Garner Treasure Hunting Lounge

08/17/2021

I was just contacted on FB by the granddaughter of a WW-II veteran who’s dog tags I found and returned a couple years ago. She’s in England. Click on the story below and scroll down. She posted a photo of him too.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1676523462379963&id=109403005758691

I found these 3 WW-II dog tags in one 1 1/2 hr hunt on Seymour Johnson AFB, NC. The next day I found another. I am using the assistance of Angelo's Angels on the web to help find relatives to return them to. They are a wonderful, free service for returning dog tags to their rightful owners.

03/21/2021

Sadly enough, we found this headstone at a vacant house built in 1820, that is right in the 540 path. The house will be completely wiped out soon.

03/21/2021

Finally got out to hunt a creek near Jordan road, where the 540 hwy is going through. Found a nice piece of Indian pottery and some petrified wood.

03/08/2021

Went with a friend to detect on family land for a couple hours today near New Hill, NC. Near the small cemetery we’re at was a well and bricks from an old home place. The graves indicated that one person died 1876 and the other 1878.

12/06/2020

First time out with the detector in many months yesterday. Back into the woods to the vicinity of the 1840’s house. Found a very old button back and an interesting gear.

11/19/2020

I’m still around . Four months into retirement, I have not been out detecting in many months. As winter sets in, I hope to get out into the woods some with the detector.

10/17/2020

I haven’t been active metal detecting as of late. Waiting for the leaves to fall and water levels to drop in the creeks to explore some old bridge locations.

09/20/2020

Smokey quartz found today in Garner where the new highway is being cut.

09/07/2020

Difficult to capture the beauty of this piece of quartz found in Apex today.

08/22/2020

With the Scuba Tector at the lake today. Pretty much zero visibility made hunting more difficult.

08/05/2020

Found today at a small construction site in Garner.

07/15/2020

Today’s lake finds with the Scuba Tector.

07/02/2020

I retired at Seymour Johnson AFB Fire Department 2 days ago. I have a few locations in the Garner area I wish to explore. It is so hot now and everything is too green, poison-ivy and snake infested to get there, that I will have to wait until the cooler winter months to access. I will be hitting the lakes with the Scuba Tector more frequently though. Keep your eyes out for future posts!

06/29/2020

An oldie, but goodie:

Metal Detecting John Street Dog Attack, October 12, 2018

So here is the story of stories. So Friday I had a whole day to spend metal detecting at my leisure because my wife and kids were out of state. Rare. I usually try to head downtown to the sketchy parts of town to detect because few if any detect there due to danger and crime. When I go there, I pack my 9mm concealed with my license in my wallet, just in case. This time I decided to put a round in the chamber (which I don't usually do) with the safety on. I had a large, boarded up house in mind, only a couple of blocks from the police station. It is abandoned, yet when I drove by, I noticed 2 cars in the back yard near the backyard in-law suite. I parked my car on John Street, across the street and down away from the house, got out and walked the dirt drive on the side of the house which led to the backyard suite where the cars were parked. A pit bull/bulldog was tied up to a frayed rope and chain staked in the ground and a 12-13 year old African American girl was standing at the car. I introduced myself from about 20 feet away and asked of they owned the home. She said yes and I asked if her dad was there so I could ask him a question (permission to detect the side yard). The dog is barking madly, pulling on the rope/chain, clearly salivating on the ground. She went in to get him. There I am standing alone, looking that dog in the eye from 20 feet away, going crazy. The dog had a body harness on. I am waiting and waiting for the fella to come out. Five minutes or so goes by and I am looking at that dog and watching the frayed rope closely, thinking that I am in a world of hurt if that breaks, because that dog wants some white-meat bad. Suddenly, the chest part of the harness breaks and I see the dog whip his head around, looking at the abdomen part of the harness, with freedom in sight. I said oh crap, the harness broke, turned around and ran to the front of the house and reached the sidewalk. As I turned around, I see the dog running at me full bore! I pulled my 9mm out and took a stance with the weapon pointed at it's chest, prepared to fire. The dog suddenly stopped about 2 feet from me and growled. I had that gun right in his face and yelled, "Back, back! Sir, sir!" calling for the owner who never showed. The girl was nowhere in sight either. We had a standoff for about 1 minute. Then the dog slowly turned and started walking away and I backed off to a position across the street at the sidewalk. The dog charged me again, full blast and we ended up in the same position, gun to nose, at the edge of the street. Cars were passing by and I am thinking this is crazy. The girl showed on the dirt drive across the street and screamed, "Don't shoot my dog, don't kill my dog!". I told her that if he tries to bite me I will have to shoot and to get her dad and call your dog! Her dad finally comes running from behind the house yelling at the dog with a large rope in his hand. Here I am, gun pointed at the dog's face only 1-2 feet away. As soon as he ran into the street, the dog ran into and down the street, traffic stopping both directions. He finally caught the dog and got the rope around his neck. He said he will be right back as he took the dog to the rear of the house. He then showed up, put 2 chairs out on the front porch and we talked. He apologized and said thank you for not shooting his dog. I stated that he is a great dog for protection, and we talked about 20 minutes. Nice conversation, as my legs finally stopped shaking. He said, "What question were you going to ask?". I said I was going to ask permission to metal detect his side yard, but now I really wasn't in the mood! Just another day of detecting in the hood, one that I will not soon for forget

