I went out for a recovery today in the dense fog. It would be my 1st recovery of the new year. Taylor’s wife found their puppy covered in poo, and rushed to clean him off. Sometine during the cleaning, she lost a gold diamond ring that was her grandmothers.

This was back in October. They bought a detector with no luck. Spent hours on their hands and knees searching by hand. No luck. One day while sitting on his porch, Taylor found my website. A week later the ring was found.

To read the full story click here.

Spread the word, if you lost something metal call a professional. Don’t waste time and money buying a metal detector.

Happy New Year Everyone!!

As I sit back and look at 2019, it was a really good year for returning lost items to people. I can only hope that 2020 will be even better.

People always ask why do I return items? Why not keep it or sell it? I have dedicated my life to helping people. I started back in 1976 when I started volunteering for my local ambulance squad. I got my Red Cross First Aid certification, became an EMT in 1980, a paramedic in 1985, and became a Flight Medic in 1988.

It was 1992 that I started metal detecting. As I started to find items, I would wonder how it was lost, what was the owner doing to try to find it? Could I somehow find the owner?

I joined the local metal detecting club. We started a program where we offered our services to law enforcement, to assist in solving crimes. I have a plaque in my office from a County Prosecutors Office thanking me for helping them convict two carjackers. Five of us found some of the stuff they tossed while being chased by the police in the snow.

My 1^st item that I found & was able to return happened in Ocean City NJ. I was on the beach detecting, my wife was reading, and a young girl came up to me and asked if I could help find her religious necklace & charm that was given to her for her 1^st communion. I went to the area and searched. I didn’t have any luck and she and her family needed to leave. They gave me a pager number to call if I found it.

About 10 minutes after they left, I found it. I called the pager number, from a payphone and entered the number. This was before everyone had a cell phone. My wife and I waited for a while by the payphone. After a long wait we were getting hungry and went to the boardwalk for something to eat. While walking on the boardwalk, we see the girl and her family standing in line for a famous pizza shop, Mack & Manco. The dad came over a said thank you very much for searching. It was obvious he didn’t get my message. I pulled out the necklace and charm and the girl started to cry.

Since then, I have tried to return the items I find. The look on people’s faces when they see an item that they thought would be lost forever is priceless. The hugs aren’t bad either.

If you lose something call a professional right away. Don’t waste your time or money renting or buying a metal detector. It takes years of experience to learn how to operate a detector properly.

I hope you all have a SAFE & HAPPY 2020.

Jordon sent me an email yesterday. I called him as soon as I read the email. He was panicked. While on the beach proposing to his girlfriend, he opened the ring box and it was empty. She thought that she was being punked. Jordon thinks that the ring fell out of the box when he opened it. Neither one of them noticed because they were looking into each other’s eyes. 

It was late in the day and I couldn’t get down until morning. I told him I would be there by 6 am.

Jordon continued to look for help. He was able to get a hold of my friend Jeff (we were profiled together in SJ Magazine). Jeff was able to get to the beach last night in the dark. It took Jeff 10 minutes to find the ring. He was able to read the beach and see where it looked like a search had taken place. He found it before Jordon and his dad got to the beach to show Jeff the area. He surprised them when they arrived.

I am so happy for Jordon that Jeff was able to save the day. We have a GREAT group of detectorists in South Jersey that want to reunite people with their lost items. I am proud to be apart of this group. 

If you lose something, call a professional quickly. Take pictures of the area. If you can get GPS numbers, that is a huge help. Mark the area with something. Take note of the time that helps in looking to see where the tide is. Pray to St Anthony. If it is there, I WILL find it.

Happy Holidays

I received a paniced phone call the other day. A husband who was playing basketball in the yard lost his whit gold wedding ring. They searched for a long time and searched the internet. My contact info popped up. I agreed to meet after work.

One should never assume. I thought since there was a basketball court inthe yard that there would be lights. Nope! I didn’t bring my flash light, and it was dark.  I also didn’t expect rain, it started to pour. I didn’t have my rain gear,  It was a fairly large area that included woods.

The Metal Detecting Gods were on my side that night. It was a quick find in less than 5 minutes. I thought that I would be there for hours. I did use my detective skills and started the search in the area I thought that the ring might be in after asking many questions.

I learned to always take my light and rain gear al all searches.

To read the full story click here!

