Meet the ringmaster of Hilton Head. He’s reunited dozens of beachgoers with lost items

Moye Howard is a treasure hunter who’s not in it for the treasure. As he combs the shores of the Lowcountry with a metal detector for hours on end, he only has one reward in mind: the smiling, relieved face of someone who thought their prized possession was lost forever.

From wedding bands to iPhones, Howard has unearthed dozens of tourists’ belongings from the sand and waters of Hilton Head area beaches. His altruistic hobby began several years back when a beachgoer introduced him to Ringfinders, an online service that connects owners of lost objects with local metal detector operators who are willing to help.

“I was like ‘Man, I’ve got to do that,’” said Howard, who also serves as a probate judge in his hometown of Blackshear, Georgia. “I would love to be able to give back something that someone has lost, that they thought they would never find. To be able to give that back to them, it would be really cool. So that’s how I got started.”

Howard estimates he’s reunited 40 families with rings, jewelry and other sentimental items, about half of which were found on Hilton Head. He sometimes treks hours to the site of a search, whether it’s the Sands Beach in Port Royal, the marshes of Savannah or somewhere down the coast of Florida. When requests come from too far away, Howard enlists the help of other metal detector hobbyists he’s met over the years.

During his family’s annual two-week outing to Hilton Head Island, Howard will typically take on two to three searches while he’s there. If successful, he returns the item in-person or mails it back to a tourist’s home.

“They call me and we can go through the details: Where they lost it, what time they lost it. Did they notice it right when it fell off?” Howard said. “If somebody says, ‘I was in the water and I felt my ring go off right here,’ usually 90% of the time I’m going to find it.”

Now that he’s built a network from the Ringfinders community, Howard finds the majority of his gigs on Facebook. Local groups will recommend his services to visitors mourning lost wedding bands or other misplaced items. Other times, he’ll discover rings on his own and post details online — even if it might take years for the internet to work its magic.

Early this month, Howard created the YouTube channel “Dig It” to document the trials of a local ringmaster: the search, rescue and sometimes-tearful reaction that comes when he hands the item to its rightful owner. His most recent upload follows a quick and successful 3:30 a.m. search for a bronze wedding ring that had seemingly disappeared in the sand of a Sea Pines beach.

“Oh my goodness, you found it,” said Atlanta resident Russell McCain as Howard revealed the lost-and-found wedding band over FaceTime. “I haven’t been sleeping right without it. It’s a weird feeling, not having it.”

Howard said he never requests a reward for his services, although every person he’s ever helped has insisted on giving him one.

‘One of the best feelings’

Nearly all of Howard’s searches unfold in the dead of night, he says — not only because it allows him full range of the beach, but also so he doesn’t have to worry about sunscreen during multi-hour hunts.

At the start of every search, Howard plots out his “grid,” sweeping his metal detector in long, parallel lines across a rectangular area that’s believed to contain the lost item. He digs a small hole with a metal scoop when he hears a signal; if that doesn’t work, a hypersensitive handheld tool called a pinpointer helps him nail down the exact location of a metal object.

The Equinox 800, Howard’s detector of choice, can find metal buried more than 10 inches underground. The machine also works underwater, but its 10-foot submersion abilities are rarely utilized because most rings are lost between the high tide line and low tide line, he says.

Howard’s most expensive return was a $65,000 diamond engagement ring that had slipped off the owner’s finger as she threw a cast net off a dock. He found it buried more than a foot deep in the muddy Savannah marsh.

No matter the price, every found item has a story. It can be an epic, satisfying saga of lost-and-found, like when Howard unearthed an engagement ring that had been lost in the waves just minutes after a couple’s beach proposal. In most cases, they’re also stories of intense nostalgia and emotion, fueled by belongings that have become permanently linked to treasured memories or lost family members. It’s not uncommon for people to tear up as they’re reunited with their once-lost possessions, Howard says.

“Other than leading someone to the Lord, it’s probably one of the best feelings you’ll ever have, because you’re giving back something they’ve thought they lost,” Howard said. “And they’ll get emotional ... and sometimes I get emotional.”

The ringmaster also shared what seems like unconventional advice for Hilton Head beachgoers: If you drop a small metal object in the sand, don’t go digging for it. “You’re not going to find it out there in the middle of the day,” Howard said. “Matter of fact, if you start trying to find it, sometimes you’re going to bury it deeper.”

Instead, the person should note the precise location with a pin on their phone or using a landmark, also noting the time of day and how deep the water was if they were swimming at the time. With those details, Howard or another metal detector owner can typically find the item in minutes.

“People just get so excited,” Howard said, recalling a moment he was wrapped up in a “big ol’ bear hug” after finding a distressed husband’s lost wedding ring. “To see the joy on their face — there’s nothing like it.”