Michael Limberg, Author at The Ring Finders

Diamond Ring Lost in Miles, IA…Found

  • from Bettendorf (Iowa, United States)

I received a call from Mike for a recently lost diamond ring in Miles, IA.  The ring, which had just been given to his fiancé, had been lost in the front yard of their home.  Mike and his fiancé had desperately searched for the lost ring, but they were unable to locate it.  The lawn had also been mowed  since the ring was lost.  I got additional details from Mike and I informed him that I would head up to Miles to perform a search the next afternoon.

The next day arrived and the weather for the search was beautiful.  The sky was partly cloudy, the temperature was in the low 80’s, and there was a gentle breeze.  A picture perfect day.  I met Mike and his fiancé at their home and they showed me the area where they believed the ring had been lost.  I told Mike if he was confident the ring was in the area shown to me, then I was confident that I would find it.  I began a grid pattern search of the area, and I located the ring within an hour of my arrival.  Mike’s fiancé had to leave prior to my search, but Mike’s excitement over the find of the ring was awesome.  I’m certain his fiancé will be equally excited when he hand the ring back to her.

 

Diamond Ring Lost in Cordova, IL…Found

  • from Bettendorf (Iowa, United States)

The holidays are fast approaching and families will be spending time together as part of their annual traditions.  That is exactly what Johnna and her husband did this past weekend as they celebrated Thanksgiving early.  The weekend weather was great so the family spent time outdoors making huge leaf piles for the grandchildren to jump in and play.  It was amid all of this fun activity with her grandchildren that Johnna felt her wedding ring of 45 years slip from her finger into the massive pile of leaves.  The activity turned from fun to serious as all of the family members searched diligently for Johnna’s lost ring.  Ultimately, the search ended with the ring still missing.

A couple of days passed by and Johnna happened to locate a Ring Finders video and then the Ring Finders website.  Johnna searched for a Ring Finder in her area and she located yours truly.  Johnna explained her situation to me over a phone call, and I told her that I would head over to her home within a couple of hours to perform a search.

I arrived at Johnna’s house and she took me to the area to be searched.  The once huge leaf pile was now a series of smaller piles, while thousands of other leaves covered the yard.  Johnna was certain that the ring would be in this area.  I started the search by detecting the leaf piles.  Since they did not yield the ring, I began my normal grid pattern search.  Soon after I began my grid search, I heard the unmistakable tone of a ring under a layer of Oak leaves.  I cleared away the leaves and there was Johnna ‘s beautiful diamond ring just waiting to be found.  I brought the ring to Johnna and made her very happy.  I even made a new friendship with her and her husband.  Life is good.

Diamond Ring Lost from Moving Vehicle in Monmouth, IL…Found

A couple of weeks ago I received a call for a ring search just over an hour from my home.  Unfortunately, due to my schedule I was unable to attempt a locate of the ring until this past weekend.  The ring was lost along a country gravel road near Monmouth, IL.  Monica, the owner of the ring, was traveling down the road at approximately 40 MPH when she made a waving gesture out the window and off went her ring off into the ditch full of knee high grass.  Fortunately, Monica immediately identified a nearby landmark so that she could recall the approximate area of the loss.

I met Monica’s husband at the location on Sunday morning and I was shown the most likely stretch of ditch that the ring may have landed.  You can see from my photo that the location was about 50 yards long from where I was standing to my car in the distance.  The grass was just waiting to be searched.

The grass was too tall for my larger coils, so I used my 6″ sniper coil on my Equinox 800 so that I could get easily get deep into the grass.  I combed the roadway edge first, but came up empty.  I worked my way into the ditch and searched completely from road edge to fence line.  Eventually, I got a solid tone and a 15 on my VDI.  I grabbed my Garrett carrot and pinpointed the target deep in the grass.  As I moved the grass blades out of the way, the bright sun shined down on the ring and it reflected back at me.  I picked it up and sure enough it was just like the one in a picture that Monica had sent to me.

