if it was compatible – and it was!!  After the battery charged I was able to scroll through the address book and e-mails and I was able to locate an alternate phone number and name.  I spoke to a man who said it was his wife’s lost phone. They live in Glenmore but by a good stroke of luck he was shopping in West Kelowna and was able to drop by about 10 minutes later.  After I verified that the screen saver picture of 2 young children were the same ones on his phone, I knew that I had the right family so I gladly turned over the phone to him.



 

Ring Lost 15 Years – Found, by Carole

My husband and I were out detecting at a school when I unearthed a large men’s Western Canadian Championship ring (for baseball). Fortunately, the ring was engraved inside with the persons name and within a couple weeks and after a couple phone calls I was able to locate his parents and return the ring to them. They said that Kirk just happened to be coming back to Kelowna within the week – so talk about good timing. After meeting with Kirk, it turns out that the ring had been lost 15 years ago while him and a buddy were throwing around a football. He didn’t have anywhere to put the ring while they were playing so his buddy offered to put it in his pocket. However, when they were done playing his friend realized that the ring had somehow fallen out. The two friends then tried looking for the ring until it got dark. And when they couldn’t find it they decided to come back the next day to look again. However, by then the grass had been cut and the ring was no where to be found. For years, everytime Kirk went past the school he wondered if someone had found his ring. Thinking maybe a young person could have found it and put it into their treasure box. When Kirk found out from his parents that the ring had been found and returned back to them he just couldn’t believe it, since he had just been wondering a couple weeks prior if he was ever going to see his lost ring again. And what was even more coincidental was that he was now going to see his same buddy in about a week and when he called to tell him the ring had been found his friend just couldn’t believe it either. It’s so awesome to reunite a lost item with it’s owner!!



 

Cellphone Returned, by Maretta

Sometimes it is a challenge to find the owner of a locked cellphone, so I was pleasantly surprised to find name/address on the one laying on the grass in Gyro Park. At 8:00 am I was ringing their doorbell, but no answer.  Later, at home,  I was able to answer a call on it, and the surprised daughter relayed my info to her Dad.   The owners were already hot on my trail, aided by their ‘find my phone’ app!  Who knew?  They  came, were happy to pick up the phone and puppy water bottle, and generously donated a prize for our hunt.



 

Found & Returned Ring, by Paul

At the beginning of August, Adam went to Sudbury beach in Penticton. He was trying to find an air leak in his inflatable chair just a bit in the water along the shoreline. After a while he noticed his wedding band went missing in the water.  Three and a half weeks later I was in the parking lot at Sudbury beach and had noticed a posting of a missing ring that had been lost in the water. So I grabbed my gear and about an hour in of waist deep water I pulled up this really nice looking gold wedding band. I phoned Adam that evening and sure enough it was the missing ring.  Adam was so excited to hear about it, he was out of words.



 

Lost Wedding Band Found And Returned, by Dianne

When I went on my computer this morning, there was a post on our Facebook website from Angi vacationing from Calgary asking for our help to locate a lost wedding ring.  I fed my doggies and took them for a quick walk … and then called her.   Arrangements were made to meet her husband at Skaha Beach in 10 minutes near the sun dial … he would be wearing brown shorts & with a metal detector that they’d purchased after they lost the ring.   I arrived with my Equinox, met the husband and he pointed out roughly the area that they had been in.  I did a grid pattern with my detector of the sand area and nothing so I rolled up my pants and hit the water … found 2 beer caps … and then another ping … and after a few scoops with my sand scoop … “Bingo” the ring … it was white gold with diamonds.  I received a big bear hug !   Had my camera in the van and asked if I could meet his wife and take some pictures.  So I drove him home … to a house they’re renting on Lee Ave … I used to live in the house next door as a kid.  His wife came out … and the tears started to flow … that’s when I received my second bear hug.  It made my day !!!!



 
 

Fifty Three Year Old Wedding Ring Returned, by Ken

Gail and her husband Trevor just completed the yard cleanup of fall leaves, when they noticed Trevor had lost his wedding ring. They called me and I advised then not to discard the bags of leaves until after my search, experience tells me that that is the prime location for a lost ring. I responded the next day and searched all the yard and quickly scanned the 20 large garbage bags of leaves with no success. I told them I would return and go through each bag separately. I returned 2 days later and started emptying each bag and scanning the contents. Success on the 13th bag I got a strong signal which turned out to be the wedding ring. December would be their 53rd wedding anniversary, they were happy to have the ring back.



