Jeff Lubbert, Author at The Ring Finders

White Gold and Diamond Pendant Recovered

  • from Denver (Colorado, United States)
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Recently while enjoying a wonderful warm afternoon in her backyard Melinda’s prized white gold with 3/4 carat diamond pendent went missing. Melinda was holding one of dogs when his paw got caught up in her necklace and pulled it away from her neck. She managed to catch her necklace, but the pendant had managed to escape her grasp and had disappeared into the grass. Melinda and her 80-year-old mother spent hours on their hands and knees searching for the pendant. She even went as far as borrowing a detector from a neighbor and tried to find her pendent but had no luck as she had no idea how to setup the machine to recover such a target.

She sent me a text about my ability to find her pendant; I happened to be in area and actually had my XP Deus with high-frequency coil with me. We exchanged a few texts and finally a phone call to finalize search details. I was pulling up to her house just over an hour from first contact from Melinda. She explained what had happened, where she was standing when the pendent went missing. The search areas was small but so is the pendent. I set up my machine and Melinda went inside to grab a sport drink for me. With the first swing of my machine a good signal rang out, I pulled back the grass the pendent revealed itself. When Melinda returned with the drink, I was holding her pendent out for her to see. I think she was in disbelief that I had found it so fast.

Found 2025-09-27

Melinda’s Pendent

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Wedding ring set found in Horsetooth Reservoir

  • from Denver (Colorado, United States)
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Recently I received a call from Trina asking me to try to locate a ring lost in Horsetooth Reservoir. She and her husband Ben had spent the day hiking around the reservoir and wanted to cool off in the water. She wadded out into the water; the water level drops off quickly so about 10-15 feet from shore and she was already up to her shoulders and cooling off nicely. Even though she could touch bottom easily she had to mover her hands in a treading water motion in order to stay in one place due to waves from the nearby boaters. It wasn’t long when Trina felt her wedding ring (handed down from her great grandmother) slip from her finger. Trina and Ben spent the next several hours trying to find her ring with no success. That night she found my number and contacted me and soon we made arrangements for Stephanie Hobbs and I to come and do a search.
Sunday morning Stephanie and I gathered our gear and began our hour long drive north. Stephanie brought her XP Deus and associated gear, I brought my Minelab Manticore, waterproof headphones, pouch and two water scoops.
Upon arrival at the reservoir, we were VERY fortunate to find a parking spot and pulled in (timing is everything). Trina and Ben met us as we pulled in, they live in Cheyenne, Wyoming so it was no short drive for them either. They took us down to the location of our search site and Trina showed us how deep she was in reservoir.
Stephanie and I spent over two hours in the cold mountain water searching trying to locate the rings.  At one point I needed to get out of the water to prevent hypothermia and warm up on the large rocks that lined the shore. The scoops that I had brought were useless as the area of our search had large flat rocks that left crevasses with a thin layer of mud on the rocks. I tried feeling for the ring with my bare feet and pulled up many rocks (I may have monkey feet), that was unsuccessful. Finally, I decided to detect mark the spot by Stephanie holding my scoop upside down and I would dive under the water and try to feel for the object (hopefully the ring). This was a good idea but not great. Stephanie suggested that we use her MI6 probe since it is waterproof, what a great idea. Eventually we wondered out to deeper water, up to my chin. I heard a great signal (31) with a perfectly round dot on the line of my Manticore. With Stephanie perched on two larger rocks so that she was above water holding the scoop to mark the spot and my detector I started to dive again. After several handfuls of muck, I finally surfaced with the rings in my hand.
Ring Recovered 7/27/2025
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White gold engagement ring recovered from a Denver area park

  • from Denver (Colorado, United States)
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Bethany was taking her two children to soccer within her development, she stopped and dropped off her eldest at one park. Having a few minutes before her youngest needed to be at another park she decided to put sun block on both of them and herself. In doing this she had taken off her rings (wedding band and engagement ring) and placed them in the pocket of her shorts.  Bethany  then spent a few minutes running around the soccer pitch with her oldest child and then she hopped back in the car to drop of her youngest at another park just a couple of blocks away. After dropping off her youngest she returned to the original park watched the match from the sidelines. She soon realized that her wedding band was in her pocket but her white gold diamond solitaire engagement ring was missing. She got several of the parents to help her do a visual search after the match but they had no luck. Later that afternoon Bethany and her husband Jeff did another visual search also with no luck. They thought about options and decided that purchasing their own detector wouldn’t be a feasible option. That is when Bethany found my profile on TheRingFinders.com.

