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.

December 2009

We received the following email from Erin and Scott. Scott was out playing snowball catch with their dog after the first big snowfall of the year. While tossing snowballs back and forth, Scott's wedding ring flew off and was lost in the snow. Chester was able to go that Saturday to Bartlett Il and after talking with Scott, he mapped out a grid in the common area of the townhouse complex and was able to find the ring about eight feet from where Scott thought he lost it. It was a great way to start Erin's and Scott's Christmas holiday.

First Email:

Dear helpful Metal Detector / recovery person,
My husband was in our front yard (which is a common area outside our townhouse).  He was playing in the snow and was throwing snowballs and his wedding ring slipped off his finger.  This just happened tonight.  It is a crazy snowstorm out, but we tried and tried to find it with no luck.  We moved some of the snow around, shoveling it up, and even tried to melt it in buckets with hot water. 

We have only been married a year and my husband feels horrible about this.  Is there any way someone could come out and use the metal detector...even with all this snow?  We live in Bartlett, IL. 

Thanks for any help you can give. 
Erin Bracken

Follow Up email:

Dear Chester,
Thank you so much for coming out to save the day!  Thank you for finding my husband's wedding ring.  We feel like you are our Christmas Angel being so kind to come out and find my husband's wedding ring especially in this cold winter weather!

When my husband was playing in the snow with our dog and throwing some snow balls back and forth with me, we never thought the outcome would be that he would lose his wedding ring!  Only having been married a year, he sometimes still isn't used to wearing jewelry--especially a ring.  The cold snow on his hand made it so the ring slipped right off.  We looked and looked for the ring , but we were really worried that the more snow that kept falling would make it a lost cause to find it.  We actually thought we would have to wait until spring for all the snow to melt and even then we thought it would be an unlikely chance that we would find it. 

We are so grateful for your kindness and your willingness to come out and look for the ring!  We are so appreciative that you found it!  It sounds like you and the Will County Historical Research & Recovery Assoc. do some wonderful work for others while doing something you truly enjoy.  Thanks for your "good deed" and we will think of you and your kindness often, especially when looking at Scott's ring!  We also plan to "pay it forward" and make sure that we do good deeds for others.

Thank you,
Erin and Scott Bracken

November 2009

Bob Culver related the story of his hunt for the lost engagement ring during this November meeting. We received the email below about John's fiancée losing her ring while raking leaves. A phone call to Bob was placed and he was able to respond almost immediately. He spent some time looking for the ring and after it was too dark to see anymore Bob and John were about to abandon the hunt when while demonstrating a spare metal detector that Bob had brought along the ring was discover literally right below Bob's coil. Bob's excitement about the find was clearly evident.

First email.

Hello,
My fiancée lost her engagement ring on Saturday while we were raking leaves at our house in Oak Forest.  I have tried using a metal detector on the lawn, but since I am a complete novice, I have had no luck thus far.  I came across your website just now, and I was wondering if there was anything your organization could do to help.  I saw your "Find It Services" tab and immediately wanted to contact you.  As of right now, we believe it could be in one of three locations:  In our front yard, in the bags of leaves, or in a field a few houses away (as we were bagging our leaves, a neighbor saw us and loaned us a large tarp so we could transport the leaves down the street to a forest rather than bagging them all).  My fiancée is beside herself with despair, fearing that all is lost.  Please let me know if there is any way in which you would be willing to help.  Thank you for your time, and I eagerly look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
John Archer

Follow up email.

Chester,

I want to thank you so much for putting me in touch with Bob.  As you may have already heard, he found my fiancée's ring last night in the pitch dark while showing me how to use a spare metal detector he was going to loan me. I can't tell you how happy we are now, and it's thanks to you, Bob, and your entire organization. If there's anything I can ever do for you, please let me know.

Thank you again,

 John Archer

October 2009

We received this email from Eric Bright a police officer for the City of Sandwich Il. He was requesting help in a follow up attempt to recover evidence from a home invasion. Ten members from our club met at the Sandwich Police Dept offices where we were briefed on what happened and the area where the officer wanted us to go over. It was a cold and windy Halloween day. We hunted for about four hours. Although we didn't find the cutting instrument, we did help Officer Bright to demonstrate that the Sandwich Police Dept was still actively investigating the case.

Hello, My Name is Eric Bright, I am a Police Officer employed by the City of Sandwich. I am respectfully requesting your assistance in an evidence recovery effort. We are in search of a cutting instrument used in a home invasion. We hope with your assistance we might recover said item. My contact info... Thank you in advance. Eric Bright

July 2009

Tony Lisy a long time member of WCHRRA recently had discivered a century old brass motorman's button from the Elgin, Aurora and Southern Traction Co. while metal detecting in location on Plainfield Rd. Tony researched the button and after determining its history decided to donate the button to the Fox Valley Trolley Museum. Tony mounted the button, pictures of where he discovered it, along with a map and information on a plaque. He showed off his find and the plaque at July meeting. This is a great way of sharing our hobby with others and showing off a bit of everyday history.

April 2009

The club received a poignant letter from Dr. L. Clark about a sad event that occurred in 1992. A young woman was kidnapped and murdered and her body was dumped in a state park near Yorkville. Dr Clark had sponsored the woman and the family was devesasted. Several articles of her's were not recovery from the man who killed her and may have been on her person when the body was hidden. Dr Clark asked if the club could assist and detect the area around where the young woman body was discovered. She had made contact with the detective and park ranger to let them know she was asking for help from the club to look for the items. We had several members volunteer to look for the items but due to the heavy undergrowth in the area, it was tough hunting and no luck in finding anything.

March 2009

Club member Ron returns a brass Social Security Card to Jamie J. The card belonged to Jamie's great great Uncle George H, who was the original homesteader of the propert Jamie's family now owns. It consists of 240 acres in Earlsboro, Ok.

Ron and his son obtained permission to hunt the property and the Social Security card was found there. It was serendipitous that Jamie was there while Ron was hunting and the card was a total surprise to her. Jamie is currently working on a tracing the family's genealogy and this is an unexpected treasure.

  Ron and Jamie holding Great Great Uncle George's brass Social Security Card.

Feb 2008

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.

May 2007

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