01/17/2026
WARNING, LONG POST!
I received a text from an unknown number asking if I am the guy who finds things. His co-worker lost a cell phone in a retention pond. I started asking questions like, "How deep is the pond?" He said 4 - 5 feet deep. He then put me in touch with Danyl.
Danyl said that her son was using her phone and received some very upsetting news. He threw her phone & it ended up in the pond. Turns out Danyl is also a 1st responder in Ventnor. Our schedules weren’t lining up. We were able to meet 2 weeks later. I told her it was a slim chance that a phone underwater that long would still work. She wanted to try, since there were pictures on it that weren't backed up.
Picture 1 shows the pond. I put on my chest waders and walked into the pond. After a few feet, I turned around and exited the pond. I said that I couldn’t search the pond on foot because there were too many roots, stumps, and vines under the water. A major tripping hazard. If I tripped in chest-deep water, my waders would fill up and possibly get submerged.
I asked if I could use her nearby kayak. She said yes and retrieved it for me. After loading myself & my gear, I said I am probably going to drown anyway, as I was only on a kayak once before.
I launched and immediately realized it wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought. Every time I swung my metal detector, it sent the kayak in a different direction. The water is about 4 feet deep, and the paddle is about 5 feet long. I started jamming the paddle into the muck, swinging my detector, keeping the paddle a few feet away, and repeating the process. After a while, I realized I was getting no metal hits. You would think I would be finding beer or soda cans, bottle caps, or fishing gear.
Still no sounds after 2.5 hours of searching. I said to myself, one more trip up and back, as I was doing a grid pattern. On the way up I finally got a loud hit. It was fairly large. I tried to use my scoop to retrieve the item. But because of the roots & vines, I couldn’t get it. Danyl said she had been searching for it since it was lost while she was magnet fishing on her kayak. I didn’t want to move, so I asked if there was a way she could bring me the magnet. She went and got another kayak. When she got to me, she tried several times to fish it out. I had her move away a little & give me the magnet. On my first drop, I felt it click on. I gave her the rope and told her to bring up her phone.
We both were amazed when we saw it was her phone. When we got back to the shore, I put the phone on a table leaning upright with the charging port down in direct sunlight to start the drying process. I told her not to power it on or charge it for at least a week. When the sun went down, to get a Tupperware bowl & put an inch of rice on the bottom. Then place her phone on the rice, and then cover the phone with even more rice. Leave it in the rice for at least 1 week.
After a week, she plugged in the charger, and it lit up with a message, water detected. She contacted me, and I said to put it back in the rice for another week. 10 days later, she texted me. With the message that it was from the phone we rescued.
All I could say was wow. I love helping people, but helping another 1st responder is extra special. She is a paid firefighter with 20ish years in. The person who originally contacted me was her captain. We shared a lot of stories.
I love my hobby!!