 

Wallet Lost In Snow Was Found And Returned, by Carole

I was out detecting at Shannon Lake Elementary School in West Kelowna and came across a wallet sitting on the grass in the middle of the field. Approximately 1½ weeks earlier there had been a huge dump of snow in the Okanagan that had just recently started to melt a couple days prior. Although most of the snow on the field had now melted, there were still some piles here and there and from the look of the wallet I figured it must have originally been lost when the snow was still deep. Thankfully, in the wallet I found the address of the owner and although she wasn’t home when I dropped it off, I was able to give it to a gentleman at the home who said he knew that she would be so happy to get it back and that he would return it to her for me. And although the gentleman tried to thank me with a really neat Australian $5.00, I just couldn’t take it. Just knowing that someone would be happy to get back their personal item was reward enough.



 

First Find After November Snowfall, by Ken

After shopping in West Kelowna, Leanne and John parked their vehicle on the street and took their groceries indoors. A short while later John realized he had lost his key set somewhere in the snow. Leanne recruited all the kids in the street to help find the keys, with no luck after two hours, then she called me for assistance and I responded immediately. The snow had been shoveled from the street and their driveway, so I started the search at their vehicle, then worked my way along the snow on the side of the driveway. Success the keys were found four inches deep in the driveway snow.



 

Wedding Ring Lost Gardening In Kelowna And Returned, by Ken

Ed was renovating his back garden when he noticed his wedding ring was missing, his wife found The Ringfinders website and he called me. I responded the next morning and checked out the worksite, he had removed the old flowerbed and replaced it with landscape cloth covering and bark mulch. My initial suspicion was that it would be in the debris in the back of his pickup, but I started my search at the new garden. That was a good choice as I found his ring under the bark mulch and landscape cloth within five minutes.



 

Wallet Found And Returned, by Maretta

Yesterday I found a thick wallet containing cards and money belonging to a girl from Quebec.  Thinking she might be one of the athletes in town for Multisport, I tried hard to get it back to her before she left town.  Finally made contact and returned it.  Here is the lovely thank you note she wrote in return.

Dear Maretta,

You found my wallet on the beach on Tuesday and I couldn’t be more grateful for it. I had all my cards in there as well as almost 50$ and everything was still in. As a young traveller, losing it or getting it found by someone not as honest as you would have been really sad and complicated. You made it your mission by calling numbers to try to reach me and even drove by to give it back to me. Thank you so much again for making this world a better and more honest place and for making me believe that there is always more good people than bad people in here!

Keep up all the good things you do!

Thanks,
Samantha



 

Found Ring, by Brett

Last week a fellow lost his ring at one of the local beaches. He was swinging his young son around on a boogey board in about 4 feet of water when he suddenly felt his ring slip off his finger and heard a “kerplunk”. He searched for some time with a mask and snorkel and even tried an inexpensive metal detector, wrapping it in plastic and then trying to detect for his ring. All efforts were in vain, as the ring did not appear. I offered to assist him with his search and met him one evening at the location and together we entered the water and he showed me where he believed he lost the ring. I started my grid, and after about 2 hours of searching we did not find his ring. Noticing that he was a bit disappointed, I told him that all is not yet lost, that I would be able to spend some more time searching on the weekend.
On that Saturday, I had some time in the afternoon so I advised the fellow I was resuming my search. I widened my search area and began gridding again and from a different direction. This time, digging a questionable signal that was pretty deep in the mucky sand, I finally found what I believed to be the fellows ring. I continued to grid the area just in case there were other things to find but I had accomplished what I wanted to do. So I called the fellow and advised him that I found his ring and he was very happy and excited that after 3 weeks and believing it was forever lost that it was found. He drove to meet me immediately and pick up his ring. It was a great way to top off my Saturday, helping someone by returning their cherished wedding ring.



