You can call him the ring finder. This Keys man searches for people’s lost treasures. Gwen Filosa, Miami Herald
Alex Corpion is a Key West treasure hunter.
No, he’s not out in deep water searching for emeralds and gold in shipwrecks. And he isn’t looking to get rich off his finds.
Instead, Corpion, a 43-year-old who was born and raised on the island, wields a metal detector. He roams the beaches almost daily after his plumbing job and also on the weekends in search of missing jewelry and other keepsakes that have disappeared at sea.
Some of those things mean more to their owners than precious stones.
The new detectorists
Nikoline Bohr, 32, a member of the Ring Finders network, with her metal detector at a construction site in Nantucket, Mass., May 17, 2021. As an old outdoor hobby draws new followers, metal detectors are sweeping the country. Maddie Malhotra/The New York Times.
by Alexandra Marvar
(NYT NEWS SERVICE)
.- People have been metal detecting since 1881, when Alexander Graham Bell invented a device to find the bullet lodged in President James Garfield.
But it took several more decades for recreational metal detectors devices that resemble sort of a skillet on the end of a pole, as one newspaper put it in 1927 to develop a serious cult following.
With a metal detector and lots of patience, he reunites lost wedding rings with their owners
If you lost your wedding ring at the beach, this Navy vet is âthe ring finderâ you want to call By Jim Mendoza | April 1, 2021 at 4:26 PM HST - Updated April 1 at 5:05 PM
HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - If you lose your ring in the sand or surf, itâs a good bet Joe Au-Franz can find it. He has the tools â and a terrific track record.
âIâve had tremendous success,â he said.
Since he joined the Ring Finders organization in 2014, the retired Navy veteran has reunited owners with 214 lost engagement and wedding rings, not to mention all kinds of precious jewelry.