Skip to content
NOWCAST WESH2 News at 7
Live Now
Advertisement

‘I thought it was lost forever': Man finds, returns wedding ring lost in Cocoa Beach sand

Ring finder searches for hours before locating jewelry lost more than a week prior

‘I thought it was lost forever': Man finds, returns wedding ring lost in Cocoa Beach sand

Ring finder searches for hours before locating jewelry lost more than a week prior

CHRIS: DAVE MOLLISON IS A RING FINDER. >> I REALLY ENJOY FINDING THINGS FOR PEOPLE. CHRIS: HE USES A METAL DETECTO AND SCOOP TO FIND LOST VALUABLES FOR OTHERS. CLAIRE LAND IS FROM COLORADO AND TOOK HER STEPDAUGHTER ON A MAKE-A-WISH VACATION TO DISNEY WORLD AND CENTRAL FLORIDA LAST WEEK. THEY SPENT LAST THURSDAY HAVING FUN AT COCOA BEACH. LAND SAYS SHE TOOK OFF HER RING TO PUT ON SUNSCREEN, AND WHE SHE LOOKED FOR HER WEDDING BAND AGAIN, SHE DIDN’T SEE IT. I RIPPED OUR STROLLER APART, RIPPED OUR BACKPACKS APART. STEWART: THE BAND IS HER ENGAGEMENT RING AND WEDDING RING SOLDERED TOGETHER. I FELT LIKE CRYING. I DID A LITTLE BIT. CHRIS: DEJECTED, LAND TRAVELED HOME TO COLORADO ON SATURDAY. A FEW DAYS LATER, SHE POSTED TO FACEBOOK AND GOT CONNECTED TO DAVE MOLLISON ON THE RING FINDER’S WEBSITE. I BELONG TO WHAT IS CALLED BRING FINDERS AND A LOT OF THESE GUYS ARE RING KEEPERS. CHRIS: LAND TOLD MOLLISON WHERE TO SEARCH ON FRIDAY, AND TO THE FINDER’S DISMAY, IT WAS A BUSY STRETCH OF COCOA BEACH. A LOT OF PEOPLE GO OUT METAL DETECTING AND I DIDN’T THINK IT WOULD BE THERE AFTER A WEEK. CHRIS: HE COMBED THROUGH THE SAND IN A GRID PATTERN, DETERMINED TO FIND IT. MOLLISON SAYS HE WAS WALKING BACK AND FORTH ON THIS BEACH F MORE THAN FOUR HOURS UNTIL HE HEARD SOMETHING, STARTED DIGGING, AND PULLED LAND’S RING OUT OF THE SAND. YOUR HEARTBEAT GOES UP A LITTLE BIT. ALL RIGHT, I FOUND IT. CHRI MOLLISON SENT LAND THESE PICTURES OF HIM SMILING WITH HER RING IN HAND. FRIDAY JUST HAPPENS TO BE HER BIRTHDAY. I FELT LIKE CRYING AGAIN, BUT IN AN AWESOME WAY. JUST RELIEF. CHRIS: SHE SAYS MOLLISON ALREADY WENT TO MAIL IT BACK TO HER AND SHE’S EXPECTING TO HAVE THE RING ON HER FINGER AGAIN BY MONDAY. >> AMAZING.
Advertisement
‘I thought it was lost forever': Man finds, returns wedding ring lost in Cocoa Beach sand

Ring finder searches for hours before locating jewelry lost more than a week prior

Claire Land thought she would never see her wedding ring again as she returned home to Colorado on Saturday.“I felt like crying, (I) did a little bit,” Land said.Land traveled to Orlando for a Make-A-Wish Disney World vacation for her stepdaughter last week. She spent last Thursday enjoying the sun at Cocoa Beach. She took off her wedding band to put sunscreen on, and when the Colorado woman looked for it again, she couldn’t find it.“I like dug in the sand, ripped the stroller apart, ripped our backpacks apart and it wasn't anywhere,” Land said.The band is her engagement ring and wedding ring soldered together.Days later, she posted to Facebook and contacted Dave Mollison on The Ring Finders website for help. Mollison uses a metal detector and scoop to meticulously comb through beaches to locate lost valuables.“(The group) I belong to, it's called Ring Finders and a lot of these other guys are ring keepers,” Mollison said. Land sent Mollison a map of where she believed the ring was last seen. To the finder’s dismay, the map showed a spot near the Coconuts on The Beach bar. A busy, well-traveled stretch of Cocoa Beach.“A lot of people go out at night and during the day metal detecting there and I didn't think it would still be there after a week,” Mollison said.The finder trotted in a grid pattern around the area for more than four hours on Friday. All of a sudden, Mollison said he heard a faint ping in his detector headphones and knew he may have found it. He dug about 10 inches into the sand and pulled Land’s ring out of the ground.“Your heartbeat goes up a little bit and you're like, 'Alright I found it,’” Mollison said.Mollison texted Land pictures of himself smiling with her ring in hand. He went to mail it to Colorado the same day. Land is expecting to have the band back on her finger on Monday.“Amazing. I thought it was lost forever,” Land said.

Claire Land thought she would never see her wedding ring again as she returned home to Colorado on Saturday.

“I felt like crying, (I) did a little bit,” Land said.

Advertisement

Land traveled to Orlando for a Make-A-Wish Disney World vacation for her stepdaughter last week. She spent last Thursday enjoying the sun at Cocoa Beach. She took off her wedding band to put sunscreen on, and when the Colorado woman looked for it again, she couldn’t find it.

“I like dug in the sand, ripped the stroller apart, ripped our backpacks apart and it wasn't anywhere,” Land said.

The band is her engagement ring and wedding ring soldered together.

Days later, she posted to Facebook and contacted Dave Mollison on The Ring Finders website for help. Mollison uses a metal detector and scoop to meticulously comb through beaches to locate lost valuables.

“(The group) I belong to, it's called Ring Finders and a lot of these other guys are ring keepers,” Mollison said.

Land sent Mollison a map of where she believed the ring was last seen. To the finder’s dismay, the map showed a spot near the Coconuts on The Beach bar. A busy, well-traveled stretch of Cocoa Beach.

“A lot of people go out at night and during the day metal detecting there and I didn't think it would still be there after a week,” Mollison said.

The finder trotted in a grid pattern around the area for more than four hours on Friday. All of a sudden, Mollison said he heard a faint ping in his detector headphones and knew he may have found it. He dug about 10 inches into the sand and pulled Land’s ring out of the ground.

“Your heartbeat goes up a little bit and you're like, 'Alright I found it,’” Mollison said.

Mollison texted Land pictures of himself smiling with her ring in hand. He went to mail it to Colorado the same day. Land is expecting to have the band back on her finger on Monday.

“Amazing. I thought it was lost forever,” Land said.