The Ring Finders - Huntsville, Alabama

09/21/2025

I received a call from Cesar on Saturday (September 6th, 2025) just before 4pm. He made a post in the North Alabama Disc Golf Facebook group and one of my co-workers, Rob, sent him my info. Cesar was playing in a disc golf tournament at the Mastin Lake Course in Huntsville, Alabama that morning. Cesar finished some practice shots and just before he threw the frisbee at the first hole, it started raining. He used a towel to dry his hands, but they were still pretty wet when he threw the frisbee. Right as Cesar got to the second hole and he set down his bag is when he noticed his cherished 2003 class ring from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, was gone. When Cesar called, I was doing some things around my house. Mastin Lake Park is only 10 minutes away, so I told Cesar that I would change, grab my gear, and head his way.

I met Cesar just before 4:30 pm at Mastin Lake Park. I had him show me all the areas he was at. He told me that he really felt that his ring came off at the first hole, because it usually fits him snug and the wet hands from the rain probably caused it to slip off on the frisbee throw. I searched the area with my Minelab Equinox 900 with the 15-inch coil from where Cesar was standing to the basket and extended the sides of my grid fairly wide. No ring. Even though Cesar didn’t think his ring came off on the practice throws, I still wanted to search that area to clear it. No ring there.

We eventually went back to the first hole since that was where it was raining. Cesar re-enacted the throw and he had a strong follow through with his right hand (hand with the ring) to the right side. I began searching further out to the right than where I had before. Cesar was walking ahead of me searching with his eyes. A few minutes later I heard Cesar say, “oh my God” as he bent down and picked up his yellow gold Citadel class ring!! Woo-hoo! I immediately looked to the sky and said, “thank you, God!” Cesar was so happy and thankful that he had his very sentimental class ring back! He gave me a big hug. We were both surprised at how far his ring flew. I added two photos at the end of where Cesar was standing and where the disc golf basket was. Cesar said his ring landed so far away and he had never looked in that area earlier in the day. What a miracle to find it! Praise the Lord!

Cesar and I chatted for a few minutes, took some photos, and we parted ways, headed home. Until the next one, please take care and God bless!

09/20/2025

I received a text message on Sunday afternoon (August 31st, 2025) from Roger stating he had lost his gold and titanium wedding band a few weeks ago while wringing out a rag at his vacation home in Crane Hill, Alabama. Both Roger and his wife, Dawn had their wedding bands custom made about 6-7 years ago while on a trip to Switzerland. I told Roger that I’d be more than happy to help. I was having family over for dinner, but told him I could come out the next morning on Labor Day. Finding lost items is definitely not work to me (lol) and was the perfect way to celebrate the holiday!

I met Roger and his family around 9 am the next morning. He showed me where he was standing and where he saw his ring drop. He said it looked like it landed in the small patch of grass on top of the large rocks. Roger was standing on the second story balcony and it was a long drop to the bottom. The house was on a decent incline, so the ring could have easily rolled down the hill, which lead to their boat dock at Smith Lake. I grabbed my Minelab Equinox 900 with the 15-inch coil and started my search.

I searched for over an hour, covering every spot by the drop zone and down the hill. Roger’s daughter suggested that I expand my search further to the left side, because it had rained a lot over the last few weeks and she thought it may have washed down between two trees. I covered that area all the way to the steps leading to the dock, but still no ring. I went to the bottom of the hill by the woods and dock to make a final pass since I had searched just about everywhere possible. As I was walking through, I suddenly eyeballed Roger’s ring sitting against the small wooden rail right before the drop off to the dock and lake! Wow, what a miracle!! It had rolled all the way down the hill and stopped just before the dock. If the ring continued to roll, it may have went over the dock and into the lake! You just never know how far rings will travel. It was also one of the heaviest rings I have found, which could’ve caused the long roll plus the long drop from the second story balcony. I immediately thanked God for the last-minute save!

