A beach goer lost his heirloom wedding band in front of Ocean House, Watch Hill, RI early May 2018. By the time he realized his ring was forgotten on his beach towel, it was already too late. Digging in the sand with your hands to retrieve a ring is a near impossible task. However, when your deeply value possession disappears, you have to try something! After a good hand digging effort he thought his lost ring was gone forever…

The gentleman reached out to local lifeguards and other resources, eventually he came across a referral of my services from a 2016 ring find at Westerly Town Beach. After quickly discussing the details surrounding the lost ring, my wife Allie and I rushed down to the Watch Hill beach in front of Ocean House to see if we could find it. The gentleman brought us to the location where he remembered placing his towel the previous morning. Allie and I began to search with high hopes. Check out Allies story below to find out what it’s like seeing that gold in the sand… Which means someone will be reunited with the heirloom that was lost forever!

“Today I found my first ring! Keith has reunited so many with their lost treasures and today I found his why. It was such a beautiful moment and one I will remember for a lifetime. His wedding band had been passed down from his grandfather, inscribed with the wedding dates of his grandparents and parents! Beautiful! My heart is so full, it feels like it could explode.”

Another lost ring found and reunited with its owner!

Lost a piece of jewelry on the beach? Lost a ring in the water? Jewelry is commonly lost during our favorite summer time activities. Don’t waste your time with a metal detector rental or with a local hobbyist, have a professional member of The Ring Finders find you lost ring or jewelry. I serve Connecticut and surrounding states. If you lost a piece of jewelry, contact me now.

A Father’s Map Leads to Hidden Cash Inside a House!​

Mom and dad passed away, leaving everything to their surviving daughter, May. Inheriting a home is no small task. May began the arduous duty of cleaning out the house and getting it ready for sale. While cleaning out her late parents' bedroom, May found an interesting document. It appeared to be a handwritten blueprint of the basement left behind by her father. The map detailed out three locations where CASH WAS HIDDEN. May had no construction background, but she read enough of the sketch to take an initial look in the basement and get a general location for the markings on the map. As she inspected the basement, she remembered some years ago, her mom walked around together, and the mom said, "there is money hidden here, and there, and there." May never thought much of that conversation until years later when she found the map. Now, May was in the basement, retracing her steps from that day with her mom while holding her father's treasure map.

Briefly looking herself, and with the help of a couple of different contractors, May came up empty-handed. One night May was watching television and saw a news flash about a treasure hunter (me) who found. May contacted me, and we planned the search for the fall when the basement conditions would be best. I packed my treasure hunting gear and took the 3-hour trip. I arrived at the New Jersey property, where May greeted me and took me on a basement tour. We spent about an hour recounting the conversations between her and her mother from years past. When I stepped off the bottom of the staircase leading into the basement, I stepped straight into the contemporary era. The cellar was crudely built with a stone foundation and interior walls constructed of old doors. The old doors were repurposed from previously demolition projects and used in place of plaster. Scattered amongst the old furniture were magazines from the 1960s with President Kennedy on the headlines. The general feel was all too fitting for the work I was finally ready to begin.

I took a closer look at one of the areas where hidden cash was marked on the map. "In the cellar where the first light socket is just past our refrigerator. Direct line from the light to the top of the north wall. Under some mortar cement, there are 2 tinfoil packages with $xx,xxx (see map - mound of cement xx)." The first thing I noticed was the color of the cement in the area marked on the map. It was a slightly lighter shade than the rest of the parged walls. Secondly, an electrical cable ran along the top of the wall covered in dried mortar mix. It appeared someone patched this area in a hurry and didn't clean up the mortar drippings. I set up my ladder and began inspecting the top of the wall and the newer mortar patch. Using my camera system, I was able to find a gap between the new and old mortar at the very top of the wall. The camera head squeezed into the crack and allowed me to investigate six inches down. I saw nothing but mortar and stone. It was time to remove some of the top layers of mortar to see what was underneath. I tapped on the mortar, but it sounded solid, with no apparent voids where cash could be hidden. I used a hammer and chisel to slowly remove the top layer of mortar and fieldstone. Pulling two 10 lbs. stones from the top of the wall, I tapped on the next wall layer to see if there was possibly a void under the newly exposed mortar. All the newer-looking mortar was removed, and the remaining wall was still sounding solid. We decided to move on to the next location. May explained that her father was not exactly a handyman, and she couldn't imagine him being able to do what I had already done to the wall so far. Although I could see this area was disturbed in the past, I was satisfied that the hidden cash was no longer in this location.

