Aug. 16 (UPI) — A New Hampshire animal control officer who came across a woman who lost her engagement ring on the beach returned after his shift ended and used his metal detector to locate the item.
The Rye Police Department said Animal Control Officer Bob McGrath was on patrol Saturday when he met Olivia Ireland at Cable Beach, where he regularly patrols to make sure people aren’t bringing their dogs to the humans-only beach.
“I saw the lady near the water with a metal detector, on a busy, busy beach day and thought it was a little odd. Being a person who used metal detectors for most of my life, I went and asked if she was having any luck.
“She told me she had lost her engagement ring on Friday, a ring she had only had one month,” McGrath told Foster’s Daily Democrat.
McGrath, who has been a metal detector hobbyist since 14, offered to come back that evening after his shift with a higher-end detector better suited for salt water.
“I was out there about 9:30 p.m. last night,” he said. “I had a light on my hat and was searching the area when I saw another spotlight approach. It was a man from Nottingham, from the Facebook group called Ring Finders.
“He had also been communicating with Olivia. She definitely was smart to seek out all this help. She did everything right.”
McGrath found the ring under about 6 inches of sand late Saturday night.
“It was late, so I thought I’d call her Sunday morning,” McGrath said. “Someone from one of the groups told her first, and she called me about 11:30 this morning.”
Ireland expressed her gratitude to McGrath, who told her he didn’t want any reward for his help.
“I am still in shock,” Ireland said. “I never knew there were so many caring people willing to help until this happened.
“I never thought, in this vast ocean, that it would be found. I am so grateful to him, to everybody who tried to help. Bob is definitely the superstar of this story.”