Ill give it a try....i live near fort wayne, IN. My hunting buddies and I have been trying to think of a place to hunt Sunday morning anyway. If you have had no takers let me know!!
PM sent, this will be awesome... I am 99% sure that it is still there. Of course a detectorist could have found it, but I believe it to still be there.
If you believe that the travel and cost is worth the chance to find the ring, by all means, I believe it to be there and would not send you on a wild goose chase.
If you and your buddies were to go slow, I can narrow this down to a 20 ft wide strip, but I believe it will be fairly close to a tree. If I was there, and it is there, I think that I could locate the ring within 20 minutes.
There is a small chance that the ring is no longer there, just keep that in your mind. As stated, I wouldn't send you on a goose chase, just not my style.
The good news also is that this particular place was also part of the underground railroad to free slaves to the north. At that time, there was a mill there, and people came from far and wide to do business for flour etc. Likewise, this area is a popular swimming hole, and park like area, so old coins wouldn't be surprising as well.
Since you're in town, I can also show you another place where I went to school in the early/mid 1970's. It is now an empty lot, but the chances for silver and other old coins is very high there as well. I figure if you're already in town and want to make a day of it, you could hit this place too.
Just let me know Supra! It will be awesome to see that you found it, and hopefully be enough to make your trip worth it monetarily.
You are kind to offer to return it, and that would be awesome. But, just knowing that someone in the hobby found it, and to see them have it would be enough for me. As stated I am 99% sure that it is still there, and would love to see this work out for you in the end!