While cleaning up the room and moving my gear to the north wall, my mind was running through the notes I read earlier, and my eyes were constantly scanning the area for something out of place. Along the centerline of the structure, I was admiring the historic red brick piers where they fit snugly under the main carry beam. One of the columns had a funny protrusion at the top. I reached up to touch the edge, and it moved. I pulled the item down and blew off almost a century of dust. It was paper. In big black letters, I could read, "National Bank." And the year "1931." This was a bank check with May's grandfather's signature on the bottom. It was dated in the same timeframe of the house being built, so could it possibly be the deposit put down upon purchasing this house? Whatever this check was for, it was unique enough for May's grandfather to set it aside. I felt this was a representative location to place the check that made this home possible. He chose to put it on a foundational pier that would physically and figuratively support the next chapter of his life. What a cool thing to find and an essential part of May's family history.

Moving on to another map location. "In cellar, - just at bottom of stairs turn right to wall (north wall) and at top of wall where 2 mounds of cement set; dig out theses mounds and there is $xx,xxx and $xx,xxx (can't remember exactly how much)." This location was already examined by a contractor May hired in the past. He chopped out the top layer of mortar and came up empty-handed. I saw two mounds of cement, but they were loose and sitting on top of the wall. There were no "xx" marks on these mounds either. Moving over one floor joist space, I saw a pile next to the window. This mound clearly has not been disturbed in recent years as it was covered in construction debris and spider webs. I used a pry bar to lift the edge of the mound. My headlamp was shining directly into the underside of the mortar mound, and I could see the original wall top was undisturbed. We did one last scan of the area with my camera system and then the metal detector. This area was a bust.

We arrive at the third and final lower-level location marked on the map. "In cellar – window on south wall – just to the right of window and at top of wall (note little xx marks on bricks), chop out these little bricks. There is $xx,xxx.". Like the first location, I could see a slight mortar color variation in the suspect area compared to the rest of the wall. The only thing that was missing from the map was the window. Sometime after the map was drawn, the window on the south wall was removed. Cinder Blocks and bricks remain in the old window space, so I can still use this piece of the puzzle. Mortar droppings on the pipes along the wall told me we were in the correct spot. I checked the cavity and behind the blocked-up window with my snake camera. Moving the camera slowly into any space I could find that was at least the size of a pencil eraser. More spider webs and construction debris, but still no tinfoil or cash. I removed the top layer of mortar and stone just to be sure nothing was hidden underneath.

May and I discussed all the possibilities of where the hidden cash could have gone. May's father was meticulous in his writings and drawing of the basement. It seemed unlikely that he would not have updated the map and notes if he had removed the cash. Unless he withdrew the money himself and something prevented him from updating the map just before his death. Another possibility could have been the construction workers who removed and blocked up the missing window. It is doubtful they would have seen the map stashed in May's parents' belongings, but they could have seen the "mounds of concrete" or "bricks" that were out-of-place compared to the rest of the structure. Let's say past construction workers did stumble upon one of the hidden cash locations. A keen eye could have scoured all of the walls and likely found the other two locations that didn't quite fit in with their surroundings. A third possibility could have been another family member or friend who knew about the map and cleaned out the stash. I would love to think someone’s family member wouldn't steal, but it's always a possibility. As America’s trusted voice on finance, Dave Ramsey, says, “there's crazy in every family. If there's none in yours, it's probably YOU.”

While I'm here, I thought I should check the rest of the basement for hiding spots. Searching one of the rooms, I slipped the camera down behind a wall. There were a few objects here and there, but I was able to identify most of them on my camera and knew they were of no value to May. Until I saw an oval object covered in dust. It could have been trash, but it was worth investigating further simply because I could not identify it. I pushed my hand through the cobwebs and reached for the object wedged about halfway down the wall. I got my hand around the thing and realized it was squishy. I pulled it from behind the wall, and as soon as the light hit the object for the first time in decades, I knew what it was! A purse! I alerted May of the find. We pushed on the clasp to see the contents inside. The hope was a purse full of cash hidden behind the wall, but it was hair accessories, to our surprise. Some identifiable contents included a heart-on-a-bow hair barrette, ribbon, and vintage rubber hair curlers. Our best guess at the age of these lost or discarded styling accessories was the 1940s-1950s. May thinks it was something left behind by her mother.

