Greg Lewis, Author at The Ring Finders

  • from Oregon City (Oregon, United States)
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Last Thursday I received a call from Gust, asking if I would be willing to come out and search for his wife’s gold wedding ring they believed she lost in the yard while cutting back some shrubbery.

He had searched the internet, found Ring Finders, and I was the closest to them, even though I was a hour and a half drive away.

After discussing the circumstances about the loss, we agreed I would drive out the following Sunday (I had an unchangeable appointment Friday, Saturday was forecast heavy rain, and since it was likely on their property, it wasn’t going to be found by some random person).

I loaded up the Manticore, and my AT Gold as a backup, and made the hour and a half drive up the Columbia River Gorge into Washington to do the search. When I arrived, Gust and Liz were waiting in the front yard.

Liz walked me through what she had been doing when the ring went missing. She demonstrated how she had been pulling back the bushes, trimming them, then tossing the clippings into a pile. She then carried the clippings to the back of their property and threw them down the hill. I asked her how confident she was it was lost outside. She said she was very sure, since she never takes it off, and noticed it was gone when she went inside and washed her hands. I got my gear and started.

Gust and Liz were standing by watching, I briefly explained looking for on the detectors VDI, and what I was hearing in the headphones. I worked the area under and the around the shrubs and found there were metal spikes and staples holding in some of the landscaping, and a couple of T-posts deep inside the shrubs.

Not finding it there, I scanned the areas where she said she had been tossing the clippings. It wasn’t there, so I began a circular search pattern around the bush. When I found a signal and stopped to check it, Liz would comment on the VDI and move closer. I explained that the numbers can be deceiving, and I was really just listening to the sound the detector made.

I got about 3/4s of the way around the bush, and in the bark-chips I heard the unmistakable sound of gold in my headphones. Gust and Liz were still nearby, so I shut off the headphones and went over to them. I scanned over what was probably a staple and asked if they could hear how scratchy the sound was. I then went to where the ring was and scanned over it, asking if they could hear the difference. I said “That’s your ring” and before I could do anything else, Liz dove in and recovered her ring buried in the bark!

Very special to reunite this ring with a super nice couple of people. She’s worn it for 43 years, and now it’s back where it belongs.
Lost wedding ring Lost ring found

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Gold wedding ring lost doing yard work in Portland Oregon

  • from Oregon City (Oregon, United States)
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I received a message from Seth, telling me he had lost his wedding ring doing yard work, and “you’re the man to call.”

We had a phone conversation about the circumstances of the loss, and the area.
As it was lost in his yard, I told him I would be able to come out the next day to do the search.

When I arrived, Seth walked me through what he had been doing when his ring went missing. He said he had been mowing the lawn in the front and backyard, wearing gloves, and emptying the clippings into the yard debris bin. He felt sure that the ring had come off in the backyard near the deck, and had even taken off parts of the deck  to search. He also told me he had purchased a metal detector and done some searching himself, but had no success.
I fired up the Manticore and started in the backyard. It turned out the yard was super trashy, with multiple signals, so it was slow going. I found several promising targets, but they were all too deep to be a recently dropped gold ring.
When I left the backyard, I found Seth in the front yard with his recently purchased metal detector. He was disappointed I hadn’t found the ring in the backyard, since he was sure it would be there.

I began searching the front yard, and Seth asked if he should dump the yard debris bin. We searched that with no luck.

The front yard was much cleaner than the back, so when the Manticore got a clean, repeatable signal, so I had high hopes. The lawn was pretty thick and green, so I needed the pinpointer  to locate the target. There it was! 😀 I snapped a pic, then began shutting down my gear. Seth had seen me from inside the house, and came out to thank me for trying. I told him it was pointless to keep searching for his ring. I then held it up for him, and his reaction was epic!

After a big high-five, he told me he was certain he would have never found the ring if it wasn’t for my help.

Thank you Seth for letting me help.

 

 

 

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Gold and diamond wedding ring lost off a high balcony, five months ago

  • from Oregon City (Oregon, United States)
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In August 2024, I got a message from Shawn asking if I could come locate his white gold wedding ring.

He told me he was doing some carpentry work at Dagney’s house in Portland. He went out on the deck to brush off some sawdust and saw his wedding ring fly off his finger and drop into the brush far below.

I knew the area, and how steep the hillside was, but agreed to come take a look.

I arrived at the beautiful home on the butte, and Shawn explained what happened. The balcony was about four stories above a steep slope covered in blackberry brambles. I had him toss a stand-in ring (made from copper tubing) with a section of pink ribbon, where he thought the ring landed. It immediately disappeared into the blackberries.

