Gregg Larabel, Author at The Ring Finders

Jeff T. has been camping with a group of friends for over 16 years at Lake Township Campgrounds. The area is a mecca for canoes, tubes and kayaks. While Jeff and his group were floating down the Platte River he had lost his balance and his Android cell phone fell into the slow current river. A friend in the group had the wherewithal to mark the spot. Several members jumped in the water to see if they could find it at no avail.

Jeff found out about The Ringfinders network and gave me a call. Fortunately I was available to meet him at the river 2 hours later. After a .2 mile walk along the riverbank we reached the spot where he dropped the phone. after doing a grid search about a 10′ by 10′ area we were about to give up and closer to the shore I got an overload signal on my detector. I scooped down a load of gravel and a corner of the phone was showing and Jeff reached out and said this is it. Jeff and I discovered we both had a similar sad family setback which created a bond more than just finding his phone. We hugged, he gave thanks and we walked back to our cars.

Jeff T, has been camping at Lake Township Campgrounds for over 16 years with a group of relatives and friends. This area is a mecca for canoes, tubes and kayaks and is one of the most beautiful National Parks with the Platte river leading into Lake Michigan and surrounded by mountain’s of sand dunes. The group was floating down the river when Jeff lost his balance and dropped his Android cell phone in about 4 feet of water. Several members of the group jumped in the water to help find the phone to no avail.

After hearing about the Ringfinders, Jeff called me and 2 hours later Jeff and I were walking .2 miles along the riverbank. We reached the spot and I did a grid search of 10 feet by 10 feet in water about 4 to 5 feet deep. The river was slowly meandering with a slow current. We were almost ready to give up when I got an overload on my detector and dug up a scoop of sand, silt and gravel and a corner of the cell appeared. Jeff took out the cell and said this is it. After some hugs and thank yous we headed back to our cars.

We went back to the canoe livery and had a bite to eat. While eating we discovered we both had a similar family tragedy that made this hunt more memorable.

By the way, Jeff will let me know if the cell data was able to be recovered.

I was contacted Sunday evening, July 20, by Sonny B. about a lost wedding ring. “my grandparents were married on May 31st, 1943. My grandfather passed away in January of 2011 and my grandmother in November of 2016. She gave my grandfathers ring to me in 2016 for my wedding on June 11th, 2016. Another cool fact is today, the day we found the ring, is my Grandmothers Birthday. You can’t make that up. Thank you so much!”

Sonny was on a boat and when he got off going to shore he caught a football from a friend in about ankle deep water. Just as he caught the ball he felt his wedding ring fall off. The ring was immediately swallowed up by the waves and fresh beach sand. As an IT tech he had the smarts to search the internet and coming across the Ringfinders.com. he gave me a call. After his call we agreed to meet at his family’s cottage on Portage Lake in Onekama MI. The following morning we parked our cars and took a long walk on the Pier leading out to Lake Michigan and another long walk to a friends private beach. Once in the water I was directed to an approximate area where the ring fell off his finger. I started my search about 10 feet to the left of where Sonny was standing and detected the water line. When I got in front of him in ankle deep water I got a good gold hit on my CZ21, got a scoop full of sand and as it filtered through scoop the ring appeared. Sonny lifted it out of the scoop in amazement and couldn’t stop thanking me as he talked about how much the ring meant to him and his wife. After some pictures were taken and more thank you’s, we walked back to our cars and said our good byes. This helping people in their dark hours never gets old.

Lightening strikes twice in one week. First a class ring, second a wedding ring at the same beach in Onekama, Michigan. I saw a posting on  Facebook by Eric B. who was playing volleyball in 3 to 4 feet of water in Lake Michigan. I contacted Eric and told him I could meet him out at the beach that evening. I got there before Eric but he gave me the information and location on an earlier message. I gathered my equipment and got started. After setting up a grid, on the second pass I found his yellow gold wedding ring. I walked up to the parking area and put away my equipment and Eric drove up. I showed Eric the ring and after he  described the writing inside, I handed the ring to him. He was surprised and happy I found it so quick. He was up here vacationing with his family and this made the rest of the time here a happy time. I love doing this job and putting smiles on faces.

I got a referral from Dave Boyer, a Ringfinder, a couple days ago and contacted Evan B. about his lost Citadel class ring in Lake Michigan. I drove from Manistee to Onekema about a 20 minute drive and met Evan. He was throwing a ball to his dog out into the lake. The ball and the ring , which was very heavy, flew into the water. The dog got the ball and the lake got the ring. The waves were pretty big that day but I tried to grid an area without success so I told Evan I would be back in the morning to try again. Friday morning the waves weren’t as bad but the water turned over in the lake and was so cold I told him I would be back in the evening with my wet suit. I called a friend to come out and help me as it would cut the area to search in half.

The water was calmer and I began my search in the area where it was lost. Going out about 60′ with a grid about 20′ x 20′ no luck. After about 30 minutes the ring turned up in the scoop closer to the shore than Evan figured it went. The toss of his hand must have been in more of a downward motion.  Vacation in Onekama, Michigan and Lake Michigan you will love it visit “Pure Michigan”.

I received a call from a friend, Chuck R., who refereed a man to me who lost his wedding ring while clearing debris off his boat dock. I contacted Matt A. and made arrangements to come out and find his ring. On Sunday morning I got my gear together and drove an hour and a half from Manistee, MI to Houghton Lake.

When I got there I met Matt’s nephew and he showed me the area where Matt’s ring came off. I gathered my gear and entered the water and 5 minutes later the ring was in his hand. This was my first find of the new season. I never get tired of this fun job and making another person happy.

I got a call from Lois F. telling me her boyfriend threw her rings over her garage. When Dave Boyer (Ringfinder friend) and I got to the house Lois explained to us that after a disagreement her fiance’ took her rings off the table and walked out the side door of her house and threw her 3 rings over her garage. That was the scenario. Lois had a video from her security cameras showing him going through the motion of tossing something. The rings we were looking for was a diamond engagement, a grandmothers ring and a mothers ring. We started our search in her neighbors back yard which was deep grass and overgrown with bushes, flowers, metal fence and trash. We then looked on top of the roof of the garage and her back yard. After going through the yards sometimes on our hands and knees we found nothing. We thought we would find at least one of the rings but did not. Our suspicions, after repeated views of the video, was that the boyfriend never threw the rings.

Lois called her fiance’ and asked him, “the search did not turn up any rings, did you really throw them?”  He said he was trying to get her attention and would not throw $6,000 worth of rings away. So a video does not always tell the true story. I am sure they have made up and are now happy in their lives together.

I got a call from Jolanta L. the other day, She lost a key to her front door. I gathered my detector and picked up my fellow Ringfinder, Dave Boyer and headed to her house. Arriving to her house Jolanta explained that she was at the park behind her home playing with her grandchild. when she got back to the house she noticed here key was missing from her hoody pocket. The grassy area was about 50′ x 50′, after a short grid search the key was found. It took us longer to walk to the park than it did to find her key. She was happy to have her key returned and will go out and get some extra ones made.