BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — When Lauren Michaud Knotts lost her wedding and engagement bands at the State Fairgrounds in Baton Rouge on March 26, she figured she’d never see them again.
But that was before she discovered The Ringfinders.
Three days later, she had her engagement ring back, and she’s still not sure she believes it.
“I am just flabbergasted,” Knotts said.
Sid Breaux and his wife, Carrie, who live in Lafayette, are part of The Ringfinders, an international group that uses metal detectors, eagle eyes and patience to help people find lost items. Since 2014, the Breauxs have found 24 lost items, with Knotts’ ring being the latest.
Knotts and her husband, Corey, took their young sons to “Touch a Truck,” a Saturday event that allowed children to play on trucks and work equipment spread over 3 acres (1 hectare). Before rubbing sunscreen on her children, Lauren put her rings in a pocket that also held a cellphone.
She later discovered the rings were missing, probably pulled out when she retrieved her cellphone to take photos. A search turned up nothing.
She mentioned this to co-workers at a Zoom conference on Monday. Afterward, a colleague saw an online advertisement for The Ringfinders, which she passed on to Knotts.
“I almost didn’t even call him because it’s absolutely hopeless,” Knotts said. “But I thought, well, let’s give it a shot.”
Breaux drove to Baton Rouge early Tuesday afternoon. Carrie Breaux, who usually works with him, stayed home because she was sick. He didn’t have a lot to go on. All of the equipment that could have provided landmarks was gone. Knotts had, however, sent photos she’d taken.
“The first picture she took had this gnarly looking oak tree and behind it was a tree line,” Breaux said. “So, I took the picture and walked around the area and figured where the picture was taken. Then, I made a perimeter around there.”
Working the area, Breaux noticed something in the short grass before his metal detector passed over it. It was the engagement ring. He sent Knotts a photo to confirm it was the right one. He didn’t find the wedding band but plans to try again.
“I was walking out the door to get my kids when he sent the picture,” Knotts said. “I was, like, ‘I’ll be damned.’”
It’s not the first time the Breauxs have earned such a reaction.
They became interested in metal detectors about 10 years ago when they saw someone using one in a park in Texas. Breaux bought his wife a detector for Christmas, and after a niece in San Diego had a lost ring recovered by a member of Ringfinders, she suggested they do this.
In 2014, a woman who had a pair of opal earrings her late husband had given her 34 years earlier called. Her daughter wanted to wear them in her wedding but lost one at a photoshoot in Houma. After the family’s search came up empty, Sid Breaux watched as his wife found them in two hours using her metal detectors. That hooked Sid Breaux, who bought himself a detector.
A year later, they found a piece of shrapnel that had nearly killed a Marine while he served in Iraq. The doctor who removed the shrapnel from the Marine’s face gave it to him. He had a jeweler mount it on a necklace. He lost it in a limestone- and grass-covered parking lot, and repeated searches were fruitless.
A year later, the Breauxs got the call. While Sid Breaux swept the area the Marine thought was the likeliest, Carrie Breaux searched elsewhere. Her detector pinged in a patch of grass outside that area. It was the necklace.
The Breauxs don’t have a set charge for their services but accept whatever the person thinks the item they found is worth to them or they can afford. Although his website says he charges 35 cents a mile for travel, Breaux said he never actually asks for it.
“Finding that thing is a charge you wouldn’t believe,” he said. “It’s a great thing to find it. It’s a real downer when you don’t find it. You’ve got to love it.”