City AT I S S U E
FULL METAL RACKET
Lord of the Rings
The Ring Finders CEO Chris Turner uses his metal detector to recover valuables around the Lower Mainland by
Nathan Caddell
“it’s pretty quick,” says Chris Turner. “You get a call, pack your gear and go. You don’t have time to wait.” Turner isn’t a cop or a paramedic or any type of first responder. Instead, his line of work starts with him throwing a metal detector into his car before heading out to various parks, golf courses, beaches and yards across the Lower Mainland. There, he meets up with some one who is often in a full-on panic: they’ve lost a ring and they need help. Turner has been helping people find their valuables for over 27
years, and has run the online directory The Ring Finders for the last 12. The group has representatives all over the world and has returned, collectively, around 8,500 items at a value of over $10 million. Most of the members (including Turner himself) charge customers only on successful finds and ask for whatever they can afford to pay (plus a $25 gas fee depending on the drive). “Most of the time the stigma of a person with a metal detector is that they’re trying to find stuff for themselves,” says Turner, who looks a little like a bigger Robert Downey
TANYA GOEHRING
Chris Turner searches high and low among the rubble for Vancouverites’ valuables.
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StittgenFi