Dagney and I went down the long stairway to under the house and saw that you couldn’t see the ground through the brush, so you couldn’t tell how steep the area was, or even where the ground was.

I reluctantly told Shawn and Dagney that I did not think I could safely get the the area the ring should be, and both were clearly disappointed, but understood. Before leaving, I told them I would be willing to come back and try again. Since the ring was not going anywhere, I asked them to contact me once some of the greenery had died back.

Fast forward five months. I received a message from Dagney, with a photo of the hillside. It looked better, so we set-up a time for me to return. Having had some time to develope a plan, I loaded a gas trimmer with a brush-cutter blade, long handle and hand clippers, a machete, gloves, good boots, and my Minelab Manticore.

When I arrived about 9:30, I met with Shawn and Dagney again. I had Shawn go over the details of how the ring was lost, and point out where he thought it landed. I explained my plan was to cut a path into the general area and locate the copper ring with ribbon he had dropped 5 months ago, then expand the search from there.

I hauled all the gear down the stairs and started. I cut my way close to the suspected area, then opened up a space to work. Not wanting to risk hitting the ring with cutter blade, I would chop back the upper section of the blackberries, use the clippers to get closer to the ground, then go over the area with the metal detector. I got a few promissing hits, which turned out to be trash, much to the dismay of Shawn and Dagney who were watching from above. A little further up the hill, I found the copper ring/ribbon thing. I held it up for Shawn to see. I started clearing brush to my left for about 10 feet, detecting every few feet with no luck. I went back and started moving right. Within 2 feet, I got a clean tone from the Manticore and knew it had to be what I was looking for. I went in with the pinpointer and….nothing!? Thinking I was crazy, I used the clippers to trim some more brambles, and there in the dirt was the ring! I looked up the the balcony to share the news, but nobody was there. I snapped a couple photos, and began packing up my gear. As I was doing that, Dagney looked over the balcony and told me Shawn had an appointment and had left. I told her it was pointless for me to keep searching for the ring, and I would be up to explain in a few minutes.

I hauled everything back up the stairs and piled it by my truck. Dagney opened the door, I went inside and told her the reason it was pointless to continue looking was because I found it, holding it up for her. She nearly fell to her knees telling me how happy she was Shawn would get his ring back. Sweaty me got a big hug..

Took a touch more then 5 months waiting, and 4 1/2 hours of work, but ring reunited……

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Wedding ring lost in Oregon Construction site

  • from Oregon City (Oregon, United States)
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A few weeks ago, I received a message from Caleb asking if I could help find his lost wedding ring. He  was spreading hay over the construction site for erosion control, and during the process, his ring came off. He told me he had narrowed the area to about a 10′ radius, but had not been able to find it himself.

I asked him how confident he was the ring was on the lot, and he said he was “very confident” and certain it was in a limited area, since he felt it come off. We agreed to meet at the lot the next afternoon, thinking since it was a fairly small area, it would be a quick search.

I arrived and met Caleb, and he showed me the section of the lot where he was sure the ring had slipped off. He said he had just finished spreading the hay around by hand, shook his hands, and felt the ring come off. I fired-up the Manticore and began the search. Being an active construction site, there were a number of targets coming up. Each time I stopped to double check a signal, Caleb come over and start moving the hay. I explained to him the VDI numbers were wrong, as was the tone from the detector, or the target was too deep.

After spending more then a hour in that small area, I expanded the search to the left, right, and behind where he had been standing, thinking the ring may have flown off in a different direction. Caleb was still sure it was in that area, and he was sifting through the hay by hand. I loaned him a pin-pointer to use in his search. After we passed two hours, I told him I felt sure the ring was not in that area. We walked around the lot a bit and I had him explain again what he was doing. He said he hauled the bales of hay onto the lot, pulled it apart, and threw the hay across the bare ground. He was sure he had the ring on when he started, and it was gone when he finished, but he was second guessing where it came off. We agreed the ring could actually be anywhere on the lot, or in the shed where the hay was stored. It was getting later in the afternoon, and the temperature was dropping. I told him I would come back in the morning and search the entire lot.

I arrived and began again, but Caleb had to be working at a different location. I started on the same side of the lot, covering the same area, then down into hole around the foundation. About 3/4th of the way down the eastside of the lot in my expanded seach area, the detector gave out that beautiful, clean tone. About two inches down in the hay was Caleb’s ring.

I let him know I had found it (not where he thought it was), and since he was working, I marked the spot I found it, and told him where I would stash the ring for him to pick-up a little later. No smiling recovery pic, but did take some of the location and ring.

 

 

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Wedding ring lost in Washington lake. Found with metal detector…with some twists!

