March 2nd, 2010 by Brad Lovell

Last week I was called out to Waroonga, a beautiful suburb about 50 minutes north of Sydney. Belinda had noticed both her wedding and engagement rings missing, and was told by her daughter that her one and a half year old toddler was last seen playing with the rings in the front yard. After an extensive search for the rings, Belinda decided it was time to call me in for the job. Belinda was in the process of having her yards excavated so I needed to find these rings before they we’re lost forever. Both Belinda and her daughter pointed me to the area that little Jack was last seen playing with the rings. After beginning my search in the obvious areas, I decided to grid search the entire front yard to no avail. This was confusing, how far could a 18 month year old boy throw two rings? I asked Belinda if I could check the backyard, which was half excavated. After about 10 minutes of searching the backyard, I recieved a signal with the metal detector within inches of where old grass had been dug out, and new soil laid. I couldn’t believe it, it was Belinda’s wedding ring. As I bent down to pick it out of the dirt, I eye balled the diamond engagement ring hiding not far beside it. Both the rings we’re sitting withing inches of where the bulldozer had stopped digging. This was definitely Belinder’s lucky day! As you can see by the smile in the photos, Belinda was incredibly happy and relieved to have her sentimental rings back on her finger. Belinda, thank you so much for your honesty and kind reward! It was also nice meeting yourself, kids and Fudge the Labrador

January 31st, 2010 by Brad Lovell

Today I received a phone call from Naomi who managed to lose both her wedding ring and engagement ring on a harbour side beach called Red Leaf at Double Bay. Trying to do the right thing, Naomi put both her rings in the pocket of her skirt before going for a swim. When she was leaving for the day, Naomi picked up her towel and skirt and began walking home. After walking only 10-20 meters Naomi remembered the rings in her skirt pocket, and decided to put them back on her finger. After reaching into the pocket, there we’re no rings to be found. When I arrived, Naomi and her friend showed me the area they had been sitting, which was actually a baren looking grass area. If the rings we’re there, we would have been able to see them with our eyes. So I went down to the sandy area where Naomi first realised the rings we’re missing. After about a half hour search, I found Naomi’s engagement ring hiding in the sand. But after searching the rest of the area, I was not able to find the wedding ring. I did a search in the grass area she had been sitting, but no luck there either. I decided to do one last search of the sand area, digging all signals including crackling and null tones that normally mean rubbish. One of these crackling signals turned out to be Naomi’s wedding ring. In the hundreds of rings I have found over the past couple of years, this is the first time this has happened. This is a learning experience for me, and will be embedded in my mind next time I am searching for a thin gold ladies ring. Either way, it felt good to return both rings to their rightful owner…

January 6th, 2010 by Brad Lovell

On Tuesday I drove out to Pennant Hills (near Castle Hill) to help Brett find his lost gold wedding ring. Brett was not exactly sure when or where the ring fell off, but there was a time frame in relation to when he noticed it on, and when it went missing. And he had not left the home in that time period. Brett had also been spreading wood chips in his garden on the day the ring went missing, so there was a good chance it may have slipped off into the garden. When I arrived, I began my search in the garden area without any luck. I decided to turn up the gain on the metal detector and search the garden one more time to be sure. Once again, no wedding ring to be found. There was another vegetable garden which Brett said he may have worked on that day, but was not sure. Before checking the vegetable garden, I decided to detect the thick grass that ran parallel to the garden. A few minutes of searching the grass and I received a nice loud signal, very similar to a $1 coin. There hiding in the grass was Brett’s chunky gold wedding ring. After a recent run of bad luck, I was just as releived as Brett and his wife to have found the ring. It was a pleasure meeting Brett and his wife, plus his two puppies (Dash & Dale) who kept me entertained while hunting Photo coming soon…