I took some pictures and headed up the stairs to knock on the door. Dawn and her daughter greeted me. Dawn asked if I was going to call it. With a disappointed face I said, “yes, going to call it and head home.” Then I gave a big smile and said, “because Roger’s ring has been found!!” They both said, “are you kidding!?” I said, “not kidding, we got it!” Then I showed them a picture. They were so happy and said I had to say the same thing to Roger, lol, who was outside in the front. I could tell that Roger was slightly disappointed when I said I was going to head home. But then I smiled and told him the good news! Smiles all around 😊 Roger gave me a couple of big hugs and thanked me profusely.

I had left Roger’s ring right where I had found it to show them where it ended up. Roger, Dawn, and I went down to retrieve it. Everyone was so happy and couldn’t believe it had rolled that far. This was definitely the perfect way to spend Labor Day!

09/03/2025

I received a call on Friday (August 29th, 2025) in the late afternoon from Gabby. Gabby’s engagement ring was lost the night before in the front yard at her home in Huntsville, Alabama and she was hoping I could help her find it. Gabby and her fiancé, Matthew had bought a metal detector, but were unable to find Gabby’s engagement ring, which was a family heirloom – it was Matthew’s grandmother’s ring. I initially suggested the next morning for a search, but both Gabby and Matthew had to work, so I said I would head out after dinner.

About an hour and a half after Gabby’s call, I headed out for the search. I met Gabby at her home and I had her show me the area she thought her ring was lost at. Gabby also showed me a picture of what the gold engagement ring looked like. I told her she was welcome to go back in the house to relax and I would get to work, letting her know how the search went. I was using my Minelab Equinox 900 with the 15-inch coil. I cleared the main area in the front yard and expanded further to the right side, but didn’t find the ring. I double checked the main area and expanded my grid to the left side. I was a few feet from the street, when I hit a good tone and saw the outline of a gold ring emerge from the green grass. It was Gabby’s engagement ring! Praise the Lord!!

I snapped a few photos of the ring and went to knock on the door to tell Gabby the great news. Both Gabby and Matthew were so happy and relieved to hear that the ring was found! Smiles all around 😊 and the reason I do what I do!

09/02/2025

This past week I had a total of 6 calls for lost items, which is a higher-than-normal call volume for my area. I conducted a search for 4 of the items (the other 2 were too far or needed a diver). I’m happy to report that all 4 items were found! All praise and glory to God! He is so good!!! Here’s the write-up of the first recovery. Please be on the lookout for the others.

I received a text message on Monday morning (August 25th, 2025) from Ellen stating she had lost her soldered engagement & wedding rings over the weekend while pulling weeds at her mother-in-law’s (Judy) house in Huntsville, Alabama. Ellen had taken off her rings (including a ring she wears on a finger on her right hand) and put them in her pocket. She put her phone in the same pocket and pulled it out periodically to change songs. When Ellen was done with the yard work, there was only 1 ring left in her pocket -- the soldered engagement & wedding rings were gone. I told Ellen I would be more than happy to help search. We scheduled a hunt for Tuesday after I got off from work.

Ellen and her husband, Brad live in Birmingham, AL. Ellen had to be in Birmingham on Tuesday, but Brad was back in Huntsville for the day, so I met Brad at his mother’s (Judy) house around 4:30 pm on Tuesday. Brad and Judy showed me where Ellen had been working in the flowerbeds and another area around a tree. They were very kind providing some bug spray and a cold glass of ice water when I asked. Once I had my search area, I got to work with my Minelab Equinox 900.

I searched two piles of weeds, but didn’t get any signals. I moved to the grass area in front of the flower beds and had a good hit within a few minutes of searching. I looked down and saw that unmistakable glimmer of gold! It was Ellen’s rings!! I took a few pictures of what the rings looked like as is (pictures at the end). Prior to calling me for help, Ellen and Brad had bought a metal detector and tried searching. They had a few hits, but everything was below the surface. They were surprised that they missed the rings, but they were fixated on another target nearby, and the detector they bought was not the best for finding rings. Once you know the ring is there, then you think how could I miss it, but grass will easily swallow up a ring and it's really hard or near impossible to spot with eyesight alone.

