Hunt interrupted by park employees....good!

[Monty]

I was in my hunted out park this morning and after recovering several coins was on my way to my truck to install new batteries. I was hailed by a park employee who said she needed my help. A lady had lost a diamond ring in the park yesterday. It was appraised at over $15,000.00. She wanted to know if I had found it or if I would look for it. I told her I would look for it it the owner could narrow down the site to other than just "in the park" as the park covers about 40 acres. She pointed out an area of about an acre in size and said it was somewhere in there. Out of curiosity I ran my detector over a little of the area and found it to be riddled with junk, making the chore of finding the ring extremely difficult. I have a phone call in to the person who lost it hoping to get more details. I told the receptionist I didn't want to be paid to look for it nor did I expect a reward and I would return it if I found it. It has been several hours and my call has not been returned. So, my dilemma....should I go look for it if the lady doesn't respond to my phone call and what if I find it? Your input? Monty

 

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[Bavaria Mike]

Go for it! It's all legal as well, the fact that you would give it back is the beauty of it all. If it hasn't been lost long then you know it isn't deep. I would do a quick search on the whole area and check only shallow targets, then go back and take my time and get the rest of the goodies. Good luck and HH, Mike

 

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[wmas1960]

Just a curious here. ?You say it is an area that you figured wouldn't contain much. ? Tell us why you had that feeling. ?Not being challenging but maybe it could be of interest to others and maybe there is something that someone might know that you might not have thought of. ?If you had to describe the area, how would you describe it. ? Open Space? ? Out of the way from anything? ? Quet Solitude....

A few thoughts that might come to mind are things that I have read in the past. ?Some areas that I would have thought would be unproductive are actually good places. ? Wide open space that isn't really used for activities, for example. ? Maybe it is an area where festivals are held or where larger picnics have been staged in the past An area where concession stands were set up. ?Or, if they don't do such things there today, check the town history and see if there were events held there in the past. ?As people reach in their pockets for money, they might drop other things. ?If it isn't regularly used, stuff lost there during special events, might remain longer.

Is it Out of the way or off the beaten path? ? Someone mentioned one time that places that seem to be off the beaten path or out of the way are the places that people go to get to know eachother better. Also, such places are good for private picnics, to read a book, to just get away from a crowd. ? During a large picnic or gathering, there might be some people who want to get away from the action for some quiet, or privacy. ? Shaded areas around trees are supposed to be especially good for similar reasons. ?They are also places where someone might go to take a nap on a hot day. ?Always look around trees. ? ?

I guess, what it comes down to is, if it is a public park, there is an expectation that almost every inch of it has been covered by someone for some reason or activity. ? As I have learned from looking in my back yard, as I said earlier, an area of very little interest ?or activity, is that if people have been there something has been lost. ? It could be just like you mentioned. ?Maybe nobody ever thought of searching there before. ?So, even though little might have been lost, less may have been found there. ? Thus leading to an accumulation of a little bit here and a little there, over time. ? ?

It never ceases to amaze me that everywhere I have ever taken the metal detector, I have found something of interest. ? Sometimes it took a little looking or a little area to look but eventually, I found something. ? Every play lot, every beach.... ? ?Again, ?If someone was ever there, ?Someone lost something. ?

 

[rvbvetter]

It sounds like you have the park personels blessing. So I would just go ahead and hunt that area as you normaly would. No telling what else you might find there. And in the process, if you locate the ring. Then (as I'm sure you would) make every effort to contact her and return the ring. HH

 

[mchamby]

What would be a better feeling than returning a lost item that maybe has great sentimental value as well as monitary value. I truely hope that you find it and she contacts you one way or other. Who knows since you haven't hit that spot before maybe you'll find lots of silver.
Mcahmby

 

[hollowpointred]

im gonna have to agree with wmas about that field! i am in the process of obtaining permission to hunt a church that my mother went to as a child. the first places that came to mind for me to hunt were the obvious ones,the ballfield,around the entrances,the parking areas,etc. as a spoke to my mother,she told me that all of the church functions she attended as a girl,were held in the field in front of the church. to see this area today, there is no earthly reason why anyone would want to search it. it looks like the most uninviting,boring place to hold a church function! especially with the great property the church owns around back. but low and behold, this is where they used to gather.that park could be the same way.go ahead and hit it! and besides.......if theres trash there it must have been used for something.especially if that trash is old style pulltabs. those tabs may be trying to tell you something!!