 

Found Ring, by Brett

On Sunday past, after spending the afternoon at Gyro Beach enjoying the weather I decided to return later in the evening as there were quite a few people that were during the day. It was getting dark when a fellow approached asking me if I had found a house key. He said it would be easy to spot as it had an elastic on it. I had not, but I said I would look for it. Shortly afterwards, another young fellow approached me and he too asked if I could help him. I said of course, I’d be happy to help as soon as I was finished with the first request. Well, I did not locate the key and they owners had to leave so I moved on to help the person with the lost ring. He was busy using the flashlight on his phone trying to locate his ring in the sand. He got up from his search and began to tell me his story. He said earlier in the day he was here with friends. Choosing to go into the water he started walking but he decided to remove his ring just in case. He tossed it back to his shoes and instead of landing in the shoe, he said it fell into the sand around them. He thought to himself that he would probably lose the ring but continued to the water. Later on, his premonition proved correct as he could not locate his ring. He explained that it was not a valuable ring as it was only silver and was made from a spoon. It did however have sentimental value to him and he was upset with having lost it. I stepped back a few paces and began my search. It did not take long, as on about the fifth coil swing I got a strong signal and with a swish of my sand scoop I saw the ring. I asked him “is this it”? He was very shocked and pleased that I had located it so quickly and of course very grateful. I later caught something else in my scoop, a key with an elastic band on it.



 

32 Year Old Engagement Ring & Wedding Ring Found and Returned, by Ken

Leah was enjoying a hot day on the beach in Kelowna B.C., she took off her rings so as not to lose them. Usually she puts them in her wallet for safe keeping, but her wallet was not handy so she put them in the chairs cup holder. At the end of the day her husband picked up the chairs and they went back to the hotel. When washing her hands Leah realized the loss of the rings, they went back to the beach to search for them, to no avail, Leah`s husband said they are gone someone has picked them up. Distraught Leah searched the internet for help, finding my site, she gave me a call, I told he I would meet her at 6am on the beach. I arrived at the beach at 5am to beat the beach grooming machine, I noticed where they had searched on the sand and found the rings easily. When Leah arrived, I told her to give me a hug, then I handed her the rings, needless to say she was delighted, she told me she had not slept all night worrying about the loss. Another happy customer.



 

Cell Phone Found, by Maretta

I was alone on the beach when I noticed a young fellow with a large backpack, so was a bit wary when he got up and walked toward me, looking serious.  Turned out he had lost his cellphone in the sand the night before.  I started to search the area he had marked but no luck.  As we talked, I widened my search, and finally felt the weight of the phone in my scoop.  He thanked me and left, happy and grateful.



 

Ring Returned, by Ken

Charlie was having a great day on the beach with most of his family. On July 8th in Kelowna the temperature was in the high 30`s so the lake was a good place to cool off. Unfortunately for Charlie his ring came off in the water, the whole family searched for it with no success. Charle`s uncle found me on a website and called me, I responded within the hour and his family were still in the water. Its difficult to pinpoint the location but they were close and within 30 minutes I had the ring in my scoop, much to the delight of all the onlookers. It was hugs and kisses from the family and a big smile from Charlie and his wife.



 

Fastest Key Fob Return Find Ever, by Paul

A friend of mine called me and said that his friend Stan lost a Key Fob nine days ago. So I gave Stan a call and within an hour I showed up at his home suited up ready to go. Stan first showed me a small area in tall grass and the mosquito’s were starting to bite. No success at that spot, then Stan showed me an area around a picnic table again in some thick broad leaf grass, took one slow swipe with the coil and I thought I saw something shinning. Sure enough the XP Deus was loud and clear. This was the fastest five minutes key fob return find I’ve ever done. Stan was a very happy man and I had ten large mosquito bites by then but it was well worth it!



 

Hat Trick Three Cell Phones Returned In One Day, by Ken

When the snow is on the ground is the time people lose items. Dawn called me to say she had lost her cell phone in her yard and could not find it with a rented metal detector. I told her I would rent her a detector that I guaranteed would do the job, the cell phone was found quickly with my easy to operate detector. The second call came from Wayne who lost his cell phone while walking the dogs in his Orchard. I arrived and surveyed the area, I asked him where he suspected his loss occurred. he showed me where he walked the dogs and suspected it was along the fence line. After half an hour of searching with many junk targets and irrigation pipes interfering, I scraped the snow and there was his cell phone. The cell phone was his business phone and he had 14 clients emails waiting for him so he was very happy to have it found quickly.

