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Stranger with metal detector finds man's lost wedding ring on beach

By Ben Hooper
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Aug. 2 (UPI) --

A man who lost his wedding ring at a New Jersey beach was reunited with the precious item thanks to a stranger who spent two days combing the area with a metal detector.

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Tim Martin of Glenn Mills, Pa., said he was playing with his son Sunday on the beach in Sea Isle City, N.J., when the ring apparently slipped off his finger.

Martin said his ring is a bit more valuable than the average wedding ring, featuring platinum and diamonds.

"We've been married, this year, will be our 13th anniversary, so October will be 13 years," Martin told WPVI-TV. "When we got married, we went to the jewelry store and I said, 'if my wife is getting diamonds, I want diamonds.' So it was a special ring."

Martin said he had been searching the beach for hours when he crossed paths with Bob Brown, who was walking the sand with his metal detector.

"The whole thing was a surreal moment because it was like our paths crossed at that right time where I needed him. I was really praying, you know, I need my ring," Martin said.

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Martin told Brown of his predicament, and the metal detector enthusiast set out on the search. He said he dug dozens of holes over the next two days before he located Martin's ring.

"It makes me feel really good to return something like that. Honestly, I personally don't do this for any money. I do it for the thrill of the hunt," Brown said.

Brown said he has found 39 lost rings so far this year, and he is currently searching for a 40th.

Martin's wife, Michelle, said she feared the ring was gone for good.

"It makes you realize there is so much good and it's all around you and you just have to look around. There are so many wonderful people out there and everybody should be more like Bob," she said.

Martin admitted he lost his ring one other time -- on the night of his honeymoon.

Brown's wedding ring reunion came much faster than that of a Tennessee woman who lost her ring while gardening at her Leoma home in the 1970s.

Wesley White, a metal detector enthusiast, was visiting a nursing home in June of this year when he heard Florene Bush, 94, talking about her long-lost ring. White got Bush's old address from her family and was able to find the ring in about 90 minutes with the help of friend Jeff Howell.

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