Bethany sent me a text inquiring if I would be able to help in the search of her missing ring. After a couple of texts back and forth and then a phone call we had a location and a time to meet. Luckily I had a day off work and Bethany was working from home so within a couple of hours of our first communication we were meeting up and beginning the search. Bethany took me to the closest park and showed me the areas of the park she was in, then we went to the next park and did the same. This last park was the one that she removed the rings to apply the sunblock to her children so it seemed like the proper park to start my search in. Bethany returned home to continue working and left me to do my search. I started doing my systematic grid search of the park and within a half hour I noticed a flash of silver color as my metal detector’s coil passed over the target and sounded off. I reached down and pulled the ring from its grassy hiding spot, snapped a couple of photos and sent Bethany a picture text of her ring. She was at the park a few minutes later and she told me that the text I just sent her was the best text she had ever received.

Ring recovered 6/10/2021

 

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Custom platinum wedding ring found in Denver yard

  • from Denver (Colorado, United States)
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Tom and Jamie were shoveling snow from our recent record snow storm from the sidewalk that goes from their back door to their garage. Jamie decided that this was the perfect time to make a snow angel. After getting up from the snow Jamie shook the snow from her arms and hands. In doing such Jamie’s wedding ring went flying off her hand and it disappeared into the snow with no indication on where it went. They tried a brief search for her ring but then realized that they needed some help that is when they found my profile on TheRingFinders.com.

Tom sent me a text message asking if there was a possibility that I could help them. We made arrangements to talk via phone after he was done with work. During that conversation I learned of the circumstances of the loss of the ring and I agreed to come search. I prepped my gear and headed out the door. After arriving at Tom and Jamie’s house Tom showed me the search location. I grabbed my Garrett Apex, made some adjustments due to heavy EMI and began my search. Within seconds of starting my search I received a signal that was promising, I pinpointed the target, removed a bit of snow and there was Jamie’s ring. Jamie’s ring is a custom made platinum ring set with stones from heirloom rings.

Ring recovered 3-17-2021

 

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Heirloom ring recovered from Lakewood back yard

  • from Denver (Colorado, United States)
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On the weekend of March 13/14 the Denver area received it’s largest snow fall in 18 years with some areas receiving as much as three feet of snow. On the following Monday Dana was talking on the phone with a friend and they decided to compare snow depths. Dana actually grabbed a tape measure and headed to their back patio to measure the snow that had accumulated on top of their trash cans. In doing this Dana’s hand that had her great-great (maybe one more great) grand father’s wedding band on came in contact with the snow. In shaking the snow off her hand, the ring went flying off and into the snow. She didn’t hear the ring hit anything due to the snows depth and she couldn’t see any hole in the snow to give indication of the ring’s location. Dana and her husband started filling plastic tote containers full of snow and taking them to their bathtub to melt to see if they could find the ring. After several totes with no ring and not a lot of snow left in the immediate area they needed to try something different that is when Dana found my profile on Theringfinders.com and she called me.

Dana called a little after 4:00 PM and explained her situation. I thought there would be just enough time for me to drive to her house and perform a search. I am co-host of Relic Roundup a live talk show podcast about treasure hunting ever Monday night, we go live on air at 7:00 PM. So with getting my gear together, the drive would normally take a half hour but I wasn’t sure of road conditions (remember a near record snowstorm just occurred) a search and then return home. It was going to be tight but I had to do the search.