After retrieving 2 cell phones in the morning, I got a call in the afternoon from Timothy`s father telling me his son lost his cell phone at the University condo parking. I told him I would be there in a couple of hours. Timothy was outside waiting for me to show me where he lost his cell phone. he thought it was by the curbside, I located it 8 feet out in the roadway, he was lucky nobody had driven over it.



 

Cell Phone Lost In Kelowna Snow Returned, by Ken

Over the Christmas Holidays, Dave was enjoying the recent six to eight inches of snow on the hills in Kelowna, with his son. Like most of us Dave took a few spills, only to realize when he arrived home that he had lost his iPhone. he looked up the lost location on icloud and went back to do a search with no luck. Two weeks later he found me on the internet and gave me a call, I responded the next day and we went to the site, the phone was soon located and returned to Dave, another happy customer.



 

Ring Return, by Brett

It was Sunday afternoon in late August and I received a call from Wayne, who explained that his sister-in-law was visiting for the past week and while at the beach, she lost her wedding ring. They searched frantically for it for several hours but could not locate it. It all started when she put her wedding ring into the little pouch on her Tommy Bahamas beach chair for safety reasons when going out swimming in the lake. Unfortunately, at the end of the day she slung the chair over her shoulder and walked home from the beach. It was not until they arrived home that she discovered that her ring was missing. They were sure it was lost.

They placed a blue-sky ad in Castanet, hoping that should someone find the ring, that it would be returned. The owner was leaving the next morning to travel back home and was very upset at having lost her ring. That’s where I came into the story. I emailed them and offered to assist them in locating the lost ring. When they finally called me on the Sunday, it had already been lost for three days and when I learned it was on a beach….well I was not overly confident it would still be there.

I met Wayne and his wife at the beach (luckily not one of the main beaches) and they took me to the spot where they were sitting. It was sandwiched right between two families! I had to have them make room so I could scan the area. We were very grateful for their co-operation. Unfortunately, the ring did not show up. I could see the disappointment in their faces. I told them I would expand my grid, just in case and backed up about 10 paces or so and started moving towards the likely spot. Within about 3 swings of my AT Gold, up pops a solid 53 (pull tab in the Garrett world) but can also be gold. A quick swish with my new sand scoop and there it was! A beautiful white and yellow 14K gold ring with 3 large channel set diamonds. I now know why the owner was so upset!

At that moment the family members present erupted in joy and made quite a commotion. As they live nearby and frequent the beach often there were quite a few people on hand that knew them. As quick as it happened, there was suddenly a large crowd of people excitedly congratulating them on getting the ring returned and thanking me for doing such a nice thing. They were very impressed at how quickly and easily we were able to find the ring.

It was so much fun, people were taking pictures and hugging and just generally happy. On leaving, I told Wayne that I felt like a celebrity for 5 minutes with all the attention we received.

Heidi went through tears of sorrow, to tears of joy.



 

Lost Wallet & Cell Phone In Golfing BC Incident, by Ken

Rob was having a great day playing golf at Shannon Lake Golf Course, that was until his golf cart lost control. He was able to jump off before the cart drove into the Lake. Checking his personal effects after the incident he noticed his wallet with his waterproof cell phone were missing. The next day the cart was recovered from the lake, however his wallet which was on the dash of the cart was still missing, he gave me a call for assistance with my underwater detector. I met Rob at the site and in my wet suit I entered the 5/6 feet of water, the lake had a brick retaining wall around it making recovery difficult. I was getting a few signals but could not retrieve them from between the rocks. Rob stripped off and joined me in the water, once I got a signal Rob would dive under and scoop underneath my coil. After a few beer cans and even a large battery, Rob came up with a scream, he had the wallet and cell phone. Thanks to Rob we had a successful day.



 

Kelowna Lost Ring Found & Returned, by Ken

Karen was playing ball with her granddaughter when she noticed her 14k gold ring was gone. The ring was promised to be given to the granddaughter, she spent one hour on her hands and knees in the grass searching for it, with no luck. She tearfully called me and I responded right away, I told her I would find it, in the grass and knowing the location would make it easy. Within 10 minutes she had the ring back on her finger.