Needless to say, I was glad to have found Monica’s ring.  It is a beautiful ring and it was truly a memorable search that I won’t soon forget.  I sent a text to Monica with only pictures of her ring.  I immediately received a call from her and was she very grateful for this recovery.  It was my pleasure to return her ring.

Wedding Ring Lost in Springville, IA…Found

Cuyler and Eden live out of state, but they are in Iowa visiting family for the holiday weekend.  It’s been pretty hot in Iowa lately, and a friendly water balloon fight began among family members to help ease the summer heat.  However, sometime during the family fun, Eden lost her diamond wedding ring.  Her hands had gotten wet so she shook the water off of them, and then she soon realized that her ring was missing.  Today, July 4th, I received a call on her husband, Cuyler.  Cuyler told me the story and asked if I would be able to look for his wife’s ring on the holiday.  I told Cuyler that I would drive up to Springville and find Eden’s ring.

I arrived at the rural family homestead and met with Cuyler and Eden.  I was shown the approximate area where the ring was believed to have been lost.  Cuyler had marked out the area for me with landscape flags.  The family had performed a visual search, but with the recent rainfall the grass had begun to grow again, and I was certain the ring would be found in the taller grass.

I got my equipment together and began my standard grid pattern search.  After about 30-45 minutes of searching, I got a nice solid tone on my Equinox 800.  I pinpointed the location and used my Garrett carrot to zero me in on the object in the grass.  I spread the grass blades apart and saw a nice shiny diamond ring facing skyward with the stone sparkling like fireworks.  I retrieved the ring and reunited it with Eden and her expression of gratitude will not be soon forgotten.

Wedding Band Lost in Colona, IL…Found

  • from Bettendorf (Iowa, United States)

In late January of this year, Ryan lost his wedding band in his back yard.  We had just gotten several inches of new snow, and Ryan had been clearing the snow from his driveway, sidewalk, and deck.  Ryan’s hands got a bit cold and his wedding band slipped off without him realizing it.  It wasn’t until he was back inside his home when he noticed that his ring was missing.  I received a call from Ryan’s wife, Kate, who asked me if I could come out and look for Ryan’s ring.  I told Kate that I would be at her home within an hour.

I arrived at Ryan and Kate’s home and I was given a tour of the areas where Ryan had been working.  I grabbed my detector and began searching for Ryan’s ring.  I searched in all of the areas where Ryan had been working, but due to the amount of snow, cold temperature, and additional target signals, I made a decision to stop the search.  I informed Ryan and Kate that I would return after snow melt and when the weather permits.

Fast-forward to yesterday, Saturday, April 29.  I arrived back to Ryan and Kate’s home for a warm weather search for Ryan’s ring.  I began retracing my previous search area in an opposing grid.  Within about 30 minutes I hit on a solid signal in the grass.  My trusty pin-pointer located a white gold wedding band.  It was at this moment that Kate was coming out of the house for an update, and I asked her if this was the ring that Ryan was missing.  Kate was very happy and I will never forget the expression on her face as I handed her Ryan’s ring.  This is the best part about what I do as a Ring Finder.

Ring Lost in Milan, IL…Found

  • from Bettendorf (Iowa, United States)

Note: I am posting this many months after finding the ring, but I wanted to share this wonderful event.

I received a call for a lost ring in late February 2022.  The temperatures were mild for a February here in the Midwest and a gal I’ll refer to as Michelle, had been doing a little cleanup in her flower garden.  During the cleanup process Michelle’s ring came off of her finger.  It was a classic case of being mild enough to be outside, but still cool enough to easily have a ring slip off of your finger.

I received a call from Michelle and she explained her situation and she asked if I could look for her ring.  Michelle stated that the ring had more sentimental value to it than anything else as it was a gift to her from her grandson.  I informed Michelle that I would be over to her home within an hour.

I drove over to Michelle’s house and I was shown the flower garden and approximate location to search.  I grabbed my detector and went to work.  Within about 10 minutes I located Michelle’s ring and made her very happy.