If you are going to be outside this holiday season, putting up decorations, be mindful of your rings. The temperature is usually chillier, causing your fingers to shrink. You will be putting on and taking off gloves. All of this will cause your rings to come off. A lot of the time unnoticed by you.

This happened to Thomas this week. He was putting up Christmas Lights on his house as he will be on the local must-see displays of lights this year. When he was finished for the day he noticed that his replacement ring was not on his hand. Read the full story here.

If you do lose something metal, give a professional a call. Renting or buying a metal detector is not a good option. It takes years to learn how to operate them properly.

Happy Holidays!!

I went out today to look for a ring that was lost several years ago. Using top of the line metal detecting equipment, I was able to find the lost ring in about 15 minutes.

I was able to make Walt’s day. He had spent so many hours over the years looking for his wife’s ring. He saw the Philadelphia Inquirer article seveal months ago that I was featured in.

To read the full story click here.

I went out for a ring recovery today. The gentleman lost his ring while out walking in the cold. He was trying to flick his cigarette and his ring flew off. It wasn’t and easy search, there were a lot of thorns involved.

To read the full story click here.

Smoking is not good for your health, and I guess your jewelry too.

I had another successful recovery this rainy Sunday morning. It starts off with a 5 y/o little girl, a new set of handcrafted gold earrings from Portugal from her grandmother. Well one of the earrings is lost. Family goes to local rental store to rent a metal detector. Said detector won’t make a sound when they tested it over the remaining earring. 

An internet search turns up my information. We set up a date & time. Moral of the story is, if you lose something metal and you want it found, don’t waist time trying to figure out a detector on your own. It takes years of practice to become efficient with detectors. Let a professional assist you!

Read the full story here!

Back in September while I was on vacation, I made a recovery in Atlantic City NJ. It was a team effort. It was a beautiful ring. The stone was handed down thru the family. 

Click here to read the full story. 

Today is my mom’s birthday. She helped with a recovery today. She held off the rain until I was able to complete helpin Angela find her very sentimental pendants. 

It wasn’t easy, but we got it done. 

Read the whole story here.

I was contacted by a writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer asking if I would answer some questions about being a Ring Finder. 

We spent about 20 minutes on the phone. He then told me that a photographer would be calling me to set up a photo shoot. That took place a week later.  But they were not really sure if they were going to run the article.

Well a few weeks later my phone started blowing up. The article was published on Sunday September 8, 2019. 

Here is the link to the article:

https://www.inquirer.com/news/ring-finders-dave-milstead-rich-hageny-chris-turner-20190908.html

My latest recovery happened today. See the full story here.

Jonathan bought a metal detector to find his wife’s lost earring. He tested the machine with the earring that she didn’t lose. He couldn’t get the detector to detect it. He requested my help. 

When you lose something, don’t waste time or money on renting or buying a metal detector. Call a professional. The sooner you call the better the chances we can recover your prized possession. 

This is a feel good story. The gentleman  in the picture was a pitcher for the A’s in 1972. They won the World Series. He was recently in Ocean City NJ. He lost his ring. 

Someone, without a metal detector found his ring. They knew it was special and turned it into to the police. It was returned. 

There are still good people in the world!!

Click here to read the news article. 

I just posted 2 new successful recoveries. 

• Mt Laurel Playing with the dog
• Campground Lake Lost Mother’s Ring

I have been very busy. I have had success and some items I could’t find. One of the unsuccessful recoveries was lost 7 years ago over a very large area. 

When you lose something take many mental notes.

• Look at your surroundings, what are you near?
  • Trees?
  • Fence?
  • Buildings?
• What direction were you facing?
• Can you use your phone to get coordinates?
• Use your phone to take pictures of the area.
• What time of day?
• If you are in water how deep is the water where you are?
• Can you leave something to mark the location?
• What activity were you doing?

Contact me as soon as possible!

Some days you just need to be lucky.

I went to do a recovery yesterday on a property of about a half an acre. I was prepared for a long search. They weren’t even sure it was lost in the yard.

As they were explaining to me what they think happened, I looked down a saw the ring. My metal detector was still in the car. I found it in less than 1 minute. Everyone was amazed.

To read the full story click here.

Luck was on my side for this hunt. You are not going to make a recovery much quicker than this one.

My latest recovery started 47 years ago, click here to read the story.