 

Wedding Ring Found In Okanagan Lake Returned, by Ken

Heidi and her husband from Victoria were spending the Canada Day weekend in Penticton. The weather was hot, and perfect for a swim in Okanagan Lake, which is what Heidi and her family did. Heidi reached out to her son and was filled with terror as she realized her wedding ring, an 18k yellow gold, Marquee diamond ring was missing. The marquee diamond in the centre of the ring was her grandmothers and the smaller diamonds were her mother`s. All the kids on the beach joined in the treasure hunt to no avail. Heidi contacted me on the Saturday evening, so I responded at 5am the next morning, usually there is no wind in the mornings, this day the wind was blowing toward the beach and made it a little difficult, I did not find it that day. I had gone out as far as I could, and also covered the whole beach, with no success. I knew the ring had to be there so I planned to return when the wind died down. I returned on Tuesday morning in my wet suit to complete the deeper water. Once I got a hit I knew it was her ring and success, I had the ring in my scoop.  Heidi went through tears of sorrow, to tears of joy.



 

Lost Wedding Ring Found and Returned, by Ken, June 2016

Sheri and her husband were working on their Low Maintenance, water saving yard. Throwing the large rocks around the area, her husband heard a ping and noticed his 14k white gold wedding band was missing, he stopped work and looked around for it. With no luck Sheri called her friend in Vancouver who gave her my phone number, and said give him a call, he will help you search for it with a metal detector. When she called, I told her that with a construction site, time is of the essence and I would be there the next day. With her husband at work, Sheri showed me the location they were working, and said she suspected that it had fallen down between the large rocks. I knew from past experience that the ping meant the ring had bounced away, so I started the search around the perimeter, Sheri convinced it was in the big rocks continued moving them away. After around 45 minutes of searching and still outside the rock pile I located the ring 30 feet away from the rock pile around the location that they were standing, this location was scheduled to be leveled off with a cat the next day. Sheri was delighted and called me a Superstar.



 

Lost “Wedding Day” Ring Returned, by Paul

Recently I received permission to hunt a small area that I had been researching for awhile. After the second find I found a silver ring with an amethyst stone just at the base of the grass and thought this must have been lost recently. About 15 minutes later a maintenance lady showed up and just happened to tell me that another lady had lost her ring a couple weeks back while she was getting married and described the exact silver ring I had just found. Talk about being at the right place at the right time. So, I gave my contact information to her so that she could pass it on to the lady who owned the ring.

When I went home I had a phone conversation with the lady who had lost her ring and she told me that one of her bridesmaids had told her the morning of her wedding to not put the actual wedding rings on the pillow that the ring bearer would carry, but to put other rings instead. So she tied a fashion ring and another ring from her Nana (a silver ring with an amethyst stone) to the pillow, however the next morning after the wedding the ring from her Nana was gone.

She was stoked that I had found her ring because she thought she would never see it again.



 

Lost Ring In Kelowna BC Found and Returned, by Ken

Paul and his girlfriend were walking his dog in a small park. On throwing the ball for the dog the girlfriend heard a metallic ping down the roadway, she asked Paul if he had lost his ring, sure enough it was missing. They searched along the roadway fence in the grass, old leaves and some plants to no avail, they quickly realized it was like a needle in a haystack. Searching the internet he found the OKTH website, the club President sent out a call for help, and I responded the next morning. His girlfriend gave me the best clue on where to search and within 30 minutes I had the ring. I told him he should thank his girlfriend for being so alert.



 

14K Wedding Ring and Engagement Ring Returned to Kelowna Owner, by Ken

Spring had arrived in Kelowna BC Canada, and Yvette was cleaning out her back yard. She removed a vine that was on a fence between her home and a golf course, Yvette collected a large bin and six garbage bags full of garden waste. Once completed she realized she had lost her 14k Wedding ring and Engagement ring that were joined together, she was devastated and spent the whole day searching for it. Her Mother in Calgary found “The Ringfinders” website and sent me an email, I replied send me Yvette`s address and I will respond within the hour. I searched the whole yard and over the fence on the golf course to no avail, the only place left was the garden waste which Yvette and her husband had searched four times with a metal detector. Undaunted I dumped out all the contents and did a systematic search, at the bottom of the bin was the ring inside a discarded plant. Yvette was delighted, I told her to call her Mother and thank her.