  • from Oregon City (Oregon, United States)
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On July 30th, I received a message from Nick, saying he had found me on theringfinders.com, asking if I would be able to help him find his wedding ring he had lost in Goose Lake, which is in the Gifford Pinchot forest.
He told me on the prior weekend, he had been backpacking for two days, and had dove into the lake to scrub off the accumulated grime. After, he found his ring was gone.
He mentioned he was considering getting a metal detector himself and searching, but was about four hours away from the lake.

Since he wouldn’t be there, I asked for as many details about the location he could provide.
Fortunately, Nick had a video and photo of where he was in the lake, which showed some landmarks.
This lake is about 2 and hours away, but after some research, and reviewing the pictures, I agreed to give it a shot.
This lake is a very popular spot for day-use, camping, and fishing, so I decided to go up early on a Tuesday morning for the search.
I arrived, got my gear together, and got ready to search. I took off my wedding ring, and put it in the back of my truck (or so I thought).

I went to the lakeshore and was able to find the location where the the photo/video was taken. Focusing on this area, I started a grid search.

I went into the water about chest-deep, took a half-step to my right, then worked back to the shore. I got a solid hit, and realized that as soon as my scoop went into the silty bottom, visibility went to zero. After several tries, I pulled out a crusty fishing lure.
I made a couple more passes, when I had to pause while a couple gentleman struggled to launch their antique boat into the lake.
When they finally got their s#it together, and left the area, I began again. I received a promising hit on the Nox, so I made a scoop. Scanning the spot again, I realized I missed it. I made another scoop, and as I gently shook my sand-scoop, I caught the glimmer of gold!

I cleaned through the dirt and gravel in the scoop, and there it was.

I left my scoop in the lake to mark where I had found the ring, and returned to the beach.
As I was warning-up, a couple guys approached me curious about what I was doing. I told them I was looking for a lost ring, and showed them the ring I recovered. I got some high fives and praise, then they went back to getting ready to fish, and I continued to pack my gear.

Just as I was taking a couple pictures of the lake, one of the fishermen approached me and asked about a ring he’d found in the parking area. Sure enough, it was my wedding ring I had dropped behind my truck!

I shook his hand and told him he was a Ringfinder!

While driving out, and getting back into cell phone service, I received an evacuation notice. There was a wildfire in the area.
I also had a message from Nick wishing me luck on the search. I told him he was a little late on his wish, and sent him a photo of the ring.
The reply was pretty ecstatic. We had a conversation regarding shipping his ring, and the rest is history.

  3. Ring lost in lake
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Wedding ring lost in a car, found!

  • from Oregon City (Oregon, United States)
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I received a message from Bharti saying she had found me on theringfinders.com, asking if I could help find her husband’s wedding ring.
I messaged back asking for some details. She told me had fallen below the driver’s seat of their car. I told her that a metal detector would be of limited use, due to the confined space, and mixed metals in the vehicle construction. I let her know I had an endoscope camera I could use to look around under the seat, and gave some suggestions to aid their search.

Bharti Told me they had received a’snake camera’ but had no luck with it. She thought maybe my expertise and experience might find the ring.

We agreed on a time to meet, and when I arrived, I met Bharti and her husband.

After removing all the floor mats, I looked under the seat with a bright LED flashlight. Finding nothing, I activated my endoscope and IPad and started probing around.
The rails, under the carpet, and vents found nothing, so I pushed the camera into some plastic trim pieces.

Under the right side of the driver’s seat, I saw a slight glimmer of gold, and when I twisted the camera, the plastic flexed, and out popped the ring.

Expertise, experience, or luck? Don’t know, but a wedding ring reunited.

 

 

It was up there

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Lost ring found in Aumsville Oregon

  • from Oregon City (Oregon, United States)
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Oregon lost ring Oregon lost jewelry I received a late night message inquiring if I was Greg from Ring Finders, and if I could help locate a lost ring.

In our text exchange, Tamerik explained that the lost white gold ring was worn on a chain around his neck. He had been helping a friend move some chairs from a shed, across the backyard. It wasn’t until his friends father found the broken chain that he realized the ring was gone.

Aumsville is about a hour down the road and I was able to head down the next day in the late afternoon.

When I arrived, I met Tamerik and he showed me the area he thought the ring should be.  He showed me the shed where the chairs were stored, and the approximate path he took while carrying them.

I started with my Minelab, doing a quick search over the suspected area. Quickly I discovered the area was super trashy, with multiple hits at various depths. I switched to a more systematic grid-search, getting great hits, but nothing near the surface. After about a hour, both Tamerik (who had been watching), and I were getting discouraged.