My final task was to mix up some patch mortar and cover the areas I chipped out during my investigation. I gathered all my tools and materials; broom swept where I chipped and loaded my car to leave. I was chatting with May about her father's map when she mentioned some other places where the money used to be hidden on the main level of the house. Well, that got my attention! "Wait… There are other places your father wrote about hiding money?" May explained that she and her organizer had already checked several places where the father hid smaller amounts of money, but he marked these locations off the list as "emptied." May said she double-checked all the sites and found nothing. Curious, I asked if I could see these locations before leaving the property.

May and I walked up the flights of stairs to the main floor for one last task of the day – triple-check the hiding spots. As soon as we opened the door to the main floor, I stepped back in time once again. Old paint, wallpaper, brightly colored tile in the bathroom, even the appliances were from the 80s! May had the remaining task of cleaning out a near-century of family belongings. Moving around the unused living space was tight as boxes were packed in every room. We squeezed into the kitchen, where May pointed to the pantry and told me this was one of the places her father admitted to hiding cash. "In the top of the pantry behind the molding, you will find $x,xxx hidden."

May clarified once again that she and the hired organizer had already verified this, and the other hiding spots no longer contained hidden cash. A second fact worth mentioning - May's father, in keeping with his meticulous notes, drew a line through this location and most of the others, writing "emptied." With the odds stacked against me finding anything, my main reason for triple-checking these locations is to learn about May's father's habits. Closely examining the areas worthy of concealing hard-earned cash gives me some insight for future treasure hunts. I wanted to see the molding and the surrounding wall. Were there pry marks, missing nails, scuffed paint – was there anything that would have tipped me off if I were naturally checking this location for clues. The pantry was a very shallow space with shelving the entire closet depth, not leaving much clearance to stick my head inside and check it out with my own eyes.

Touch is critical in my line of work because texture is a valuable clue when treasure hunting. I reached up and inside the pantry in the location May pointed out. I felt the molding and a decent gap where it should have been contacting the plaster wall. Wires from the doorbell and other kitchen accessories ran vertically down the inside corner of the pantry. I used my fingers to follow these as far as I could reach. Where the gap between the molding and wall intersected with the wires, I felt something out-of-place. To the ordinary finger, this could have been mistaken for the fasteners used to keep the wiring in place along the wall or even protruding pieces of the old crumbling plaster wall. I kept touching and tracing the object until I was able to get my fingernail behind it. At that moment, I knew the item was not construction materials and was something out of place. I repositioned my arm and adjusted my already awkward stance to reach into the tight overhead space. Finally, a better grip on the object. I squeezed the thing between my pointer finger and thumb and pulled. The initial resistance of the object had me rethinking the possibility of being a part of the molding or wiring. It was really jammed in there.

The item suddenly freed with a "pop." I lowered the article to eye level and saw a shiny package about the size of a small pack of note cards. Immediately I thought back to the map and notes from earlier in the day. "There are 2 tinfoil packages with $xx,xxx." I looked at May to see if she was thinking the same thing. I felt the rush of adrenaline, knowing the new door that would be opened if this turned out to be a package of hidden cash. May was white as a ghost with a puzzled look on her face. "I checked that area," she said. "I used a ladder to climb up there and looked thoroughly. My organizer did the same thing. We both checked this area, so I don't understand." For a moment, I think May thought it was a magic trick. I looked back at her and said, "I think it's a package of money." In disbelief, we walked over to the table and took a closer look at the packaging. It was wrapped just like a Christmas present - the tinfoil sheet was perfectly cut to conceal the contents. Each corner of tinfoil was carefully folded over and tucked away. I peeled a corner and exposed green paper. I tore open the package to get a better look.

Fanning the crisp bills, they were $1,000 in $100 denominations! All notes were from the 1950s except for a single 1977. With the average circulation lifespan of a $100 bill being just over 20 years, it's safe to say these hidden Benjamins were from another era. I grabbed a flashlight and sprinted back to the closet to see if anything else was stuffed in the hiding spot. The only thing that remained was flakes of tinfoil. The fragments were stuck in the bottom portion of the molding, where the trim was nailed to the plaster wall. From the number of leftover tinfoil flakes, dad must have added and removed multiple packages. We regained our composure and looked at the next location on the map.

