Sentimental White Gold Motherโs Ring Lost In The Water At Sebago Lake, Windham, Maine Found With A Metal Detector
๐จ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐! ๐๐ญ
Imagine receiving the perfect Motherโs Day ring, only to watch it vanish into a massive lake just six weeks later. That is exactly the nightmare Michelle faced, and it all started during a beautiful, normal day at the beach with her family.
Drop a โค๏ธ to show Michelle some support, and share this postโyou never know who might need a reminder to double-check their pockets this summer!
๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐๐ค๐๐ง๐
On July 3rd, I received a message from Michelle. She was in urgent need of a water recovery over at Sebago Lake Maine in the Town of Windham, Maine.
Michelle sent over the details of what had happened, and itโs a situation many of us can relate to. She had taken all of her rings off to apply sun lotion to her children and then to herself.
To keep them safe, she placed them all into a pocket on her bathing suit. With the family protected from the sun, Michelle grabbed a float and went into the water to enjoy the beautiful July 4th holiday weekend, soaking up the rays while floating around the private lakeside community beach.
The shock came once Michelle exited Sebago Lake Maine .
She reached into her bathing suit pocket to retrieve her rings, only to find to her utter horror that two of her rings were missing. Cruelly, one of the missing pieces was a deeply sentimental ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ representing her three children’s birth months.
The beautiful white gold ring featured three stonesโtwo sparkling diamonds flanking a vibrant, eye-catching red center stone.
To make matters worse, Michelle had just received this precious ring six weeks earlier, and now it had slipped out of her pocket and fallen somewhere onto the bottom of Sebago Lake.
๐โโ๏ธ ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ
Disbelief quickly turned to action. Michelle, her children, family members, and other supportive community members immediately rallied together and started searching the crystal clear waters.
Some scanned from above on floats while others waded through the water on foot, desperately looking for a glimmer of white gold on the lake floor…
As the family and neighbors searched, a shout went up from the waterโMichelle’s son had spotted one of the missing rings!
Floating along the surface, he was peering down through the crystal clear water when a flash of metal caught his eye on the lake floor, about 4 to 5 feet deep.
Without wasting a second, he dove straight down, reached past the rocks, and gripped the ring. He broke the surface triumphantly, holding the ring high in the air to show his mother.
The excitement was electric, but there was absolutely no time to waste. One ring was safely back, but the most sentimental pieceโthe beautiful white gold Motherโs Day ringโwas still lost somewhere beneath the waves.
With new hope fueling the team, the search ensued for the final ring… Unfortunately, despite everyone’s best efforts, the day ended without finding the second ring.
๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ญ๐ก: ๐ ๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ
That is when Michelle reached out to me. Because the beach belongs to a private, gated community, it wasn’t a spot where I could just waltz right in and start searching on my own. To get access to the area, I needed to be accompanied by a community member. We looked at the schedule, and the next time Michelle would be available to meet me at the gate was three days later, on July 6th.
Perfect! The date and time were set, and a plan was officially in motion.
When the day arrived, Gary and I pulled up to the gate and were warmly greeted by Michelle and her children.
We made our way down to the waterfront, where Michelle pointed out the fairly large area she had floated around during the holiday weekend. The search zone included clusters of rocks and massive underwater bouldersโsome sitting just inches below the surface, and a few others just barely breaking through the water. She also pointed out the exact spot just past one of those large boulders where her son had successfully recovered the first ring.
Our grid search plan was to concentrate our efforts heavily around these rock formations.
My biggest concern going into this was that the missing ring might have drifted a little too far out, into water that was completely over my head. To tackle the zone efficiently, Gary and I divided and conquered. I waded right out to the deep water where the first ring had been found and began a tight grid search, moving back and forth parallel to the shoreline. With each complete pass, I pushed myself a little deeper out into the lake, continuing until it was no longer safe to go any further.
Meanwhile, Gary started right at the shoreline. His mission was to work his way from the shallow water outward until he reached the deep boulder where I had initially started. By combining these two approaches, we were able to systematically cover a very large, thorough footprint in the exact zone Michelle believed the ring was most likely resting.
๐ ๐๐ก๐ “๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐”
After three grueling hours of intensive searching, digging up many coins and pieces of beach trash later, we unfortunately had to call the search without finding the ring.
The water depth simply got to a point where I could not go out any further safely. Gary and I donโt like it one bit when we donโt succeed. We take every single recovery personally, but sometimes in this line of work, we have to accept a temporary defeat.