I arrived at their condo and we talked about the events that lead to the rings loss. Dana, her husband and I moved some metallic items out of the search area and I began my search. I grabbed one of my detectors that I typically use for ring searches and began swinging. But due to underground electrical cables, yard edging and other interferences that machine wasn’t going to get the job done. I switched machines to my CTX 3030 and started swinging again. After a minute of two I received a good signal and made comment of such. I kicked away a couple of inches of snow and the gold band made it’s appearance. Dana had put up a good front while I was searching but when I finally recovered the ring she realized what it was that was missing. Inscribed on the inside of the band is “ELS to HLE Dec 21,1896. ELS was her great-great grandmother Elizabeth and H was her great-great grandfather Herman. I felt fortunate to now be associated with such a story and history of this ring.

 

Ring recovered March 15, 2021

 

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Platinum wedding band recovered from Denver yard

  • from Denver (Colorado, United States)
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Will was outside of his north Denver house tossing a ball for his dog Winston on a warm March Sunday afternoon when he felt his ring leave his hand. Will and Sadie, his wife, began searching for the ring with no luck. Sadie found my profile on The Ring Finders and called me. I was out enjoying the warm weather by swinging one of my detectors for fun but unfortunately I was nowhere near my home or their house. Due to that set of circumstances Sadie posted on Nextdoor asking to borrow a detector to search for a lost ring. One of the replies that she received was from a member of a local metal detecting club who offered to come and search for the lost ring the following day.

He came to their house and performed a search but was not able to recover the ring. He then gave the president of the metal detecting club a call and he offered to come and do a search the following day which was a Tuesday. The club president then preformed a search as well with the same results, no ring. So Sadie contacted me again and we set up a time for me to come by and do a search Wednesday afternoon. After my arrival I talked with Will and he told me of the circumstances of the rings loss and of the other two unsuccessful searches. I set about my search as Will and Sadie returned to their house and their 7 month old daughter. Within a couple of minutes of beginning my search I had Will’s ring in hand. Both Will and Sadie were surprised that I recovered the ring and in such a quick manner.

Ring recovered March 10, 2021

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Wedding band recovered from Longmont reservoir

  • from Denver (Colorado, United States)
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The summer of 2019 Garth was at a private reservoir with his family. Out in deeper water the reservoir had floating docks with diving boards on the docks. As his family made their way onto the dock for a bit of sunning Garth swam over to a log that was nearby and gave the log a spin. When he spun the log a piece of bark somehow caught his platinum wedding band and pulled it off his hand. He attempted to dive down to recover the ring but the depth made free diving difficult and the weeds that lined the bottom of the reservoir made such an attempt very dangerous.

Garth never gave up on the idea of someday, some how he would be able to get his ring back even though his family was urging him to get another ring. This winter season those in control of the reservoir lowered the water level well beyond normal. Garth seen this lower level and started searching for a way to recover his ring, that is when he found my profile on TheRingFinders.com and we set up a date to search for his ring.

When Garth and I talked he mentioned that the ring was in what he thought would be chest deep water. The calendar was only in January, there was a sheet of ice on the reservoir and the water temperature was not above 35 degrees. I knew that this search was not going to be comfortable for me physically. I needed my neoprene waders, my water scoop and a good bit of luck. We set a date for me to come and conduct a search on a day that the forecast was looking good for Colorado in January, highs were expected to be in the 40’s. I arrived at Garth’s residence and we set out for the reservoir which was with their private community. I searched for a little over an hour that day but I had to give up do to my arm being numb (a bare arm in 35 degree water isn’t recommended) and the sun had set. So we left an open search agreement for me to come back and search again when the weather cooperated.

A week passed by and weather looked good enough to conduct another search on the weekend which would give me more time to search. I met Garth at the reservoir and this time I had added a pair of neoprene gloves and a 5.3 mil wetsuit to protect my arms from the cold water water. After a couple of hours of searching I received a good signal on my CTX, it it took me several scoops to get the target into my scoop, it was Garth’s wedding band. When I shouted out to him (he was on the shore) that I had a ring in my scoop he sank to a crouching position with his face in his hands. He was a bit taken over with emotion that we had finally found his ring.