I went and got Brad and Judy and gave them the good news! They were both so happy and gave me a big hug. Brad Facetimed Ellen and I got to surprise her with the rings and show her in real time. Ellen was so happy, relieved, and thankful! She told me this was a huge answered prayer. I told her that I had been praying as well. What an awesome feeling! Brad and Ellen have been married for 26 years! Thank God for another successful recovery!

As I was getting ready to leave, my truck wouldn’t start – my battery was dead! Brad thankfully had some jumper cables and helped me get my truck started (I now have a pair of jumper cables in my truck, lol). Huge thank you to Brad for saving me there! I was able to get a new battery on Friday morning – just in time for a few more searches, lol…

07/27/2025

Earlier in the year, I had the pleasure of sharing my metal detecting story with one of the writers of the Redstone Rocket, Ms. Marian Accardi. The Redstone Rocket is the Redstone Arsenal’s newspaper. I’ve been waiting for a special occasion to share it, and to celebrate my 50th successful search, here it is. Happy reading!

As Christina McCree turns the pages of a book that documents her successful metal detecting searches over the years, she can’t help but smile.

07/22/2025

I received a text message just before midnight on Wednesday (July 16th, 2025) from Allie stating she had lost a few rings on Monday evening and asked if I could help her find them. Allie was attending one of the Concerts in the Park events at Big Spring Park in Huntsville, Alabama. She vaguely remembered taking off her engagement ring and wedding band (soldered together) and her promise ring, then she placed them in the cup holder of her folding chair so that she could apply lotion. Allie forgot to put her rings back on and at the end of the event, she folded up her chair and put it back in the bag with the rings still in the cup holder. She thought they had fallen out into the grass.

The promise ring was a thin gold band that used to be Allie’s mother-in-law’s (Brandi) engagement ring given by her father-in-law. Unfortunately, he has since passed. The diamond and prongs had been removed, and the diamond was incorporated into a different ring Brandi now wears. The modified thin 14k gold band was given to Allie as a promise ring by her now husband.

When I received Allie’s message I had already gone to bed, because I had to get up early for work the next morning, but I replied to Allie and told her I’d be more than happy to help. I said I needed to pick up my detector and gear from my house, so I wouldn’t be able to get out to the park until after work on Thursday evening. Allie said she had a prior commitment on Thursday evening, so we scheduled a search for Friday late afternoon when I got off from work.

Allie went back out to the park with a friend earlier in the day on Thursday to search for her rings. Her friend took a metal detector, but she had a of signals and interference, so she ended up doing a visual grid search. She was able to find Allie’s soldered engagement and wedding rings!! She was so excited that she ran over to Allie and forgot to mark the exact spot, but that was no problem, because they had a picture of where Allie was sitting with the hotels/apartments in the background. We were now 1 for 2 (or 2 for 3 depending how you look at it, lol).

I met Allie and Brandi on Friday afternoon at Big Spring Park. There was a lot of pop of rain showers and thunderstorms, but thankfully nothing was happening at the park. As we walked over to where Allie was sitting on Monday, Brandi explained the sentimental meaning behind the ring. I could tell how much it meant to her.

Allie showed me the area she was sitting at and Brandi showed me the photo of Allie to line myself up with. I had my Minelab Equinox 900 with the 15-inch coil. I began my grid search and started receiving various signals. I carefully checked each one with my Garret Pro Pointer. All the targets were below the surface, so I didn’t bother going any further. I came upon a nice sounding 15-16 signal. I bent down to check and there was Allie’s gold ring!! It was laying vertically, completely hidden in the grass. I looked up at Allie, smiled, and said, “we got it!” I looked over at Brandi and gave her a smile and thumbs up. They were both very happy and relieved that it was found. All praise and glory to God!

We chatted for a few minutes and started walking back to our vehicles. They thanked me again and we said out good-byes.