Jason Connolly, Author at The Ring Finders

Lost Gold Wedding Ring Recovered on Pass-a-Grille Beach

  • from Tampa (Florida, United States)
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Item recovered August 4, 2025.

Peggy had sent me a text at around 5:30 on Sunday, August 3rd about a ring she lost in the water at Pass-a-Grille Beach. She has been here on vacation from Kansas, enjoying the beach with her family. They went in about waist-deep and she felt the ring slip off her finger into the water. Her daughter who was near her tried to catch it, but felt it bump off her hand to the sand below.

I didn’t see the text until later in the evening. By then, it was already dark and I wouldn’t be able to get there until after work the following day. Peggy mentioned that she had reached out to several people, and that someone from the Suncoast Research & Recovery Club (SRARC) team was going to attempt to find the ring in the morning. I told her to let me know if they weren’t successful in locating the ring that I was available to search.

I received another text from Peggy in the afternoon the following day saying that one of the SRARC members had searched in the morning, but wasn’t able to find it and so I told her I would be happy to head out after work to search.

The waves were large in the evening, but because the loss location was waist deep, I didn’t have to venture too far into the water. Peggy had forwarded me the gps coordinates of where they were on the beach, which helped narrow the search area even further.

I started searching about knee deep and worked my way to waist deep water. I was finding small bits of eroded aluminum “can slaw”, which is common to find at this beach.

About 30 minutes into the search, I came across a solid signal which was higher than the aluminum scrap I had been finding. I took a scoop at the target, sifted the sand out and what I saw was a beautiful gold ring looking back at me!

I texted a photo of the ring to Peggy, who immediately met me at the beach to get her ring back!

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Gold Sword Charm Found on Fort De Soto North Beach

  • from Tampa (Florida, United States)
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Item recovered August 2, 2025.

This recovery was another where I happened to be at the right place at the right time. The last time this happened was exactly one month ago when I found a ring for Quinn on St. Pete Beach.

I was out enjoying the perfect detecting conditions on Fort De Soto’s North Beach on a beautiful summer Saturday. I had already been out there for several hours and was getting tired, thirsty and ready to head back home. As I was walking back along the water’s edge, I was approached by a young man who had asked if my detector could find something that was made of gold. His sister had lost a charm off her necklace a little ways down the beach and her entire family was searching for it for the past 15-20 minutes with no luck.

I was led to the area where the charm was lost. English wasn’t the family’s primary language, and I could only understand that the item lost was a small gold sword from a necklace. It was lost along the water’s edge, where waves were coming and going. I wasn’t sure how large the item was, but it was possible the waves had pulled the item deeper into the water or buried it in sand.

The pressure to find this item was more intense than usual, with 8 people watching me work back and forth in the shallow water. I would find a target, and they would crowd around to see if it was the missing item, only to see it was a bottle cap. This happened again when I located a pull tab in the area. I moved up higher into the wet sand and got a solid low signal. When a wave washed over the area, I thought I saw a glimmer of gold, so I dropped to a knee and pulled out my pinpointer instead of using my scoop.

My pin pointer immediately identified the item’s location just below the sand. I dug in with my fingers and saw gold. It was the lost sword charm they had been searching for!

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Gold Heart-Shaped Locket Recovered at Belleair Causeway Boat Ramp

  • from Tampa (Florida, United States)
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Item recovered July 31, 2025.

Mikey had reached out to the Dunedin Ring Finder in the evening about a lost gold heart-shaped locket. Steve was busy at another recovery search and reached out for assistance. It was getting late in the evening and Mikey was still at the location to show where the item was lost. I knew time was short before darkness would arrive so I gathered my equipment and set out on the 35-minute drive to the boat ramp.

I called Mikey on the way to get more details on the loss. He explained that earlier in the day, his girlfriend, Ryann had been in the water at the dog beach teaching her Great Dane how to swim. In the process, the dog’s paw had caught her gold necklace, breaking it and the charm had fallen off into the water. Fortunately, the gold chain got caught up in her swim suit and never fell into the water. All that was missing was the gold locket which slipped off the chain.

I arrived at the location and Mikey showed me to the area where the locket was lost. The water in the channel was dark, murkey and loaded with small pieces of metal from fishing weights, to bottle caps and pull tabs. Due to the small size of the item, it seemed as though this recovery could be a challenge, especially since I only had an hour or two of daylight remaining.

The search started in the shallow water and I worked my way down to a drop-off into the channel approximately waist-deep. Because the search are was narrowed considerably, I dug at every non-iron target I heard. I must have been on my 14th to 15th item when I pulled up my scoop from the water and noticed the obvious glow of the golden heart resting atop the silt. The item had been found!

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Unique Gold Ring Recovered in South Tampa

  • from Tampa (Florida, United States)
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Item recovered July 10, 2025.

I received a text from Tracy in the evening of July 9th asking for help locating a white gold “link” style ring with diamonds that was lost in the back yard throwing a frisbee for the dog. Despite searching the area where the ring disappeared, it had not been located that evening. We agreed to a time to search for the missing ring the following evening after work.