May and I walked to a second location where her father had a false bottom to a wall-built laundry drawer. I removed the base and learned quite a bit about how he cleverly turned this innocent drawer into a bank vault. Examining the interior of the drawer space, I noticed the wall paneling in the very back of the area was loose. I shifted the panel, searching the best I could with my light and sense of touch but turned up nothing of interest. I was ultimately out of time and decided this was a good stopping point. No doubt, this concealed wall space and the other "emptied" location on May's map require further investigation, but that will have to be another story for another time. May and I left the property with newfound excitement.

After searching most of the day, the final 10 minutes reconnected May with her late father through the hidden money he left behind. It's funny how treasure hunts transition to a journey into one's family history. Through the heirloom items, I found within a matter of hours, May was reconnected with her late grandfather through his bank checks from the early part of the century. She was reconnected to her late mother through her hair accessory purse from the middle part of the century. And she was reconnected with her father through his hidden cash from the later part of the century. I can only hope to return to this property and find out what other heirlooms are waiting to be discovered.

​

Mom and dad passed away, leaving everything to their surviving daughter, May. Inheriting a home is no small task. May began the arduous duty of cleaning out the house and getting it ready for sale. While cleaning out her late parents' bedroom, May found an interesting document. It appeared to be a handwritten blueprint of the basement left behind by her father. The map detailed out three locations where CASH WAS HIDDEN. May had no construction background, but she read enough of the sketch to take an initial look in the basement and get a general location for the markings on the map. As she inspected the basement, she remembered some years ago, her mom walked around together, and the mom said, "there is money hidden here, and there, and there." May never thought much of that conversation until years later when she found the map. Now, May was in the basement, retracing her steps from that day with her mom while holding her father's treasure map.

Briefly looking herself, and with the help of a couple of different contractors, May came up empty-handed. One night May was watching television and saw a news flash about a treasure hunter (me) who found. May contacted me, and we planned the search for the fall when the basement conditions would be best. I packed my treasure hunting gear and took the 3-hour trip. I arrived at the New Jersey property, where May greeted me and took me on a basement tour. We spent about an hour recounting the conversations between her and her mother from years past. When I stepped off the bottom of the staircase leading into the basement, I stepped straight into the contemporary era. The cellar was crudely built with a stone foundation and interior walls constructed of old doors. The old doors were repurposed from previously demolition projects and used in place of plaster. Scattered amongst the old furniture were magazines from the 1960s with President Kennedy on the headlines. The general feel was all too fitting for the work I was finally ready to begin.

I took a closer look at one of the areas where hidden cash was marked on the map. "In the cellar where the first light socket is just past our refrigerator. Direct line from the light to the top of the north wall. Under some mortar cement, there are 2 tinfoil packages with $xx,xxx (see map - mound of cement xx)." The first thing I noticed was the color of the cement in the area marked on the map. It was a slightly lighter shade than the rest of the parged walls. Secondly, an electrical cable ran along the top of the wall covered in dried mortar mix. It appeared someone patched this area in a hurry and didn't clean up the mortar drippings. I set up my ladder and began inspecting the top of the wall and the newer mortar patch. Using my camera system, I was able to find a gap between the new and old mortar at the very top of the wall. The camera head squeezed into the crack and allowed me to investigate six inches down. I saw nothing but mortar and stone. It was time to remove some of the top layers of mortar to see what was underneath. I tapped on the mortar, but it sounded solid, with no apparent voids where cash could be hidden. I used a hammer and chisel to slowly remove the top layer of mortar and fieldstone. Pulling two 10 lbs. stones from the top of the wall, I tapped on the next wall layer to see if there was possibly a void under the newly exposed mortar. All the newer-looking mortar was removed, and the remaining wall was still sounding solid. We decided to move on to the next location. May explained that her father was not exactly a handyman, and she couldn't imagine him being able to do what I had already done to the wall so far. Although I could see this area was disturbed in the past, I was satisfied that the hidden cash was no longer in this location.

While cleaning up the room and moving my gear to the north wall, my mind was running through the notes I read earlier, and my eyes were constantly scanning the area for something out of place. Along the centerline of the structure, I was admiring the historic red brick piers where they fit snugly under the main carry beam. One of the columns had a funny protrusion at the top. I reached up to touch the edge, and it moved. I pulled the item down and blew off almost a century of dust. It was paper. In big black letters, I could read, "National Bank." And the year "1931." This was a bank check with May's grandfather's signature on the bottom. It was dated in the same timeframe of the house being built, so could it possibly be the deposit put down upon purchasing this house? Whatever this check was for, it was unique enough for May's grandfather to set it aside. I felt this was a representative location to place the check that made this home possible. He chose to put it on a foundational pier that would physically and figuratively support the next chapter of his life. What a cool thing to find and an essential part of May's family history.