 

[treasurekidd]

Monty, if the owner of the ring does not return your calls, my guess is she's looking to collect the insurance on it. If so, it may not really be lost at all, if you get my meaning, and probably won't call you back. I would still look for it though, keeping in mind that once the claim is paid, the insurance company becomes the owner of the lost ring, and may pay a finders fee if it is returned to them. If that is the case, you can either keep it yourself, or turn it in to the insurance company, and maybe offer your services to "consult" for them in future lost jewelry cases, which will get you a lot of good leads on property you may never have gotten a chance to hunt otherwise. Just a thought!

 

[Darren in NC]

With the park employees' blessings, call all your thunting pals and comb the whole place

 

[Crutch]

Monty and everyone else, I hope this doesn't sound bad or judgemental but what I would do is find out from her first , does she have insurance coverage. If she says no, try that much harder to find it and give it back, If she does have it insured and is waiting for the reimbursment check to arrive, man, I would have a moral delima giving it back, knowing the nature of some the keep the check and the ring and all you get is a thanks bud. I know it sounds bad but thats how I feel. If I knew she was insured and was compensated then I would want to get in touch with the insurance company and see what the legalities were.

It would actually bother me to think I helped someone defraud an insurance company, which may not be the case since it was actually lost but it would be dishonest if she did keep it after being refunded.

Just some thoughts and I hope I haven't offended anyone or missed the point. Bottom line, find it anyway if you can but everyone is going to know you found it when they see you turning cartwheels.

 

[Monty]

The story is.....It was one of our first cool morniings with a little frost and she had the ring on wearing driving gloves. She walked from her car to the main building and removed her gloves enroute, aparently accidentally removing the ring at the same time and droped it somewhere along the way. She supposidly cut across the turf instead of using the sidewalk. Problem is I don't know where she parked and what route she took to the building which is about a hundred yards away from the parking area. She could have gone across any one of several open areas. The area she walked across was not open to the general public until just last year, so my thinking, not much traffic, not much wealth?
I went over a large portion of possible means of egress this morning with my ACE and the stinger coil. I had pretty much everything discriminated out except those icons that should indicate gold or at least everything in the gold range. Everything that came in at 2" or less I stopped to examine. No luck, but I was surprised at all the targets I did hit in the 3 hours I spent searching. As I tlired of stooping and examining so many targets, I set the machine on coin mode and got a hit every few inches on the way back to the car. I dug a couple dozen clad pennies and 3 clad dimes in about a hundred feet! All those silver signals I saw yesterday turned out to be pennies ringing in at the dime range. I also unearthed plenty of pull tabs and a few smashed soda pop lids. I didn't dig anyting below 4" due to time constraints but I think going back and digging some deeper targets would be worthwhile. I'll let the forum know when I decide to do that. Monty

 

[IrishCharlieM]

Great story.

 

[IrishCharlieM]

"HooRay" I made it "Full Member"

 

[TXKajun]

Keep us posted, Monty. Sounds like this could be a nice place for lots of items.

Good Luck!

 

[Monty]

I am still awaiting that phone call! I am told the lady is very wealthy and ownes several businesses. Perhaps she is just busy, but when I made the initial phone call I got the feeling she just hoped someone found it and really didn't want to be bothered about it. I'm done looking just for it and now I am doing some prospecting for me and just because I want to. If I find it, I'll give it back knowing what I knowabout it. If I don't then I will have a pocket full of goodies to enjoy in my leisure I haven't been able to go out for the past couple of mornings because of a family situation but will be back up there next week bright and early to finish the job I started of hunting out the hunted out park! The only reservations I have is that the word will get out and I will find evidence of several other detectorists having been there when I go back. There is someone in this city who has a detector and never covers their holes and leaves the various places looking really bad. I have witnessed their leavings several times. I have never run on to him or her but if I do, they are going to get an ear full! I really hate to see that. Monty

 

[Mental Granny]

Crutch, if it's insured and the insurance agency gets it back, they'll probably pay 10% finders fee and either sue her for the ins. money and then give her the ring or sell it and pocket the Big Bucks. In any case, it will eventually reflect back on our insurance rates as an across the board increase thus we're all paying for the ring and don't even get to see it.

 

[mchamby]

Hi Jim, sorry you haven't found it yet but I agree you should see what you can find for yourself and if you find her ring while your having fun all the better. It is very hard to get permission around here the first thing out of peoples mouths is I don't want holes all over and I can't seem to get it through their heads that I make very neat holes where the plug goes in just as it came out. I would like to kick someone in the butt if I saw them leaving a open hole and a mess, not only does it look bad for us but someolder person could twist an ankle or worse. HH
Mchamby