06/27/2020

Today’s finds from the lake with the Scuba Tector

06/14/2020

Today’s finds with the Scuba Tector at the lake.

06/10/2020

06/07/2020

05/26/2020

I found where an old house stood in Turner Farms where we live, based on these finds. A Gene Autry and Kit Carson pistol (parts) and a 1956 Raleigh license plate. Interesting.

05/25/2020

pyrite extracted from the mother rock

05/24/2020

Pyrite cubes found in Johnston County today.....fill rocks

05/13/2020

05/11/2020

Found this old flat button in Garner today.....probably early 1900’s or late 1800’s. About the size of a nickel.

04/27/2020

Went back to the woods where I found the wallet and found these keys near the backpack location. Not sure how I missed them last time with the detector. Those fellers must have been pretty toasted is my guess.

04/17/2020

Just turned everything over to a Wake Country Sheriff

04/16/2020

Finally, and end to the mystery. I just called Dan's number again and he picked up. He sounded a bit toasted perhaps, but I could be wrong. Anyway, I asked him about his wallet that I had found and how it came to be where it was found when I described the location. I was a little let down, because he was not excited that I had just found his stuff, but I listened. When he was going to NC State, they would go to the annual Triangle Beach Festival that was held on a farm, apparently off of New Bethel Church Rd, which butts up to the forested area where the items were found. He said he went with some friends and their black backpack just turned up missing. It sounds like there was lots of drinking which accounts for weak recollection....the vibes I was getting. He just figured it was gone. No excitement. No amazement. No desire for me to send the items to him. He said I can just destroy the items, which I will do. So, instead of a joyous reunion, it turned out that he didn't much care. Sad ending, no real excitement. End of story. Back to the hunt! Thanks for all who were interested and helped end this mystery.

04/16/2020

04/16/2020

If Dan does not contact me soon regarding his lost wallet, I will give the items to a sheriff who lives in our neighborhood. There might just be more to this story than meets the eye. I have spoken with his dad 4 or 5 days ago who said he would tell his son and give him my phone number. No call. I have left a message on Dan's phone yesterday, no call. I have posted a message and pictures on Dan's FB page, no response. If it was my wallet, I would call the finder ASAP and be very excited. This is not happening. I will give it another week of trying to make contact. If no luck, I will visit the sheriff. The mystery deepens.

04/16/2020

Here is his FB photo. This is positively him.

04/15/2020

Just contacted by a resident of Arab, Alabama, who knows that Daniel Forsythe. She spoke with him and he had never been to NC. I think I may have been wrong. Here is a picture of the driver license. If there are any mystery sleuths out there, please help me track him down!

04/11/2020

04/07/2020

Went back to where I found the wallet and reconned the immediate area more thoroughly. With metal detector humming, found this set of keys and more remnants of the wallet. Also found an old backpack near. The backstory should be interesting when I track this feller down!

04/06/2020

I have contacted the Arab, AL, police department to reach out to the owner of these items I found with my metal detector the other day. They will reach out to him with my contact information!

04/04/2020

Restored iron items I have recently found.

04/04/2020

I was metal detecting the woods near the 1840's house. I took a different route that I had not detected before, deep in the woods. I received a good signal and out pops a cell phone. Under the phone were all of the cards. I rand the detector over the area again and found the house key. I have found him, I think, on FB and have sent him a friend's request. I have searched and searched the net for a phone number, but all are pay sites, so scrap that. It may take some time, but I will eventually get these back to him. Here is a photo of him. He lives in Arab, AL, but is from TN. This looks like him to me. His DL photo is from 2004.....quite a few years have gone by. When I get in contact, I will share the reunion for sure.