Shelby Forbes decided she didn’t need gloves when she and her husband, John, rushed out to feed their horses during a mid-January’s subzero surge. Temperatures were below zero, but she only needed to step outside for a few moments to grab and distribute some hay.
“I thought it would just take me a few minutes,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “I ran out, grabbed some hay and threw it into the feeder. But as I was brushing my coat off, I felt the ring slipping.”
Forbes was wearing her grandmother’s wedding ring that night. Before she could grab it, the ring had slipped off her finger and was lost in the darkness.
“I dropped to my knees and searched the immediate area but didn’t find it,” she said. “My husband came out to help me find it. He even used a metal detector, but he couldn’t either. It was absolutely gone.”
Forbes said she spent the rest of the freezing night “heartsick” and “crying my eyes out.”
She searched again the following day, but there was no sign of the ring.
“I did a Google search for ‘Gillette metal detecting,’ and an article from 2022 popped up,” she said. “That’s how I found Fred Harvey and Dave Hays.”
Metal Detecting Duo
Hays and Harvey have been a metal-detecting duo for three years. They spend most of their summers, usually two or three days a week, outside with their Garrett AT Max metal detectors, sweeping several spots in the Gillette area for lost treasures and whatever else they might turn up.
“It’s kind of like an addiction, but a good addiction,” Hays said. “You might see 10 people with metal detectors out for a day, but they don’t go out to the same places all the time like us. Fred and I get some exercise, grab a couple of water bottles, and might even have lunch while we’re out. It’s a great hobby.”
Harvey, a retired city of Gillette employee, was metal detecting for over 10 years before Hays, a semi-retired owner of several storage units, started joining him on his detecting day trips. The pair have become familiar faces in northern Wyoming and have used their experience to help local businesses with issues that involve finding important metalworks underground.
“We helped the Cam-plex find their water mains and shut-offs in the winter when everything’s under ice,” he said. “The Cam-plex gave us permission to look through the playgrounds and sandboxes during the summer to see what turns up, so they’re happy to have us around.”
Harvey and Hays appeared in a 2022 article published by the Gillette New Record. That’s how Forbes found them.
The duo typically doesn’t do any detecting in winter, but Forbes’ distress moved them to find her family heirloom. They welcomed the opportunity to indulge their hobby and help a neighbor find their lost treasure.
“I found Fred’s Facebook page and messaged him about what happened and asked if they would be willing to come out and help me,” she said. “The rest is history.”
‘Does It Look Like This?’
Later that morning, Hays and Harvey were out on Forbes’s ranch, searching the area where the ring had been lost.
“The area was snow-packed and the horses had been through it, but we got our detectors out and started looking,” Hays said.
Forbes anxiously watched Hays and Harvey sweep the area. Then, she decided to show them a picture of the lost ring so they would know what to look for.
“I thought pulling up a picture would be helpful,” she said. “I tried to show Dave, and he said, ‘No, don’t worry, I know what it looks like.’ I was taken aback, like maybe he thought it was just a generic ring.”
Hays didn’t need to know what the ring looked like. He’d already found it.
“At that moment, I knelt down, picked it up, and handed it to her,” he said. “Then I asked, ‘Does it look like this?’”
Forbes immediately broke into tears of relief and happiness. She had futilely searched the area for hours, and the detecting duo found the lost ring in less than ten minutes.
“I don’t know if they’re hug people, but I gave them both the biggest of hugs,” she said. “It was amazing.”
First Of The Year
Hays marked the wedding ring as “the first ring of 2025.” He and Harvey like to keep a running tally of how many rings and other trinkets they discovered while metal detecting.
“We go to parks, homesteads, and all sorts of places,” he said. “Sometimes we’re out three times a week finding rings, necklaces, earrings, and all sorts of stuff. We don’t count the pull tabs, bottle caps, and bullet shells, but we’ve been doing this for a while and like to keep track of things.”
Last year, Hays and Harvey found 16 rings on their metal-detecting escapades. Some were just vending machine prizes, while others were made of silver and Black Hills gold.
Most of the time, the discoveries are less extraordinary. That’s why their metal detectors only search the top six inches of the ground because it’s not worth digging a foot-deep hole for a single penny.
Many of their spots are secret, so there isn’t a sudden influx of people and metal detectors swamping the areas. It’s not about the objects – it’s not a lucrative hobby – but about enjoying the atmosphere of these areas.
“It’s a fine line,” he said. “You tell everybody that you’ve got a bunch of rings at an old playground or park, and pretty soon, everybody’s coming out of the woodwork, taking all your good spots. A lot of what we find isn’t worth much, and it’s nothing rare. It’s just neat to find.”
Shelby Forbes was thrilled to get her grandmother's wedding ring back after fearing it could be lost for good. Dave Hays and Fred Harvey, avid metal detecting hobbyists, were called in found it quickly. It was a rare instance of being able to return a treasure to the person who lost it. (Courtesy Photo) 
Fred Harvey and Dave Hays with "Teresa the Treasure Hunter" during one of their searches in Gillette. (Courtesy Photo) 
There aren't many places Dave Hays and Fred Harvey won't go with their metal detectors. (Courtesy Photo) 
Shelby Forbes was thrilled to get her grandmother's wedding ring back after fearing it could be lost for good. Dave Hays and Fred Harvey, avid metal detecting hobbyists, were called in found it quickly. It was a rare instance of being able to return a treasure to the person who lost it. (Courtesy Photo)
Finders Not Keepers
Occasionally, something Hays and Harvey turn can be returned to its owner. Hays recalled a recent discovery at the Cam-plex that had a happy ending.
“We found a medallion after the National High School Finals Rodeo,” he said. “It was a really nice piece of metal from Tennessee or someplace back east.”
When they contacted the Cam-plex about the medallion, they determined that only a few people from North Carolina were participating in that year’s finals. Hays and Harvey tracked down the finalist who lost the medallion and mailed it back to them.
Most of the time, the jewelry Hays and Harvey find has no identifying marks that would reveal who lost it. But Hays said if they can return a lost treasure, they always do.
“If we find a class ring with the year and initials in it, you can usually find out who it belongs to by going through old yearbooks,” he said. “Most of the stuff we find is so old you can’t know where or who it came from. If we can find out who lost what we’ve found, we will definitely try.”
Lessons Learned
Winter isn’t a great time for metal detecting. Hays is itching for spring to arrive so he and Harvey can start their next season of sweeping and searching.
Hays and Harvey frequently visit the same places during the summer, meticulously searching them every time. You never know what’s been dropped or lost between sweeps.
“There were 60,000 people in Gillette for the 2024 Pathfinder Camporee,” Hays said. “A lot of coins get misplaced during that time.”
Getting permission is vitally essential for the duo. They don’t trespass during their weekly outings and always ensure the right landowners know when they’re out and about.
Finding Forbes’s wedding ring was different from their usual trips. They spent a chilly January morning indulging themselves and helping someone who needed their expertise.
“She thought it was a long shot but asked, and we both went out there,” Hays said. “I can see why she didn’t want to lose it.”
Forbes said the ring will stay in her jewelry box until she gets it resized.
“The first thing my husband said to me after they found it was, ‘ You are not putting that back on until we can get it resized,’” she said. “I am eternally grateful to Dave and Fred, and I’m still willing to buy them breakfast when they want.”
Hays and Harvey don’t promote their services as professional finders of lost items. Hays said they don’t want to be inundated by “50 people calling every day to check out their yards.”
Nevertheless, they eagerly answer the calls they receive. That made a world of difference to Forbes.
“We don’t charge for anything like that,” Hays said. “We were just happy to help her find that ring.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