Car Keys Lost in the Snow in Davenport, IA…Found

  • from Bettendorf (Iowa, United States)

It has been snowing on and off in Iowa for the past several weeks and the temperatures have been subzero for most of this time.  The snow has been piling up and even my yard has large piles of snow from the repeated clearing of my driveway.   The same is true for a new friend named Jake.  Jake was clearing his driveway with his girlfriend when he realized that his ring of car keys was no longer in his jacket pocket.  Jake and his girlfriend searched for a while, but they were unable to locate the keys.  Jake searched the Internet for ways to find lost keys in the snow and one of his search results said to contact “The Ring Finders”.

I received a call from Jake yesterday morning and I told him that I would head straight over to his house.  I met Jake in the driveway a few minutes later and I was provided with some great details of approximately where he lost his keys and the steps he did to try to find them.  I started my search with a comparison of the driveway cement’s rebar tones and a ring of old keys that I tossed in the snow for a reference.  I searched the outer banks of snow lining the driveway to eliminate the possibility of the keys dropping on the edges of the shoveled snow.   I then began a search over the tops of the snow bank and quickly located a good signal matching my test keys.  I pinpointed the location and Jake used my spade to uncover his lost keys about 4″ beneath the surface of the snow.  Jake was very thankful to have his keys back in his hands within an hour of calling me out for this search.  You’re welcome, Jake.  I’m glad I was able to help.

Car Keys Lost in the Snow in Moline, IL…Found

  • from Bettendorf (Iowa, United States)

I received an email last night from a young lady I will call, Nikki.  Nikki was cleaning the snow off of her car when she noticed that her keys had fallen out of her pocket.  We had just gotten nearly a foot of newly fallen snow and while Nikki searched through the snow with her hands and a rake she was unable to locate her keys.  I emailed Nikki a reply and told her that I would be out to her home in the morning and see if I could find her keys.

I arrived at Nikki’s house this morning and began my search, which was hampered by all of the rebar in her concrete driveway along with very uneven snow piled around her car.  I lowered my sensitivity quite a bit on my detector and I leveled off the snow with a shovel immediately around all sides of Nikki’s car.  The leveling off of the snow actually took longer than finding her keys as I would scan each shovel full of snow in the event that I had scooped up her keys.  Once I had a nice evened out surface of snow I found Nikki’s keys in hard packed snow on the drivers side of her car.  Nikki was at work so I delivered her keys to her at her office.  As expected, Nikki was happy to get her keys back in her possession.

  

Diamond Engagement and Gold Wedding Band Set Lost for Six Months in Long Grove, IA…Found

Patricia was doing some late season gardening in October 2017. The temperatures here in the Midwest were average for October, meaning it was cool, but not yet considered cold, and a little breezy.  Patricia had been prepping all of her flower gardens for the winter season by raking and bagging up the flowers and plants that were dying back from the end of the season.  During the process of raking, bagging, and the wind blowing her hair in her face, Patricia removed her gloves frequently to brush her hair out of her face and then continue on with her gardening.

It wasn’t until Patricia was done with her work and she was inside cleaning up that she noticed her wedding band set was no longer on her finger. She believes the temperature was just cool enough that the ring came off of her finger during one of the many times that she removed her gloves.  She did not expect to ever see her rings again.

Fast-forward to April of 2018. Patricia’s rings have been missing for over six months.  She was certain that her rings were not in the lawn bags as she had dumped them out one-by-one in October and thoroughly searched the contents.  This gave me confidence that her rings were still somewhere in her yard.  Beginning at about 10:00AM I searched each of Patricia’s flower beds and then I began a grid search of the back yard.

Just before noon I had covered approximately half of the back yard when I got a good “gold” tone on my metal detector. After pinpointing on the signal I looked beneath the search coil and I could see a little shiny object deep in the grass.  I reached down to pick the object up and it was Patricia’s rings.  When I showed the rings to her she cried, she smiled, and she was speechless.  It was an overflow of emotions in one instance.  Just seeing how happy she was made the hunt for her rings that much more rewarding.

I’m a couple of months late posting this story, but I wanted to share this wonderful event.