Good samaritan gets screwed by thief

After handing the two 9kt wedding rings into the lifeguards believing they would do the right thing and do what they said e.g. Handing to police...... I went down today to see if the owners of the rings turned up but they told me the rings were taken to police station ( small town with 2 police ) so i went to give the police my details incase no owners could be found but was told point blank NO rings had been handed in over the last 2 days ??????? Luckily one of the police officers was the father of said lifeguard who supposedly handed them in so he said he would follow it up. I gave them a picture of the rings with a timestamp on it to prove i had found them a few days ago.
I went back to see lifeguards only to be told they had definately been handed in but saw the look on the face when i let them know i had JUST been to the police and they know nothing about it. I calmly told them if nobody claims them they technically are mine and if the rings don't show up i will pursue it as a theft....
Grrrrr next time i will take rings etc DIRECTLY to the police myself
(Puf puf puf) end rant haha

Pretty poor effort on behalf of the lifeguards. Maybe they should have got you to take them to the police direct if they couldnt be bothered doing it.
Im guessing the rings could have been there for a long time, so id think you will end up getting them back anyway (3 months i believe it is).

Yeah they definately couldn't be bothered, straight into their own pocket instead. They know now that i'm still on the case and if they don't magically turn up should i pursue it as a theft?

I know It's a sad indictment on our society but I never hand anything to a 'third' person now! Take it to the Police Station yourself as you have to sign as the finder. If you don't sign as the finder you have no claim on the item if the owner isn't found. I've had poor experiences with security officers at shopping centres and lifesavers on one of our local beach. It's a pity!!!!

True, i must be too trusting.... Gold does funny things to people i guess ( even if it is only 9kt )

9cwt only partly corrupts people. Now 24cwt that goes to their soul!!!!!!

Yep it's pretty sad, it's probably best to either hand it in yourself or just keep it, I know that sounds selfish but the reality of finding the owner on an unmarked semi-valuable piece of jewellery is pretty slim to begin with. I have some low end sterling that I've been keeping for the smelter

I can just imaging the lifeguard now...

Hey Max,
There are a few that will take advantage of detectorists trying to do the right thing.
I haven't been treasure hunting for some time now and I should really get out more often but be aware of the little girl that comes up and asks have you found any thing yet and then showing your spoils thinking you are unawares of anything at foul play. Five minutes later a women will turn up and ask have you found a ring described down to the tee and making off with ring. It has happened, so best to keep anything of value to yourself and if you come across a valuable item take it to a police station and go thru the correct process.
There are crooks out there and will try and get away with anything.
9cts I wouldn't worry to much about, but if it feels and looks expensive then proceed.


This the very first haul of coins detected back in 1987, not many doing it so heaps around.


A few rings, not my hand but my young fellas hand.
I have 2 Excals now and really should get out more often but this gold thing has a grip on me.
Cheers and good luck on future hunts
Brad....

Oh and Max, Spiders, curse them all aarrrghhhh
Brad.

Nice collection there Brad, well done.

My presssshussss..... Hims not gettink my presshusss haha spot on nugget
Wow i will look out for the " little girl " con now haha

Damn i hate learning the hard way :/

That's an impressive haul brad

That's a while back when I was a bit slimmer and could fit into a wet suit.
Cheers
Brad...

RING UPDATE !!
I got a text from the lifeguards today to tell me they found the ' missing ' rings and have now taken them to the cops

It's a shame that some of the most trusted professions aren't so trust worthy after all... Glad they ended up doing the right thing

Yeah only cos i wouldn't let the issue go. :/ i don't hold a grudge with them as i might be drowning one day and need rescue...

Very interesting guys, it reminds me of an incident when I was a lad.
Dad had a friend who was an airline pilot, his wife running her fingers through the sand on a north coast beach came up with an expensive looking 18 ct sapphire ring surrounded with diamonds, they handed it in to police and were told if it wasn't claimed within a set time it was theirs.
Some time later they rang the police station and were told the ring had been collected but the owner did not want to leave details or even left a thank you note, for such an expensive ring they thought it was a bit strange.
Once again they visited the north coast and were invited to one of those "high brow" do's, the guy bumped into the policeman they had handed the ring in to and he and his wife were introduced to the policemans wife and guess what she was wearing??
"Be sure your sins will find you out"
May be the best way to find an owner is to place an add on a public notice board close to where you found the item with a vague discription eg, found one gold ring on such a date. Inform the police you have done that and maybe they will be less likely to go missing.

This is probably taking the law into your own hands a but makes people think twice.

All said, I found a silver ring up at Coloundra and handed it into police and no one claimed it and six months later it was returned to me.

Ok here's the update folks, i got the rings back from the police after the standard 60day waiting period woooohoooo and the best part was on closer inspection the men's ring has 750 2T1132BB and the ladies ring with the "diamond" has 375 on it... I found the 750 is 18ct ;D ( i thought it was 375 ) and the ladies 375 is 9ct.. Any idea what the other numbers on the men's ring mean??

Nice... The good samaritan gets his just rewards

madmax3022 said:

After handing the two 9kt wedding rings into the lifeguards believing they would do the right thing and do what they said e.g. Handing to police...... I went down today to see if the owners of the rings turned up but they told me the rings were taken to police station ( small town with 2 police ) so i went to give the police my details incase no owners could be found but was told point blank NO rings had been handed in over the last 2 days ??????? Luckily one of the police officers was the father of said lifeguard who supposedly handed them in so he said he would follow it up. I gave them a picture of the rings with a timestamp on it to prove i had found them a few days ago.
I went back to see lifeguards only to be told they had definately been handed in but saw the look on the face when i let them know i had JUST been to the police and they know nothing about it. I calmly told them if nobody claims them they technically are mine and if the rings don't show up i will pursue it as a theft....
Grrrrr next time i will take rings etc DIRECTLY to the police myself
(Puf puf puf) end rant haha

Click to expand...

Yep - if you hand them in to the police and they are unclaimed then after a statuary period you become the legal owner. Many people do not know that there is a crime in every Australian State of "Stealing by Finding" or similar wording. Hand it in - wait the time - and own it.

well done madmax

CASPER