Moving on to another map location. "In cellar, - just at bottom of stairs turn right to wall (north wall) and at top of wall where 2 mounds of cement set; dig out theses mounds and there is $xx,xxx and $xx,xxx (can't remember exactly how much)." This location was already examined by a contractor May hired in the past. He chopped out the top layer of mortar and came up empty-handed. I saw two mounds of cement, but they were loose and sitting on top of the wall. There were no "xx" marks on these mounds either. Moving over one floor joist space, I saw a pile next to the window. This mound clearly has not been disturbed in recent years as it was covered in construction debris and spider webs. I used a pry bar to lift the edge of the mound. My headlamp was shining directly into the underside of the mortar mound, and I could see the original wall top was undisturbed. We did one last scan of the area with my camera system and then the metal detector. This area was a bust.

We arrive at the third and final lower-level location marked on the map. "In cellar – window on south wall – just to the right of window and at top of wall (note little xx marks on bricks), chop out these little bricks. There is $xx,xxx.". Like the first location, I could see a slight mortar color variation in the suspect area compared to the rest of the wall. The only thing that was missing from the map was the window. Sometime after the map was drawn, the window on the south wall was removed. Cinder Blocks and bricks remain in the old window space, so I can still use this piece of the puzzle. Mortar droppings on the pipes along the wall told me we were in the correct spot. I checked the cavity and behind the blocked-up window with my snake camera. Moving the camera slowly into any space I could find that was at least the size of a pencil eraser. More spider webs and construction debris, but still no tinfoil or cash. I removed the top layer of mortar and stone just to be sure nothing was hidden underneath.

May and I discussed all the possibilities of where the hidden cash could have gone. May's father was meticulous in his writings and drawing of the basement. It seemed unlikely that he would not have updated the map and notes if he had removed the cash. Unless he withdrew the money himself and something prevented him from updating the map just before his death. Another possibility could have been the construction workers who removed and blocked up the missing window. It is doubtful they would have seen the map stashed in May's parents' belongings, but they could have seen the "mounds of concrete" or "bricks" that were out-of-place compared to the rest of the structure. Let's say past construction workers did stumble upon one of the hidden cash locations. A keen eye could have scoured all of the walls and likely found the other two locations that didn't quite fit in with their surroundings. A third possibility could have been another family member or friend who knew about the map and cleaned out the stash. I would love to think someone’s family member wouldn’t steal, but it’s always a possibility. As America’s trusted voice on finance, Dave Ramsey, says, “there's crazy in every family. If there's none in yours, it's probably YOU.”

While I'm here, I thought I should check the rest of the basement for hiding spots. Searching one of the rooms, I slipped the camera down behind a wall. There were a few objects here and there, but I was able to identify most of them on my camera and knew they were of no value to May. Until I saw an oval object covered in dust. It could have been trash, but it was worth investigating further simply because I could not identify it. I pushed my hand through the cobwebs and reached for the object wedged about halfway down the wall. I got my hand around the thing and realized it was squishy. I pulled it from behind the wall, and as soon as the light hit the object for the first time in decades, I knew what it was! A purse! I alerted May of the find. We pushed on the clasp to see the contents inside. The hope was a purse full of cash hidden behind the wall, but it was hair accessories, to our surprise. Some identifiable contents included a heart-on-a-bow hair barrette, ribbon, and vintage rubber hair curlers. Our best guess at the age of these lost or discarded styling accessories was the 1940s-1950s. May thinks it was something left behind by her mother.

My final task was to mix up some patch mortar and cover the areas I chipped out during my investigation. I gathered all my tools and materials; broom swept where I chipped and loaded my car to leave. I was chatting with May about her father's map when she mentioned some other places where the money used to be hidden on the main level of the house. Well, that got my attention! "Wait… There are other places your father wrote about hiding money?" May explained that she and her organizer had already checked several places where the father hid smaller amounts of money, but he marked these locations off the list as "emptied." May said she double-checked all the sites and found nothing. Curious, I asked if I could see these locations before leaving the property.

May and I walked up the flights of stairs to the main floor for one last task of the day – triple-check the hiding spots. As soon as we opened the door to the main floor, I stepped back in time once again. Old paint, wallpaper, brightly colored tile in the bathroom, even the appliances were from the 80s! May had the remaining task of cleaning out a near-century of family belongings. Moving around the unused living space was tight as boxes were packed in every room. We squeezed into the kitchen, where May pointed to the pantry and told me this was one of the places her father admitted to hiding cash. "In the top of the pantry behind the molding, you will find $x,xxx hidden."

