This modern day treasure hunter helps reunite people with lost items at the Jersey Shore

NEW JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — From lost wedding rings to missing hearing aids, an Ocean County metal detector specialist has been reuniting clients at the Jersey shore with their property for 15 years.

Matt St. Germain is the founder of Jersey Shore Ring Finder. He combs beaches and other gathering spots with his high tech metal detectors to help recover lost metallic items for his clients. He even searches in water.

“My metal detectors — I have three different ones — they are waterproof to 10 [feet] deep and I have one that is waterproof up to 200 feet deep,” he said.

In his more than a decade of work, St. Germain has recovered over 200 objects.

"A lot of times the reward money I get, I will donate portions of it towards different charities,” he said. “So it's more about being able to help somebody and give back a little bit and helping them reunite with their lost item."

Julie Mongoni, from East Falls, is one of the people he’s helped.

Last August, she went to the beach in Atlantic City, took off her three rings to apply sunblock, put them on her lap, started talking with someone and forgot to put the rings back on. She didn't realize until she got home that night that she didn't have them. She contacted St. Germain and he was able to recover two of the three rings buried in the sand.

"The one that he didn't find was the one from my boyfriend, which was a bummer, but luckily a few months later I got a bigger and better engagement ring, so it all worked out,” Mongoni said with a laugh.

Ashley Brandt of Gwynedd Valley and her husband Greg also used the Jersey Shore Ring Finder service after Greg lost his wedding band.

St. Germain found the ring buried in the sand along the coastline of Long Beach island.

“You know, he doesn’t charge anything but we sent him a nice tip for doing that for us,” Ashley said.

St. Germain asks for those who lost valuables outdoors to take photos of the location they think they were lost at. GPS coordinates are helpful but he advises people not to post the location on social media because someone could swoop in with a metal detector and claim the items for themselves.