 

Ring Lost In Kelowna Snow Found And Returned, by Ken

Ubit was heading for the morning bus, on the way he stopped to brush the snow off his clothes. He quickly realized that his ring was lost in the process. No problem he went back home and found a metal detector rental company, after a few hours of searching with no luck, he went around the neighbourhood and posted lots of distress posters. The ring was given to him by his mother, it was of extreme importance, and it had a spiritual meaning to him. He searched the internet, here he found me and contacted me, I told him I would be there the next morning. When I arrived he was not home, but his roommate showed me the location where he lost the ring. When he arrived home 10 minutes later he was surprised to see that I had found the ring.



 

Rental Car Key Lost In Snow Returned, by Ken

Anastha was involved in a motor vehicle accident, so she was driving a courtesy vehicle. After removing snow from her driveway she realized that she had lost the key for the courtesy vehicle. Unable to find it she called the repair shop who were going to charge her $350 to replace and reprogram the replacement key. She remembered a fellow worker who had lost his wedding ring years earlier, she called him and asked him who assisted him with its recovery, he gave her my phone number. She then called me, and I responded on her day off work. The snow was fairly deep so I did sweep and then removed a layer of snow, on the second sweep I located the key.



 

Lost Glasses In The Snow Party Returned, by Ken

Christy had a party at her home during a recent snow fall. The party was in her back yard and a few of the partygoers were feeling no pain. One young lady fell in the snow and slid 50 yards down a slope finishing up in a blackberry patch, losing her prescription eyeglasses in the process. Christy found me on a website and requested my help in locating the glasses. I arrived and started my search in the yard, within minutes I found a pair of glasses, are these the ones I asked, the answer was no, they were lost last year. I continued my search all the way down the yard and eventually found the other pair in the blackberry patch.



 

Lost Vehicle FOB Strands Man In Kelowna, by Ken

A fresh Winter snow fall is a great time to play with your dog, that’s what Chris was doing on the holiday weekend when he lost his vehicle keys and fob. No problem he had a spare key, so off they go shopping. After shopping, on arriving back at the truck he opened the door and the alarm went off, not having the fob, he couldn’t switch it off. After a taxi ride home he pondered his problem, and tried to get an electrical company to assist him, no luck on the weekend. Next he found me on google and sent me an email, I responded the next day and gridded his orchard area until I found the keys and fob. He called me his hero after I drove him to recover his truck.



 

Lost Ring During Peachland Snow Removal Found And Returned, by Ken

Shawn was visiting his parents in Peachland B.C. for the Christmas holiday. We had a heavy snowfall the next day, so Shawn helped his parents move the snow from the backyard and the driveway. On the way home back to Vancouver driving on the mountain road, he had a panic attack when he realized he had lost his ring. The ring meant a lot to Shawn as it was his wedding ring, and his wife still lives in Thailand. When he arrived home he emailed me with his loss. I responded to his email and told him I would be there the next day. After checking the driveway, I moved out into the roadway and got a signal in the middle of the road. I scraped the snow with my boot and told his parents that I thought I saw a ring, on checking the kicked snow there was his 18k white gold wedding band. Mother was in tears and could not believe it, she immediately phoned her son with the good news. She told me I have the most honourable hobby of anybody.



 

Family Heirloom Found, by Paul

A friend of mine told me a while back about a ring she lost many years ago – so long ago that she couldn’t even remember how she lost it. But, she thought it must have been 15 years ago. The only thing she knew was she lost it in the front yard of her house near her steps. She said it was her grandfather’s wedding ring and felt really bad about having lost it since it had been passed down to her. So, I had some time and went over to try and see if I could find it. The first target was a pull tab followed by a piece of foil and then on the third target I thought it was going to be another piece of foil, but it turned out to be the ring.

The ring is 14K with an inscription inside and also has a welded small loop so that it could be worn on a chain.

My friend was so thrilled that I found it so quickly and I was so glad to be the one to find it for her.



