Will County Historical Research and Recovery Association members are avid hobbyists that spend many hours enjoying the great outdoors and the pursuit of lost treasures and relics.

We find coins both modern and old. Often we find lost jewelry and other articles. Unfortunately much of the time there is no way to identify the owner of a lost item. Occasionally circumstances allow us to reunite a lost treasure with its owner.

If you have lost something and would like our assistance in attempting to recover the item, send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Click on the Find It Services link for additional information.

Other stories here are about WCHRRA members that go out of the way to help out the environment, people, government agencies and other events.

The stories here are about our members and their good deeds.

 Club members, Sharon and Chester, responded to a request to find a lost wedding ring that came through the Find It Services link of the WCHRRA.org website. The email asked if there was a way for someone with a metal detector could come over and look for a ring that was lost in the backyard of their house.

Greg and Deb, the homeowners, had been working in the backyard and some how Deb’s wedding ring set got lost a “couple of years ago” according to Greg. Chester and Sharon offered to try and recover the rings. Greg said that he had rented a metal detector and looked for it but the noises and beeps coming from the machine drove him nuts and were frustrating.

Sharon and Chester met with Greg, determined the approximate area where the ring was lost, “around the tree somewhere” began hunting. Using a grid pattern and digging every signal it took a couple of hours to cover about half the backyard. In the process, numerous coins, a pair of gold earrings, much trash targets and yes, the wedding ring set was found. The rings were found about three inches down and about thirty-five feet away from the tree, five feet from the patio. The rings were 14kt white gold with a half-carat diamond and about a half carat of side stones.

Chester knocked on the backdoor and showed the ring to Greg, who then called his wife, Deb out. Deb seeing the dirt covered rings let a shout of surprise and tears came. She was so happy that she was shaking. She also announced to all that the rings had been lost for over nine years, not two and she never expected to see them again.

It was a fun and rewarding experience for both couples.

WCHRRA club member, Darren recently hunted an old home site property and discovered a piece of personal history for the owner. Here’s the letter that he received.

Dear Darren,

    A very belated Thank You for giving me the crucifix you found. It is very meaningful to me. Some things you maybe interested to know. I believe it to be the cross off my grandmother’s First Communion rosary. That would have been in 1915.

    I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to get it to me. I want to have it made into a necklace.

        Keep hunting!
        Caroline



WCHRRA club member, Bob, got an emergency phone call from his nephew about a lost wedding ring. His nephew was having some landscaping done around his house and the landscaper noticed that his wedding ring was missing. A phone to Uncle Bob and the hunt was on. Bob hunted for several hours without any luck finding the ring. After a short break and some refreshment, Bob decided to make one more attempt at locating the ring. As he was working the area around some newly installed decorative fencing, Bob got a signal at 7”. Thinking that was too deep for a recently lost ring, he was about to walk away but that signal sounded too good to pass up. After pulling up the fence and digging down to the target out pops out the lost wedding ring. Apparently as the landscaper was pounding in the fence stakes the ring came off and caught on the stake and down it went. The day was saved