The woman didn’t want her name or picture used, lost her nursing program ring from the University of Pennsylvania 47 years ago. Small world, her husband knew my grandmother. We have another happy client.

I will be posting a message in the near future about the search for 6 gold bars. Stay tuned!!

My latest recovery story is posted. You can find it by clicking here.

We are into the raking and shoveling season. I get a lot of calls for recoveries this time of year. The cold weather makes your fingers shrink and rings just fall off. In Southern NJ we already had our first measurable snowfall. I have read stories of lost items in the snow already.

If you lose something, call a professional right away. It will increase the chances of a successful recovery.

Today I was able to help in the recovery of a class ring, that an 81-year-old man lost last night while attending a fundraising event.

I searched for a little over 2 hours with y metal detector, but Joe, his son spotted it as I was closing in on the ring. Joe was so happy that the ring was found. He couldn’t stop laughing and smiling.

To read the full story click here.

Customer service. Something that is hard to find these days. Usually, you just get lip service.

I recently had plans to go metal detecting at two different places in one day. I wanted to use my new detector but need a special piece of equipment to use it. I reached out to my local metal detector dealer, Joe DeMarco of DeMarco Detector Sales, where I buy all of my detectors and other treasure hunting supplies, to see if he had what I needed. Unfortunately, he did not, but neither does anyone else on the east coast.

Joe said he would see what he could do. He would be at the second spot that I planned to detect later that day. This discussion took place three days before the day we were planning to detect.

I arrive early at my first spot, and who is there waiting for me? That right you guessed it, Joe. He found someone who had the equipment I needed and let me borrow it for the day. Joe went out of his way to make sure I was able to use my newest detector. This spot was 30 minutes farther than he was planning to go detecting.

Joe stayed and detected with me. I believe because of his actions that morning karma played a role in Joe finding the biggest and best gold item that day. After a few hours of detecting, we went to the second location. The detector performed awesomely. I came home with several gold rings and an assortment of other bling.

If you are thinking of buying a metal detector, you need to buy from DeMarco Detector Sales. Awesome work Joe and excellent customer service.

I’ve always thought about getting a metal detector. How do I get started? I hear these things all the time when I tell people about my hobby. There is now a website that can answer all of the questions for anyone who is interested in metal detecting.

The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Metal Detecting

So if you are thinking about getting into metal detecting, give this site a try!

Happy Detecting!!

I was surfing the internet and came across this story. Another metal detectorist (Leon Jones) found a USA Olympic ring and researched who the owner was. Made contact and returned the ring.

To read the full story click here.

It was a USA Olympic Curling ring. This is a quote from John Landsteiner (the true owner of the ring) “The coolest thing about this whole thing is he had the honesty and integrity to try find me and return it”.

A big SHOUT OUT to Leon Jones for putting the hobby of metal detecting in a positive spotlight for the work to see!!

Dave

The Metal Detecting Man Continue reading Detectorist Finds Lost Olympic Ring and Returns It. →

The Philadelphia ABC affiliate 6ABC did a story on the ring I found earlier in the week. That was the “Ocean Tried To Claim Another Wedding Ring” post.

Here is a link to a copy of the story that aired on Friday, August 10 at 4pm & 5pm, click here. This is the second time the press has done a story on one of my recoveries in 1 months time. In July there was an article in the SandPaper, a local paper on Long Beach Island.

I guess that my 15 minutes of fame are almost up…

This week I had another successful recovery. I was able to help another 1st responder. You can read the full story here: Most recent recovery

Typical story for beach losses. He put suntan lotion on, enters the water with slippery hands, cold water shrinks his fingers and while playing with his son in rough water the ring flies off.

His wife posted the loss to her friends on Facebook. A friend of hers referred me. I went down at night to make the recovery. I was able to pull the ring from the grips of Davey Jone’s Locker.

One of my recent recoveries in Long Beach Township, on Long Beach Island, made the local paper. The SandPaper published an article that was written by Jeanette, who had lost her rings and I was able to find them for her. You can see the article here: SandPaper.net

This is what Jeanette wrote:

Life Lesson #63: Never wear jewelry to the beach.
Life Lesson #64: If you do, never take it off to apply suntan lotion.

Here is a link to a feel-good news story.

http://www.wfmz.com/news/video-lost-wedding-ring-returned/767369089

A woman out walking her dog found a wedding ring. She didn’t think, Finders Keepers, she was able to find the owner and return the ring.