Some may remember a popular heart-wrenching SooToday article written in the midst of the COVID pandemic in Jan. of 2021 titled, "Border closure taking an emotional toll on local married couple."
Stuart and Penny Levine met online nearly 22 years ago. He was from Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., and she was from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. The pair quickly grew into the best of friends. They fell in love an international border apart, but forever united in marriage on May 16, 2018.
Soon thereafter, precautionary measures aimed at reducing the spread of COVID led to the United States-Canada border shutdown.
Mrs. Levine was on the other side of the St Marys River when diagnosed with cancer. Mr. Levine could not cross the border. "In sickness, and in health," Levine was unable to be by his ill bride's side.
"We kept in contact only by phone and internet," he said. "Thank goodness for the internet."
Lonely and deeply worried about his wife, Levine had to keep his mind busy just to get through long days and nights without her.
But come Sunday afternoon, he burst out his Clearly Rentals rental apartment in socks to greet Michigan Detectorists Tom Shively and James Stottlemyer.
"I was out here gardening, and I went like that," Levine exclaimed, rapidly flinging his left hand out in the direction of an apple tree. "My wedding ring flew off. Could you please help me find it. I have been looking for two years. I must have looked hundreds of times. Please, please."
The hidden history hunters happened to be in the process of scanning the land with the latest Garrett AT Pro-Metal and Pro-Pointer AT Pinpointing metal detectors at the time.
Little did Levine know, these two relic hunters were no amateurs to the sport. Shively and Stottlemyer have each been featured in American Digger Magazine for outstanding Michigan finds. In the magazine's May/June 2019 edition, Shively talks about finding a Spanish Colonial cross in the autumn of 2017 at an undisclosed location in Central Michigan.
"Dr. Lori Verderame is a well-known antique appraiser on the History Channel," Shively said. "She dated it between 1500 and 1700... possibly Medieval."
Shively made the claim that the Spanish cross could be older than originally thought. Exact determination pends further investigation.
"It could be the oldest artifact ever found in the state of Michigan," Shively added.
Producers from History Channel's "Curse of Oak Island" program have even asked Shively if he would be willing to partake in a future spin-off. This is not a done deal.
Stottlemyer has appeared in the American Digger Magazine several times, himself. He made reference to a Sept. 2021 article called, "A Hero's Lighter."
"I found an old lighter that I was able to return to the family of a World War II veteran," said Stottlemyer, calling the moment one of his favorites in a series of history hunting quests going back to childhood.
Stottlemyer took third place in American Digger's 2019/20 Freelance Writers Freedom Award.
"My article was called, 'Mysteries of the Mill,' which talked about a historical paper mill that I have been excavating for the past four years, and how it operated," he said.
Stottlemyer even searched the property of an abandoned mental institution located downstate. He departed with old coins and a silver pin dating back to the American Civil War.
"I love finding war-related artifacts," he said, trailing off into stories revolving around the numerous American Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I, and World War II objects he has found over the years.
Despite such wide-spread success, the treasure hunters wasted no time in helping Levine locate his lost ring. Putting their metal detectors to the ground, Shively listened for the low pitch sound his detector would make when hovering over a small chuck of tungsten. He heard the sound within ten minutes, and quickly deployed Tinkerbell into the soil.
"Did you find it?" Levine asked, wide-eyed and tearful.
"Does it have a Celtic knot design?" Shively asked in response.
It sure did. Shively handed Levine his tungsten treasure. He held the dirty, dulled band up to his heart before comparing it to its replacement.
The wedding band was the find of the day, next to an estimated 200-year-old crucifix found at a nearby location. Stotttlemyer found an orange paint chipped license plate from 1912 in the same undisclosed area. The duo also located the early 20th century skeleton of a toy truck, and late 19th century boot company print plate.
They even found a button dating back to the early 1900s at the homestead of Matt and Sue Anne Wilks.
"Our house has an interesting past," Sue Anne Wilks said. "There was a fight over it that went to the Michigan Supreme Court. A wive's property rights were upheld by the state court."
That was when Wilks invited the relic hunters to search various other historic Cleary Rentals properties, which turned out to be the answer to one of renter Levine's prayers.
"I can finally stop looking," he said. "My wife is going to be so happy."
Levine thanked everyone involved in helping him to locate the ring, but praised God for so much more than returning a cherished piece of tungsten metal.
"Penny is getting better. We just got a great report back," he said, smiling warmly.
Read SooToday article, "Border closure taking an emotional toll on local married couple," written by Journalist Darren Taylor to learn more about Stuart and Penny Levine's unfortunate US-Canada border separation as newly weds.