December 22nd, 2009 by Brad Lovell

On Sunday afternoon I received a call from Denise. Denise was having a bad day…not only did she manage to lose her wedding ring, but her engagement ring too! I felt really bad for Denise, and told her I would be on my way to the reserve the rings we’re lost after dinner. Denise’s husband Daniel was still at the park searching the area with a torch. When I called Daniel to see how he was going, I heard the beeping of a metal detector. Someone had kindly loaned Daniel a Metal Detector when they saw him searching frantically for the lost rings. I arrived at the park not long after, and Daniel showed me the area they had been sitting earlier that day. Denise had picked up her young kids, and taken them to the toilet block which was about a 50 plus meter walk from the picnic area they we’re located. It was a possibility the rings fell off while Denise was carrying the kids. I began my slow grid search from the toilet block back towards the area they had been sitting. Halfway through my search, Daniel returned the loan Metal Detector and the globe in his torch broke. Feeling worn out from many hours of searching, Daniel went home while I continued searching. After about 3 hours of slowly grid searching the area, I had finally made it back to the area Denise had been sitting that day. I must admit, I had given up hope by now. What grass was left in the area was not very thick, and the chances of someone eyeballing two gold rings on the ground was very probable. A reflection from my LED headlamp in the distance led me to a tree close by. The reflection turned out to be coming from what looked like a small diamond, but with no ring attached to it. I wondered in my mind if this was a part of Denise’s engagement ring? I decided to search the surrounding area… and to my surprise, after a nice solid signal I looked down with my light and there we’re two gold rings lying next to each other. I picked up the rings and noticed no Diamonds we’re missing from Denise’s engagement ring. It was just coincidence that I found the other diamond, which turned out to be a good thing as it led me to the area Denise’s rings we’re dropped. Although it was getting close to midnight, I decided to give Daniel a call. I am sure he and Denise would sleep better knowing I had found the rings. Denise and Daniel we’re incredibly happy to hear the great news, and I am meeting with Daniel tomorrow to return the rings

December 14th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

After a quick phone call from Melanie, I was on my way to Sydney Park at St Peters (Inner West of Sydney). Melanie had been playing around in the park and decided to put her wedding and engagement ring in her pocket for safe keeping. After she had finished her activities, she reached into her pockets only to find both rings we’re missing. I mentioned to Melanie I would hop in the car and meet her at the park ASAP. Two rings sitting in the grass of a busy park would get picked up in no time. About 30 minutes later I arrived at the park and met Melanie and her husband. Melanie mentioned to me she had both good and bad news. The good news being her husband found the rings in the grass with a flash light. And the bad news being I had driven out there for no reason hehe. Melanie and her husband obviously felt bad that I had driven out there on a Sunday night, and offered me more money than my regular call out fee. I could not accept the extra money as I was not the one who found the rings. My primary concern was that Melanie had her rings back on her finger. I told Melanie and her husband there is no reason to feel bad. This has happened many times before, and is just a part of the job I love

August 10th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

I always find it amazing how Rings can hide in even the most conspicuous of places. I drove out to Marrickville yesterday to help Andrew find his lost white gold wedding ring. Actually, to be precise, I was looking for half of Andrew’s wedding ring. It was a two piece ring which fell off Andrews finger when throwing a ball to his dog. Andrew found one half, but had no luck in locating the second half. When I arrived, I noticed the area where Andrew had lost the ring had good visibility. There was only small patches of grass where the ring could possibly hide. As I looked around the area, I was thinking surely the Ring could not be there…perhaps it launched over the fence and into the neighbour’s backyard. Anyway, I turned on the Metal Detector and began scanning the area where the other half of the ring was found. A few minutes later, I received a good signal in a grass patch, right next to a wooden garden perimeter. As I parted the grass to the side, I saw Andrew’s gold wedding ring sitting in a crack between the grass and the wood. I want to thank Andrew for a generous reward, even though it was a quick recovery.