 

Found Ring, by Ken

Mark was down on Gyro Beach for the evening with the boys. He dropped his wedding ring in the sand, knew where it was but the whole group after searching around, could not find it. He called me the next day, which was Thanksgiving Day, asking when I would be available to help him in his search. Experience tells me the sooner the better, I told him I will be there in 30 minutes. I got there before he did and could see by the scrape marks where they had been searching, 5 minutes later it was in my pouch. Mark arrived and was delighted to see his diamond wedding band, he tells me I saved his marriage.



 

Found Ring, by Ken

Kyle was installing fencing at a new home, and just for safety he put his 14k diamond wedding ring in his pocket so as not to lose it. On his way home he went to his pocket to put the ring back on, and it was missing. He gave me a call, I responded within 30 minutes and found the ring 2 inches deep in the dirt by a fencepost. His concern was that it could have been anywhere on site, or even in the concrete around the posts.

Another happy customer.



 

A Christmas Miracle, by Roger

Some detective work and little bit of luck resulted in a family recovering photos they thought were lost forever. What made this experience truly fulfilling is that these were the only photos the family had of a very memorable event in their life.

On December 21, 2014, I found a camera storage card buried under an inch of grass in an outdoor market area in Osoyoos. It was filthy, but the case was not cracked so I loaded it into my digital camera.

The 1,987 photos on the card spanned the period of February 2010 to June 2012. It documented the birth of twins in February 2011 and their first year of growth. The photos began with vacation shots of the couple, and one showed the front of their car, which had no license plates, and led me to believe (later confirmed) they lived in Alberta. A celebration, then periodic photos of an expanding midriff confirmed the woman was pregnant, and documented the birth of her twins in February 2011. About 1,600 of the photos taken after February followed the growth of the twins, and detailed a medical issue faced by one of the twins. Birthday parties and visits by friends and grandparents were all documented. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if I could find the owner of this camera card”.

While reviewing the photos I sometimes felt like a Peeping Tom, but I knew the only way to find the owner would be to find a clue as to their identity or whereabouts.

One picture, taken from the end of a rural driveway, showed part of a distant house. No house number was visible, but I saw a Kootenay-area real estate sign, with a ‘Sold’ banner covering part of it. I made an assumption the people might have purchased the house, so I phoned the real estate agent and sent him a photo of the house and of the couple. He did not know them, but his partner remembered selling the house and put me in touch with the couple.

In subsequent emails I confirmed I had found the true owner of the camera card, and mailed it to them just a few days after Christmas. I was astounded by the surprise and gratitude of the owners. Here are a few of the comments made by the mother in her emails;

“First of all, thank you so much! How amazing of you to go out of your way to try and find me! I lost that card maybe as long as two years ago! I was devastated because most of the pictures of my kids as babies were not backed up. So I thought I had lost a lot of the first year of their lives including their birth!”

“It is truly a Christmas present and a Christmas miracle for me!! A genuine act of kindness, Roger! I’ll never forget it!! Thank you so much! Happy metal detecting!!”

Gratitude such as this drives us to attempt to return items we find, and is one of the reasons we enjoy our hobby.



 

Wedding Ring Returned, by Jim

I found the white gold wedding ring this morning, that the club was asked to search for. A young woman had lost it in the dry sand on the beach in Osoyoos yesterday. When she phoned, she initially thought she had reached someone from the Osoyoos area, not Penticton. She was very pleased to have it back.



 

Sons Silver Ring Lost And Found In West Kelowna Backyard, by Ken

Kelly phoned me to say that her son Carson was devastated because he had lost his silver ring in their backyard while playing with the dog. It was lost the evening prior to her call, the family searched the side of the house where it came off during a toy throw. I arrived and expected to find it in the junipers by the side of the house, after one hour I knew it was not there. I asked if I could check out the next door suspecting it may have flown over the fence. No one was home so we went around and sure enough it was lying on the gravel pathway.



 

Twice Lucky – Wedding Ring Recovered, by Ken

January 2013, Paul called me to assist with his lost wedding ring on his hobby farm, we were successful in recovering the ring. Today November 2014, Paul called me again to say that he had once again lost his wedding ring again while working in the Orchard and his wife was not impressed. He was raking the leaves and driving his tractor with his gloves on, he removed his gloves at four locations when he noticed the ring was missing. I detected the four locations where he thought it would be with no success, I told him I would grid the whole farm until I found it. After a couple of hours the ring was located by an apple tree in the Orchard. Another marriage saved, I told Paul I would book him in for next year.