 

Ring recovered January 30, 2021

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Wedding set recovered from yard in Cherry Creek, Colorado

  • from Denver (Colorado, United States)
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Erin and Dan moved to Denver from the Miami area soon after getting married. They moved into a VRBO to get by for a few weeks. We received a nice spring snow storm and Erin headed out to back door of their place to let the dog out and do something she couldn’t do in Miami, through a snowball. After tossing the snowball she shook her hands off and that is when both her wedding band and engagement ring slipped off her finger. Erin and Dan spent the next hour of so heating water and trying to melt the snow off the back porch since Erin was beside the porch when her rings slipped off. After several pots of water they gave up and decided to try to find another route to recover her rings. With that being said Erin searched the web and my name came up in the Ring Finders.

Erin called me just as I was getting dinner ready to put into the oven. During that phone conversation she explained her situation and I told he that I would be able to perform the search after I had dinner going. Soon after the phone call ended I had the food in the oven and I loaded up the car with a few detectors and headed out for the search. Upon arrival Erin lead me to the back yard and explained what she did and where she was standing. I put together my XP Deus and made a couple of swings over the yard when heard a promising signal. I kicked back 3-4 inches of snow and there was a gold band laying there. I signaled to Erin to come over, she looked at the exposed area and pulled the wedding band from the ground. She moved a bit more snow and her engagement ring appeared. She couldn’t believe that I had found her ring so fast.

Rings recovered April 16th, 2020

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Gold wedding band recovered, Denver

  • from Denver (Colorado, United States)
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Stephen was doing some yard work and putting much in his planters around his house. During the preparations for this project he went to his local Home Depot to purchase several bags of wood mulch which he loaded into the back of his SUV. Upon arriving home he unloaded the vehicle and proceeded to spread and rake the mulch around the planters. When done he went inside clean up he noticed that his wedding band was missing. Considering that there were four mulch beds with many square feet of mulch spread he knew that his chances finding his ring were next to nill.

Stephen started to search the web when he came upon my profile on The Ring Finders and he called me. We made plans for me to come to his house a little later that day to preform the search. Upon my arrival Stephen showed me around and described his pattern of work and how he spread the mulch by hand. I put my detector together and began my search I searched the whole mulch areas and found nothing. I then grabbed another detector and searched again with the same results as the previous search. There was metal yard edging around the mulch areas that would not allow for me to get closer than 3″ – 4″ from it so our next step was to remove that yard edging (which of course meant that it would need to be re-installed). But before we removed the yard edging I asked to search his car. He stated that he had already searched the car a couple of times. Within a couple of minutes of me starting my search of his car I found his ring. He was very surprised that his ring was in the car.

Ring recovered March 17, 2020

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Platinum ring returned – Denver, Colorado

  • from Denver (Colorado, United States)
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During the “Stay at home” order of 2020 David was out playing tether ball with his kids. As he went for the winning hit of the ball he felt his platinum wedding band slid off his finger. He immediately started looking for the ring. After several hours of searching the ring was still missing even though he searched the yard while walking a grid pattern.

After contemplating his options for a couple of days, David found my profile on The Ring Finders and called me. We made arrangements for me to come to his house later that day for me to perform a search for his missing wedding ring. We did a few reenactments with a ring that I had brought with me and averaged the results to locate a start to our search area.

I began my search of the yard and after about 20 minutes of searching I still had not located the ring. During that time I has searched the majority of the yard and but due to the the angle of the sun I could not always see my walking trails in the grass thus I was not confident in my complete coverage of the yard. I went to my car and retrieved some pin flags to conduct a proper search. On my first pass my XP Deus sounded off and right at my starting location of my initial search was the ring. I was probably standing right on the ring when I started my search.

David and his wife were quite happy to get his ring back.

Ring recovered, April 8th, 2020

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