Beach Metal Detector Turns Up Lost Wedding Ring In Ocean City

OCEAN CITY, NJ — A Philadelphia man’s wedding ring was back on his hand hours after it went missing in Ocean City thanks to a man who has a passion for metal detecting.

Jim McAllister had not taken the ring off since 1974, the year he married his wife. While he was swimming at the Plymouth Place beach during high tide on Thursday morning, a strong wave knocked it off his finger.

McAllister and his family sought help from John Favano, who’s locally known as “the ring finder,” for helping people search for lost valuables in towns along the southern Jersey Shore.

“You have to be like a detective,” Favano told Patch. “You have to ask a lot of questions — where it was lost, how it was lost, when it was lost, what type of metal it is.”

Favano will map out a grid in the area where the ring was lost, and then scans a metal detector slowly back and forth in a horizontal or vertical pattern. He searched for McAllister’s ring during low tide in about thigh-level water.

Detecting no ring, Favano decided to expand the search beyond his grid when the metal detector sounded a beep. He found McAllister’s ring 10 inches buried below the sand.

When the shiny ring was pulled up seven hours after it went missing, McAllister and his family were close to tears.

“It was pure joy when the ring was found and able to be put back where it belongs,” Favano said.

Favano began metal detecting as a hobby a few years ago and is now part of a large association of several hundred metal detecting specialists who help people find lost rings, keys and other valuables.

“I do it to help people,” said Favano, who runs South Jersey Ring Finders on top of his full-time job. “Things are very sentimental to people. Obviously things have value but it’s more sentimental to that person.”

Favano asks for a small reward only if he finds the lost item. His range includes all southern New Jersey beaches from Brigantine to Cape May.

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