The back yard wasn’t very large and it was easy to see the area that was searched for the missing ring. I powered up the metal detector and started working around the area that had been searched. It only took a couple minutes to get a very promising signal that revealed the missing ring.

Due to the ring’s unique shape, it had “collapsed” into a small object that was hidden below the blades of grass and was very difficult to locate with the naked eye. Tracy was thrilled to have the ring back!

If you have a lost an item in your yard in the Tampa area, please call or text me to schedule a search!

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Lost Gold Bracelet Recovered in Gibsonton FL

  • from Tampa (Florida, United States)
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Item recovered July 7, 2025.

I received a text from Pedro in the morning asking for help locating a gold bracelet with sentimental value which was lost somewhere in his yard. The bracelet was a gold “figaro” style bracelet which was lost while he was mowing his yard.

He had reviewed his security cameras and was able to determine he had the bracelet on when he started mowing, but it was missing from his arm when he returned the mower back to the garage. He had been looking for it for the past couple weeks, afraid to cut his yard again for fear of damaging or destroying the bracelet. He had even borrowed a neighbor’s Fisher metal detector to look for it himself, but was unable to find it.

I set up a time to dive out to Pedro’s house after work. We had a narrow window due to Pedro working the night shift and he needed to be at his job at 8:00pm. Gibsonton is about a 1-hour drive from my house (with traffic) and I was going to be fighting the rush hour crowd.

I arrived at Pedro’s house at about 6:00 and hoped to locate this bracelet quickly. He said the most likely place is the back yard, so that’s where I started my search. The back yard was overgrown and I began gridding the area in park mode and had some nice sounding targets which warranted further inspection, but did not produce the bracelet.

Bracelets and chains can be tricky depending on how they are laying on the ground. Knowing this, I changed modes to a more sensitive setting and set out to grid the back yard a second time. I hit all the same targets and a few additional, but still no bracelet.

I wandered into the side of the property and front yard to rule those areas out. Pedro met me out front and it had been an hour and he needed to start getting ready for work. I could see he was losing hope that the bracelet wouldn’t be recovered. I told him I would go over the back yard one more time.

I put the detector into goldfield mode, which is the most sensitive mode. It will beep on everything. I went back to the gate to the back yard and started swinging again. I had new targets popping up that I didn’t hear before. One target near the edge of the fence caught my attention and when I looked closer to investigate, I saw a glimmer of gold reflecting the sunlight and I knew this was what I had been searching for!

I sat patiently and waited for Pedro to finish getting ready for work. He emerged from his house and his jaw dropped when he saw me standing there, holding his lost bracelet!

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Lost Wedding Ring Found on St. Pete Beach

  • from Tampa (Florida, United States)
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Item recovered July 2, 2025.

While I was unsuccessfully searching for a ring (second attempt) on St. Pete Beach, a young man named Quinn saw me from a distance and came running over to me asking for help locating a ring.

He and some friends were on a vacation from Canada and a couple nights prior, had a water balloon fight at night in the sand just behind the Mariner Beach Club on St. Pete Beach. One of his friends, who was recently married, lost his ring in the sand during the friendly fight. They all searched the sand multiple times while they picked up the balloon remnants from the sand with no luck. His friend that lost the ring flew back to Canada the day prior and Quinn was headed home in a couple days.

Quinn wasn’t sure what the ring looked like, or was made of, but he was able to show me the general area where it was lost. I had plenty of daylight left and the area wasn’t large, so I started to grid the area. The size of the sand area from the Mariner to the water is expansive, but was reduced in size due to a roped-off area protecting birds during nesting season, so this allowed me to focus on a smaller area.

I gridded from far to near, and as I drew closer to the resort, I started seeing small pieces of rubber balloon pieces and I knew I was in the right spot. 20 minutes later, I had hit a very good sounding target and located a men’s wedding ring. I was hopeful this was the lost ring!

I found Quinn who was grilling dinner and showed him the ring. He was excited, but needed to contact his buddy to confirm this was the missing ring. He grabbed his phone, set up a facetime call and his friend confirmed his lost ring was found!

 

 

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Lost Gold Ring Recovered in Zephyrhills Florida

  • from Tampa (Florida, United States)
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Item recovered June 19, 2025.

Jennifer called me about a gold ring she had lost while in her pool. The ring was her father’s wedding ring and it is slightly too large for her finger. It has come off before and they have always been able to find it, until this time.

She was sure it had to be somewhere in her back yard. While she didn’t feel it come off her hand, she knew she had it on when they got into the pool and she noticed it was missing when they got out. They had searched inside the above-ground pool thoroughly they were confident it wasn’t there. They had also walked around the pool visually searching and couldn’t see it. Jennifer went even further and ordered a metal detector from Amazon. She tried searching and while it was making noises, she wasn’t able to distinguish what those noises meant, but more importantly, she wasn’t able to locate the ring.