 

Lost Ring Located At Cedar Creek Park In Kelowna, by Ken

It was a late summer evening at Cedar Creek Park in Kelowna. Dee and her husband were out walking the dog down by the lake, Dee was engaged with her dog by throwing a ball into the lake, she was shocked when along with the ball into the water went her large silver and turquoise ring. Both she and her husband spent hours searching the knee deep water for the ring, unfortunately the beach was rocky, the lake was wavy, with shadows on the rocks. The ring had fallen between the rocks and was difficult to see, Dee googled for help, and got me. I responded the next day with my metal detector to assist them in their search. I knew the ring would not be hard to find, Dee was sure of the location, she saw it flying, she said it was a girly throw, and it can`t sink into the rocks. After finding foil, bottle caps and pull tabs the ring was located which delighted Dee who called me her hero. She was so enthralled with the metal detecting hobby, that she purchased a metal detector from my company for her husband.



 

Ring Found & Returned, by Syd

About a week ago I read a message on the St. Andrews by the lake blog that a lady, while playing golf at our course, had lost a very valuable ring. I contacted the lady and we arranged to meet in order to discuss where it had been lost. She had taken the ring from her finger and placed it in her pocket while she played the round of golf. She thought that it had fallen from her pocket somewhere between the 2nd and the 5th hole or possibly at the 9th hole so I left my detector at home and agreed to walk the course with her and note the best places to search. I drew a map of the course and as we walked I marked all the places where she had stopped to play her ball and the path she had followed. I could only search the course for 1 hour each day after closing so I thought it might take a long time to cover all the fairways. The first evening I searched the 2nd fairway and part of the 3rd and marked the place where I had to stop for the evening. The second evening out on the course I started from my mark of the night before, took about four steps with my detector, heard a good repeatable signal and pinpointed the ring. I was back home again in 10 minutes, phoned the lady, who came right over and claimed her ring.

The ring is 14K gold with 7 diamonds. Value to the owner, priceless.  I was very lucky to find a ring that was lost somewhere on a golf course.  Certainly a first for me.



 

Lost Engagement Ring Returned, by Ken

The distress call came in at noon, I have lost my diamond ring, can you help me . My response was, I will be there in 30 minutes. Michelle was on vacation in Kelowna, from the lower mainland. The temperatures in Kelowna have been over the 35 degrees Celsius, so a dip in the lake was in order. Michelle gave her wedding band and engagement ring to her mother for safekeeping. Mother put them on a safety pin, when they arrived at the car only the wedding ring was on the pin. I arrived and they showed me the part of the beach where they were sitting, hoping that the ring would be at that location. Talk about lucky within two minutes the ring was returned to the excited Michelle. My reward was the smile on her face and the sale of 2 Westjet Raffle Tickets.



 

Bob & Ken, The Dynamic Detecting Duo Strike Again

Ken Dewerson received the following email Friday morning:

Hi Ken
I was so happy to come across your info online. We live in Kelowna and this past Monday, My Husband and I were playing football in the water at the beach. We were wrapping up the game to go dry off and I said….”okay last throw honey”. He went to catch the ball and his ring went flying off into the water as well. We looked for close to 2 hours. I went and borrowed a mask and snorkel and we did a grid, and had people helping us, but to no avail.
I`m hoping your metal detector can help? We know the exact location it fell. We are only married just over 6 months and I`ve spent the last two days crying. The emotional value, With the engraving is so special and I hate thinking that its gone. We were in shallow water, Up to our knees standing, the ring is dark grey, tungsten carbide ring with the engraving “worth the wait”. Is there any way you can help?
It would mean the WORLD to me!!
Feel free to reply to my email or call me.
Thank you Ken!! I am sure you can help.

However before I got the email I had already retrieved the ring and called her husband, I arranged to meet him on the aturday and return his ring. He wanted to keep it a surprise for his wife. The reason I already had the ring was because my hunting partner Bob Shabatura was on the beach detecting that evening, he took the particulars and called me to use my water machine.