Before packing up, we sat down and talked out the strategy with Michelle. We discussed the deeper water and assured her that we would certainly come back to search again later in the summer. In August and September, the lake levels usually drop a few feet, which would completely open up the deep areas I just couldn’t reach today. Michelle agreed to keep a close eye on the waterline and promised to contact us the moment it dropped.
Defeated for now, Gary and I loaded up our gear and made the long drive of shame home…
๐ ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐๐ค๐ & ๐ ๐๐๐ฐ ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ
Fast forward to late August. Gary and I were driving home from a successful recovery on “The Sandbar” at ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐จ ๐๐๐ค๐. As we passed the gated community where there was still a missing ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ’๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ , I mentioned that I should contact the owner, Michelle, knowing just how low the lake level had become.
Just 10 days later, Michelle beat me to it! She reached out on September 2nd to tell me the water level was down significantlyโby two feet or more. Since she was about to go on vacation, she could get us back past the gates and into the water. Awesome.
๐ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ (๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง!)
Two days later, Gary and I resumed the search. We expanded our grid out deeper and into other areas we hadn’t covered the first time around. We even were out past the roped off buoys, that Michelle had not gone past. But after another three hours of grinding it out, we still had no ring.
I was convinced the ring had to be out deeper than we could search during our first attempt, way further out than Michelle had ever been on her float. We even were out past the roped off buoys, that Michelle had not gone past.With the deep water now eliminated, Gary shifted his focus to searching up on the beach itself, out of the water. I continued working my way back through the water toward the shore, preparing myself to break the bad news to Michelle.
๐ ๐๐ก๐ “๐ ๐จ๐ข๐ฅ” ๐๐ข๐ ๐ง๐๐ฅ
As I was finishing up the grid near the shoreline, standing in just ankle-deep water a few feet out, my detector suddenly went off with a loud, low tone. The Target Identification (TID) read 07-08.
It was definitely in the gold range, but given how close we were to the shore and the picnic tables, my first thought was foil. It had to be foil, right? I dug the target anyway, and BAM!!!
๐ ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฏ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ!
A white gold ring with two diamonds and a brilliant red center stone appeared in my scoop. I couldn’t believe my eyes! After six total hours of searching deep water, the ring was sitting just a few feet from the shoreline, only about 60 to 75 feet from where the first ring had been found. We were so certain it was out deep, but the shallows held the treasure. Lesson learned.
๐ญ ๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐๐ฅ
At this time, Michelle had no idea I had it. I called her over and casually told her we were just about done. I asked her a few quick questions to distract her, then I held the ring up right in front of me and asked, “๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ ๐ข๐ญ?”
Michelleโs hands went straight up to her face in total shock. Happy tears immediately started flowing, and I couldn’t have been happier for her.
It was truly wonderful for Gary and I to witness such an emotional reaction. After having the ring for just six weeks and now just over two months lost in ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐จ ๐๐๐ค๐, Michelle is once again wearing her beloved children’s birthstones on her finger. With the happy tears flowing, the hugs and thank yous over, Gary and I drove home not on the “๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐” but on a “๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐!” ๐๐๐จ
โค๏ธ ๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐๐ ๐๐จ ๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ ๐๐จ
Another ring back on the finger, right where it belongs. ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐! It really is the best job in the world.
Remember: ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐, ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐. ๐โจ
๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ? ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ ๐๐๐๐ซ-๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐! โ๏ธ
Now that the summer and water seasons are over, you might think a lost ring is gone for goodโbut it isn’t! We don’t just search the water. If your precious jewelry slips off in the backyard, down a trail, or while doing yard work, we can find your ring hidden in:
โข ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ฌ
โข ๐ฑ ๐๐ก๐ข๐๐ค ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ
โข โ๏ธ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง ๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ก ๐ฌ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ!
Time is of the essence! The sooner we get out there, the better the chances of a perfect recovery. Don’t wait until it gets buried deeper or lost forever.
๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ง๐ง๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ญ ๐๐๐-๐๐๐-๐๐๐๐ and let us bring your treasure home!
๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ! ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ง’๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ, ๐ฐ๐ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ก ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ฌ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ก๐๐โ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ .
๐น ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐จ๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง!
Michelle’s unforgettable, shocked reaction was caught entirely on video! We released the reel last night, and you can watch the incredible moment unfold right now on The Ring Finders of Maine Facebook Page.