May clarified once again that she and the hired organizer had already verified this, and the other hiding spots no longer contained hidden cash. A second fact worth mentioning - May's father, in keeping with his meticulous notes, drew a line through this location and most of the others, writing "emptied." With the odds stacked against me finding anything, my main reason for triple-checking these locations is to learn about May's father's habits. Closely examining the areas worthy of concealing hard-earned cash gives me some insight for future treasure hunts. I wanted to see the molding and the surrounding wall. Were there pry marks, missing nails, scuffed paint – was there anything that would have tipped me off if I were naturally checking this location for clues. The pantry was a very shallow space with shelving the entire closet depth, not leaving much clearance to stick my head inside and check it out with my own eyes.

Touch is critical in my line of work because texture is a valuable clue when treasure hunting. I reached up and inside the pantry in the location May pointed out. I felt the molding and a decent gap where it should have been contacting the plaster wall. Wires from the doorbell and other kitchen accessories ran vertically down the inside corner of the pantry. I used my fingers to follow these as far as I could reach. Where the gap between the molding and wall intersected with the wires, I felt something out-of-place. To the ordinary finger, this could have been mistaken for the fasteners used to keep the wiring in place along the wall or even protruding pieces of the old crumbling plaster wall. I kept touching and tracing the object until I was able to get my fingernail behind it. At that moment, I knew the item was not construction materials and was something out of place. I repositioned my arm and adjusted my already awkward stance to reach into the tight overhead space. Finally, a better grip on the object. I squeezed the thing between my pointer finger and thumb and pulled. The initial resistance of the object had me rethinking the possibility of being a part of the molding or wiring. It was really jammed in there.

The item suddenly freed with a "pop." I lowered the article to eye level and saw a shiny package about the size of a small pack of note cards. Immediately I thought back to the map and notes from earlier in the day. "There are 2 tinfoil packages with $xx,xxx." I looked at May to see if she was thinking the same thing. I felt the rush of adrenaline, knowing the new door that would be opened if this turned out to be a package of hidden cash. May was white as a ghost with a puzzled look on her face. "I checked that area," she said. "I used a ladder to climb up there and looked thoroughly. My organizer did the same thing. We both checked this area, so I don't understand." For a moment, I think May thought it was a magic trick. I looked back at her and said, "I think it's a package of money." In disbelief, we walked over to the table and took a closer look at the packaging. It was wrapped just like a Christmas present - the tinfoil sheet was perfectly cut to conceal the contents. Each corner of tinfoil was carefully folded over and tucked away. I peeled a corner and exposed green paper. I tore open the package to get a better look.

Fanning the crisp bills, they were $1,000 in $100 denominations! All notes were from the 1950s except for a single 1977. With the average circulation lifespan of a $100 bill being just over 20 years, it's safe to say these hidden Benjamins were from another era. I grabbed a flashlight and sprinted back to the closet to see if anything else was stuffed in the hiding spot. The only thing that remained was flakes of tinfoil. The fragments were stuck in the bottom portion of the molding, where the trim was nailed to the plaster wall. From the number of leftover tinfoil flakes, dad must have added and removed multiple packages. We regained our composure and looked at the next location on the map.

May and I walked to a second location where her father had a false bottom to a wall-built laundry drawer. I removed the base and learned quite a bit about how he cleverly turned this innocent drawer into a bank vault. Examining the interior of the drawer space, I noticed the wall paneling in the very back of the area was loose. I shifted the panel, searching the best I could with my light and sense of touch but turned up nothing of interest. I was ultimately out of time and decided this was a good stopping point. No doubt, this concealed wall space and the other "emptied" location on May's map require further investigation, but that will have to be another story for another time. May and I left the property with newfound excitement.

After searching most of the day, the final 10 minutes reconnected May with her late father through the hidden money he left behind. It's funny how treasure hunts transition to a journey into one's family history. Through the heirloom items, I found within a matter of hours, May was reconnected with her late grandfather through his bank checks from the early part of the century. She was reconnected to her late mother through her hair accessory purse from the middle part of the century. And she was reconnected with her father through his hidden cash from the later part of the century. I can only hope to return to this property and find out what other heirlooms are waiting to be discovered.

​