I met up with Jennifer at her house later that day. She had a matching ring (her mom’s wedding ring) that was slightly smaller that I was able to scan for a reference. I was surprised to see a vdi of an 82 on my Deus 2. Normally the gold rings I find are in the range of 60-70.

I noticed there was quite a bit of interference with my detector in their back yard and needed to lower the sensitivity to quiet the machine. I knew if the ring was in the yard, it would be on top of the soil and it wouldn’t need the machine to be searching deep.

All set – I started my way around the pool, searching 10-15 feet from the edge of the pool as being the most likely place it would have flown. About 2/3 of the way around the pool there was a very nice sound with a vdi of 85. Normally this would be a zinc penny range, but because I knew the missing ring would be higher, I had a good feeling this would be the ring I was searching for. Sure enough, it was the missing ring hiding below the grass!

 

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Lost Gold Bracelet Recovered in Riverview FL

  • from Tampa (Florida, United States)
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Item recovered June 9, 2025.

I received a text message from Julia about a bracelet that was lost the day prior in a field while playing soccer with friends. It was not an organized match, but rather a group of friends having fun and getting some exercise.

The bracelet belonged to a friend of Julia’s and he realized it was missing after the match had ended. Everyone spread out about the field to search for the missing bracelet, but it was a disorganized search. Everyone was tired and it was getting dark. Julia went home and started thinking of how she could help her friend find his bracelet, when she found my info on the ringfinders website.

I met Julia at the field after work the following day, She brought me a bottle of water and some freshly-baked snickerdoodle cookies to help me with the search! We were off to a fantastic start and I felt confident we were going to locate this bracelet.

Julia showed me the area where they were playing. We marked off the corners of the area and began a grid search, with Julia walking beside me, searching with her eyes as I was scanning with my metal detector.

We made several passes and found a few pieces of foil. I got another one of those foil sounds and when we stopped to investigate, Julia had located the bracelet directly in front of her, near the spot where I had my signal!

While my detector didn’t uncover this missing item, setting up an organized search with fresh eyes on a sunny afternoon was the recipe for success in recovering this bracelet.

When I got back to my truck, I celebrated with some warm cookies and a cold bottle of water!

 

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Lost Oura Smart Ring Recovered Pass-a-Grille Beach

  • from Tampa (Florida, United States)
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Item recovered May 29, 2025.

Sometimes, when searching for people’s items, other lost items are located in the process. However, it can be very difficult locating the person who belongs to the lost item if they aren’t actively seeking help asking for its return.

This recovery started while I was searching for a lost necklace for someone on Pass-a-Grille beach. I was unsuccessful in my search for the necklace, but I did find my first ever Oura smart ring. The ring was not charged, and I didn’t own a charger that would power it up. I was hoping I could connect my phone to it through Bluetooth to see if I could get any information on the owner.

As it turns out, another local detectorist recently returned an Oura smart ring, so I reached out to find how how he was able to accomplish this. He pointed me in the direction of Oura’s customer service department, who often assists with the return of their rings to their owners.

Inside the ring contains a barcode, which required a special program to read. By deciphering the barcode, you acquire the ring’s id number which can be provided to Oura’s customer service department. They took my information and provided it to the owner to contact me.

Tim called me the same day and was shocked that not only was his ring found, but that it was going to be returned to him! He lost the ring just one day prior in the water and thought he lost it forever.

Tim had already returned home to the Chicago area, so I promptly packaged the ring and mailed it to him the same day. It took 4-5 days for the ring to arrive, and he texted me a photo of him wearing the ring and he was thrilled to have it back!

 

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Lost Necklace Recovered on Honeymoon Island

  • from Tampa (Florida, United States)
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Item recovered May 5, 2025.

Brooke was enjoying a beautiful day at Honeymoon Island with her family on April 24th. They were set up on the North Beach, far back from the water in the powder sand that had been recently placed post hurricane nourishment.

Along for the trip were the ashes of her pet dog Lilly who had recently passed. The ashes were contained in a heart-shaped charm on a stainless steel necklace. The necklace was removed to apply sunscreen and placed in the cup holder in the folding chair.

When it was time to go home, Brooke folded up her chair and walked back to the car, but forgot she had placed the necklace in the cup holder! She went back to the area where she was sitting, but it was getting dark and could not locate the necklace.

Brooke reached out on May 3rd to a  for help locating the necklace to another ring finder who was out of town. The information was passed to me and I set up a search in the morning as soon as the park opened.

My plan was to detect from the parking lot to the area where they were sitting, then grid the area. I made my way to the area where they were sitting without finding the necklace. On the 3rd pass of the grid search in the area where they were sitting, I got a signal, looked down and saw the necklace sitting in the sand!

I immediately snapped some photos and reached out to Brooke to let her know that her necklace was found. Because Brooke lived over an hour away, we arranged a time the following week to meet back at Honeymoon Island to return the necklace.

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