July 5th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

Similar picture, iPhone photo did not turn out well

Last night I drove out to a sports oval at Maroubra to help Amanda find her lost Diamond Earrings. Before her soccer game began, Amanda removed her Diamond Earrings and asked her friend to take care of them. Her friend put them in her pocket for safe keeping while Amanda played soccer. Unfortunately after the game was over, the earrings were no longer in her friend’s pocket. They obviously fell out while she was watching the game from the side line. After 4 people searched over an hour for the lost earrings, Amanda decided it was time to call me. I could not make it out to the Oval until night, but that turned out to be a blessing. After about an hour of searching the side line, I spotted a reflection from the light of my head lamp. I figured it was just another alluminum pull tab, and scanned the metal detector over the area. Oddly enough, there was no signal. This made me curious, so I pulled out my pinpointer and scanned area again. Once again, no signal. I got down close to the area and started parting the grass to the side. And there they were! Two beautiful diamond earrings! As it turns out, there was not enough gold content in the earrings to set off the metal detector, or the pinpointer.  It was just lucky that I had been there at night with the LED head lamp. I doubt I would have had any chance of finding the earrings in day light. Amanda (and her friend) we’re very happy to have the earring’s back. And Amanda, thank you kindly for a generous reward.

July 3rd, 2009 by Brad Lovell

Yesterday I was called out to help David find his lost Platinum Wedding Ring. David was exercising in an area of grass close to the Sydney CBD. He was not aware of the exact moment the wedding ring slipped off his finger, but figured it could have happened when he was removing boxing gloves. When something is lost in a public accessible area, the quicker I get there the higher probability I have of recovery. After a short drive across the Harbour Bridge, I picked up David in the City and he directed me to the area he was exercising. Just as I was beginning to grid search the area, David had already beat me to it. He found the ring hiding in grass not very far from the area I was about to search. As one could imagine, David was a happy man. It was a pleasure meeting you David, and thank you kindly for a generous reward even though I was not the one who found your wedding ring

June 28th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

After spending many hours digging sludge out of a drain searching for Chen’s lost ring, my next job was a welcome relief. I received a phone call from Bernice who had lost a section of her 3 part ring whilst hanging clothes in her backyard. She managed to find two parts of the ring in the grass below, but the final part of the ring had remained elusive. I drove out to Gordon to meet Bernice, who then showed me the area of grass the other parts of her ring we’re recovered. As luck would have,  the second swing of my detector I received a nice signal. After checking the depth indicator on the metal detector, it indicated the signal was 2 inches deep. It is unusual for an item that had recently been lost to sink that far down. But I decided to inspect the signal anyway. Turns out the grass was quite thick, and Bernice’s ring had dropped right to the roots of the grass. Bernice watched me retrieve the ring, and mentioned she would never have found it that deep in the grass. Once again Bernice, it was nice meeting you and your little puppy Roxy! And thank you kindly for a reward even though it was a fast job.

June 12th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

I received a phone call from Michael last Friday morning. Michael had lost his wedding ring while playing football at an oval in Engadine, about an hour drive south of Sydney. Fortunately for me, Michael felt the ring fall off his finger as he was passing the ball…so he had an idea of the area the ring could have dropped. Being a public area, I told Michael I would be there as soon as I could. I organised to meet Michael’s wife Kim at the football oval that evening. I had Tony from Metal Detecting Services with me from the previous job, and he said he would be happy to help out again with this particular job. Kim showed us the area her husband believed his lost gold wedding band to be, and we got straight to work. Tony began to cover one half of the search area, while I hunted the other. To be honest, I figured this job would take 20 minutes at most with both of us covering the area. But as it turned out we spent almost 2 hours searching before I stumbled upon the lost ring. The ring was actually a good distance from the area Kim showed us, which is often the case. We we’re both very happy to return the Ring to Kim and get back into our warm cars. Once again, I want to thank Tony from Metal Detector Services for helping out with this job. If it wasn’t for you I would probably have been in the freezing cold for another 2 hours.