I received a message, from Chelsea, on Saturday evening, asking if I would be able to search for a lost necklace and pendant. I immediately called Chelsea back. Chelsea told me that her 13 year old daughter, Emma, had lost a Gold Necklace and Pendant, at a family birthday party. The birthday party was at Chelsea’s father’s property, in Arundel, Maine. Chelsea told me that there were many adults and children looking for the necklace and pendant but they just could’t find them, even though they knew the approximate area, the necklace and pendant were lost in. Chelsea even told me that the pendant had been found once and then Emma dropped it, only to disappear again, right at her feet, as she was standing there. With it now being just after 5:00pm and the sun setting before 7:00pm now, we made plans for me to arrive at Chelsea’s fathers house, at 8:00am, the next morning. Chelsea the sent me the address of her father’s house and his phone number. If I needed anything, I could contact her father, Leroy. With the gold pendant and necklace being on private property, the gold items would be safe overnight.
So early this Sunday morning, I arrived at Leroy’s property and Leroy was already outside, still searching for the necklace and pendant. When I introduced myself. Leroy told me that the necklace had been found and it was just the pendant, still missing. Leroy took me over to where Emma had been standing, when she dropped the pendant. I looked at the area and mentioned to Leroy that I would think the pendant would have been visible, after being dropped. Leroy agreed and told me the adults were astonished the pendant wasn’t visible in the very short grass and sand. We started talking about the pendant possibly being dropped in another area and Emma thought she was in this area. Leroy was absolutely sure that Emma had been standing, in this area, when she dropped the pendant. Leroy also conveyed that the previous evening, Emma had checked her clothing, thinking the pendant may have somehow landed in her pocket or shoes. No pendant was found. At this point, Emma’s father, Nate arrived and he also went through the entire turn of events and his and Leroy’s story was exactly the same. The pendant had to be in this area. I was then told that the previous evening, a rake was used, in searching for the pendant. Could the pendant have been moved, out of the area, by the rake? Could the pendant have covered up with the sand/loose gravel, by the rake? We shall find out. I told Nate and Leroy that I would grid search the area from near the vegetation, along the pond, to the driveway and repeat that process, until the area had been 100% searched. If I didn’t find it, in the area, I would start expanding the area of search.
The grid search line from the vegetation to the driveway, was maybe 20’. It wouldn’t take me long to cover the entire area. As I made my way towards the driveway, I received a few non ferrous targets that I knew wouldn’t be the pendant but I checked them with my pinpointer anyways, for due diligence sake and being thorough. All targets were in the ground and were not the pendant. As I turned and headed back towards the pond, same thing was happening. A few targets being checked out but the pendant was still missing. I then headed back towards the driveway and a few steps in, I heard the tone I had been hoping for. A loud, repeatable low tone, showing up a very solid 18, on the VDI Screen. This just had to be the pendant but when I looked down at the patchy grass and sand/loose gravel, there was nothing there. As the three of us were there looking at the ground, I grabbed my pinpointer and started searching the sand/loose gravel area and all of a sudden, I see a tiny piece of gold and then I saw the outline of a pendant. Emma’s pendant had been found. Leroy, Nate and myself marveled at how the gold pendant blended in with the sand/loose gravel and surrounding area. We also talked about how the pendant ended up, beneath the sand/loose gravel. Could the foot traffic in the area, while searching have covered it up? Could the raking have covered it up? It was very close to where Emma thought she had dropped the pendant but was just hiding, under the sand/loose soil.
Nate and Leroy then told me the story of the gold necklace and pendant. Chelsea had actually bought them, when she was around 16 years old, with her own hard earned money. As Emma always loved the necklace, Chelsea passed it down to Emma. Thankfully the necklace and pendant will now be back together, once the necklace is repaired. UnfortunatelY, I was not able to meet either Chelsea or Emma but Nate is going to make sure Emma gets her gold pendant back. As I was leaving, I saw the smiles on Leroy and Nate’s faces and although I could’t see my smile, as I walked to my vehicle, I also was wearing a large smile. Love my job!!! It’s the best job in the world.
