On Thanksgiving, I noticed something was amiss, but I thought it was just a reaction to my mom’s cigarette smoking since I had brought her over for Thanksgiving Dinner. The following day I went detecting and I knew I was feeling something more than a reaction to cigarette smoke. I got tested on Saturday and found out on Sunday that I was positive for Covid. (I felt like a truck hit me for about 7-8 days! 
) I missed nearly 3 weeks of work, but I was able to return 3 days before school let out for the holiday break. On my first day back at work, the School Resource Officer asks me if my detector can pick up a bracelet. I told him that detectors have a hard time picking them up if they’re just a chain. He then tells me the story of one of the cheerleaders in school that had lost a very expensive $800 bracelet the prior week. The upset father came in and tried to find the bracelet along with the daughter, the mother, the officer and a custodian in the practice area of the school field that they used. The area they were practicing in is roughly 30’x10’ and a concrete walkway runs along it. They searched all over this area on that day and it was not found.
At some point, early the next day (Thursday), nearly a week after its loss, I am walking along the walkway looking out into the field remembering the lost bracelet when I catch the glimmer of gold. I stop in my tracks and walk towards it thinking it was probably going to be foil. (“No way that bracelet is still going to be out there after a week and after people looked for it” I thought). I get to it and notice a gold bracelet bunched up into a small pile. I pick it up and the first thing I thought was “this can’t be real” due to the feel and sound of the bracelet. I didn’t see any markings anywhere on it as well. I walk to my office and ask the school officer if the parent had given a description of the bracelet as I had found one. I told him I didn’t think it was gold as I show it to him, but he doesn’t believe what I had found could possibly be the bracelet as the parent said it “cost almost $800”. So thinking the bracelet was fake and the Officer not believing it was the lost bracelet due to its “unsubstantial size”, it goes into my drawer waiting for someone to claim it.
Last Friday, after nearly 3 months of sitting in my desk, I decided to take the bracelet home for a junk jewelry box that my daughter has for her daughter. Before I give it to her, I run a magnet on it and nothing.
I then take out my jeweler’s loupe glasses and examine the bracelet carefully. Unmistakably on the closure I find a tiny “585” indicating 14K! BINGO!!!
I then weigh it and it comes in at 13.3 grs. – about $430 melt value. I was now sure this was probably the cheerleader’s lost bracelet. It was now time to try and track the cheerleader down and return her bracelet.
Yesterday, I spoke with the officer and after nearly 3 months he couldn’t recall who the student was and no longer had the father’s contact information. I then contacted the cheerleading sponsor to see if she knew anything about the lost bracelet. After school, I see the group of cheerleaders as I am going to my truck and ask them loudly “Did any of you lose a bracelet in December?”. After a moment, one of them pops out and says “I lost an anklet”. I then give her a funny look
and ask her to describe it to me. She tells me “It has a dolphin, a heart and elephant”. “Follow me to my office” I tell her. Back in my office I give it to her and she seemed very excited despite the mask covering. I ask her about it and she tells me it was a “Fifteen’s present” from her mother.
Today, I called the student’s parents since she is 16 years old for permission to use the picture of the student for this story. The mom was so unbelievably grateful for the return of the bracelet. She told me how she had put it on lay-away and made payments on it until she paid it off and was able to give it to the daughter as a present for her “Fifteen's Birthday”. The father overheard the conversation and then he got on the phone to profusely thank me for its return and explained to me how hard the mother had worked for it to be able to give it to their daughter. The humility these folks had was unbelievably humbling to me and will be difficult to forget. The end.
) I missed nearly 3 weeks of work, but I was able to return 3 days before school let out for the holiday break. On my first day back at work, the School Resource Officer asks me if my detector can pick up a bracelet. I told him that detectors have a hard time picking them up if they’re just a chain. He then tells me the story of one of the cheerleaders in school that had lost a very expensive $800 bracelet the prior week. The upset father came in and tried to find the bracelet along with the daughter, the mother, the officer and a custodian in the practice area of the school field that they used. The area they were practicing in is roughly 30’x10’ and a concrete walkway runs along it. They searched all over this area on that day and it was not found. At some point, early the next day (Thursday), nearly a week after its loss, I am walking along the walkway looking out into the field remembering the lost bracelet when I catch the glimmer of gold. I stop in my tracks and walk towards it thinking it was probably going to be foil. (“No way that bracelet is still going to be out there after a week and after people looked for it” I thought). I get to it and notice a gold bracelet bunched up into a small pile. I pick it up and the first thing I thought was “this can’t be real” due to the feel and sound of the bracelet. I didn’t see any markings anywhere on it as well. I walk to my office and ask the school officer if the parent had given a description of the bracelet as I had found one. I told him I didn’t think it was gold as I show it to him, but he doesn’t believe what I had found could possibly be the bracelet as the parent said it “cost almost $800”. So thinking the bracelet was fake and the Officer not believing it was the lost bracelet due to its “unsubstantial size”, it goes into my drawer waiting for someone to claim it.
Last Friday, after nearly 3 months of sitting in my desk, I decided to take the bracelet home for a junk jewelry box that my daughter has for her daughter. Before I give it to her, I run a magnet on it and nothing.
I then take out my jeweler’s loupe glasses and examine the bracelet carefully. Unmistakably on the closure I find a tiny “585” indicating 14K! BINGO!!! I then weigh it and it comes in at 13.3 grs. – about $430 melt value. I was now sure this was probably the cheerleader’s lost bracelet. It was now time to try and track the cheerleader down and return her bracelet. Yesterday, I spoke with the officer and after nearly 3 months he couldn’t recall who the student was and no longer had the father’s contact information. I then contacted the cheerleading sponsor to see if she knew anything about the lost bracelet. After school, I see the group of cheerleaders as I am going to my truck and ask them loudly “Did any of you lose a bracelet in December?”. After a moment, one of them pops out and says “I lost an anklet”. I then give her a funny look
and ask her to describe it to me. She tells me “It has a dolphin, a heart and elephant”. “Follow me to my office” I tell her. Back in my office I give it to her and she seemed very excited despite the mask covering. I ask her about it and she tells me it was a “Fifteen’s present” from her mother. Today, I called the student’s parents since she is 16 years old for permission to use the picture of the student for this story. The mom was so unbelievably grateful for the return of the bracelet. She told me how she had put it on lay-away and made payments on it until she paid it off and was able to give it to the daughter as a present for her “Fifteen's Birthday”. The father overheard the conversation and then he got on the phone to profusely thank me for its return and explained to me how hard the mother had worked for it to be able to give it to their daughter. The humility these folks had was unbelievably humbling to me and will be difficult to forget. The end.
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The pendants on the bracelet are hollow so they make a "fake noise". I've never held anything similar before either. Funny how we tend to get fooled more by the counterfeit junk than to think that the real stuff is fake.
albeit my 10yr old (almost 11) has seen some 
. Like those gold tube earrings that are real gold but hollow.. very deceiving