Tamerik‘s friend was there, so we had another conversation. He pointed out the approximate location where he thought his father had found the broken chain. Putting on my thinking cap, I looked at the yard, and decided on the shortest path I would take. I switched to my Garrett AT Gold with a smaller coil (always bring multiple detectors).  After about 10 minutes, I got the signal I was looking for. Bent down, parted the grass, and there was the  missing gold ring.
Glad to be able to help out…..persistence pays off

 

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Lost wedding ring found in Oregon creek

  • from Oregon City (Oregon, United States)
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Late on Saturday evening I received a call from Tanner, asking if I could help finding his lost wedding ring. During an unexpected heat spell, he and his wife had gone to one of our beautiful Oregon parks to enjoy some cooling waters.
After their time there, he discovered his custom engraved Tungsten wedding ring was missing.

We exchanged a few texts and agreed to meet there on Sunday afternoon.
I loaded up my detectors, and my waders, and and headed for the park. I arrived earlier than our agreed upon time, so texted Tanner for more details on the possible location they had been in.
I began grinding the creek, working the pretty steady current. For a popular park, the creek bed was surprisingly clean, with just two pull-tabs found.

Shortly later, Tanner and his wife arrived and found me, probably because I was the only person in the water with a metal detector.
Turns out I was not in the right area.
They took me to the correct location, showing me where they had placed their chairs, and waded into the creek, adding a few more details about their activities.
Tanner told me it wasn’t until they were driving home when he noticed his ring was missing. They had resigned themselves the ring was gone, when Tanner’s wife did a google search about finding a lost ring, landing on Ringfinders.

In the correct spot, Tanner waded into the creek, and his wife was was on her hands and knees searching through the grass where they had placed their chairs. I used the Equinox to scan through the grass, and only got trashy signals, or deep ones.

I ventured into the creek, finding a pull-tab and a dime. A bit further upstream I got that sweet signal in my headphones, and in the knee deep water, there was the black Tungsten ring in the gravel of the creek bed. I called over to Tanner and pointed it out, and he immediately scooped it out of the water.

So happy to see a nice young couple reunited with a precious memory though lost forever.

Thank you for your generosity, and best wishes for the new addition to your family.

 

Oregon ring found

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Fast find on lost Oregon ring

  • from Oregon City (Oregon, United States)
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So, late on Sunday evening I received a message from Kirill saying he was “quite desperately looking for a ring finder.” They had hosted a wedding event at their home the day before, and somehow during the event, his wife’s wedding ring went missing. The festivities occurred mainly on the outdoor deck, so he requested I come out and search below the the deck and in the grassy areas around it. He also suggested it could have ended up in the trash bags from the event, so maybe searching the trash bags was a possibility.

I was able to meet them the next afternoon. Preparing for an excursion under a deck, I loaded my detectors, gloves and knee pads, flashlights, and an endoscope camera.

When I arrived, the rental company was there loading up the tables and chairs from the event. I met up with Kirill, and he walked me up to the deck where they had the post wedding festivities. He pointed out where the tables and dance floor had been. He said he had reviewed the photos from the event, and the last time the ring was seen was in the area we were standing.

I asked him to describe the ring again, and he said it was white gold with a blue sapphire stone. I pointed down at the deck between us and said, “Like that?”
There, shining in the sunlight was a gleaming blue stone. The ring was caught in the gap between two of the deck boards.
Kiriill’s wife joined us and the ring was happily reunited with her finger.
He was certain he had checked the area of the deck. Perhaps it had been stuck on one of the tables or chairs the rental company had been removing that afternoon, or maybe a set of fresh eyes spotted it… regardless, a beautiful ring back where it belongs.

Probably my quickest recovery yet, and thanks to you both for the generous reward!

 

 

 

 

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Wedding ring lost in November found in Damascus, Oregon

  • from Oregon City (Oregon, United States)
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On Friday evening, I found a voicemail from Ron saying he had lost his gold wedding ring in late November while putting up Christmas lights in his yard. After chatting on the phone, we set up to meet at his home the next morning.
I arrived and met Ron who told me what he had done that day.

He said he had used a ladder to put up Xmas lights in some trees in his yard. He had also pruned a few branches and dragged them to another location on his property. When he realized his ring was lost, he had raked and sorted through materials in the area he thought the ring might be, but hadn’t found it. He had also purchased a detector at Harbor Freight, but only found miscellaneous junk items.
As always, I brought a couple detector options, but started with the Equinox 700. As Ron had been asking about detector details, and what to look for when using it, I didn’t use the headphones, and turned the volume up. As I searched the area, I received a scratchy sound, and we discussed that. A bit later, there was a hit, and Ron said, “That sounds different “.
Using my pin-pointer, about 2” down in the loose soil was what we were looking for!
Another great adventure, meeting a great person.

 

 

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