Two Cartier rings worth thousands of dollars vanished from Tara Davis-Woodhall’s backyard. She had little hope of seeing them again until a metal detectorist showed up.

It all started with a phone call to Ed Rogers, a Kansas City-based metal detecting specialist. He was asked to search the backyard of a couple who had lost two gold rings. What Rogers didn’t know was that the owners were Olympic champions Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall.

The search began while the couple was hosting a party, turning the backyard into an unusual treasure-hunting scene. Guests gathered around as Rogers moved across the grass with his detector, waiting for that telltale signal. He didn’t have to wait long.

According to his RingFinders.com profile, Rogers found the first ring within five minutes. About 20 minutes later, he located the second. But even after returning home, he still had no idea whose jewelry he had just recovered.

“I had no idea that she was a gold medalist. I didn’t have any idea that he was a gold medalist.” Rogers revealed to The Kansas City Star. “I didn’t know any of that until after the fact… I had no idea they were married.”

But how did Tara Davis-Woodhall lose those rings?

Davis-Woodhall told Rogers that three rings had flown from her finger while she was tossing a grapefruit into the yard for a deer. The couple managed to recover one themselves, but two Cartier pieces remained buried somewhere in the backyard.

The missing jewelry came from Cartier’s famous Love collection and was reportedly worth more than a staggering $10,000 combined. For Davis-Woodhall, though, their value went beyond the price tag.

The Olympic champion has long treated her jewelry as something of a good-luck charm. She has even competed wearing her favorite pieces, making the lost rings particularly meaningful.

Rogers, meanwhile, has made a hobby out of finding exactly these kinds of treasures. He received his first metal detector as a Christmas gift in 2019 and eventually began working as an independent recovery specialist through The Ring Finders.

He compares the hobby to fishing, a passion he has had since childhood. “We call this dirt fishing,” he said, describing the thrill of finding something underground and immediately wanting to search for the next one.

How much did he get paid for finding Tara Davis-Woodhall’s most valued possessions? Well, his standard fee is $100 to cover travel, with an additional reward left to the owner if the item is recovered. The Woodhalls rewarded him for finding their rings, although Rogers has not revealed how much they paid.

The athlete was literally over the moon when Rogers handed her the ring.

Tara Davis-Woodhall’s love affair with jewelry

For Tara Davis-Woodhall, jewelry has never been something she simply puts on before stepping out. Some pieces carry memories, others carry meaning, and a few even carry a little extra luck when she steps onto the track.

That was especially true at the Paris Olympics.

When Davis-Woodhall walked into the Stade de France for the women’s long jump final on August 8, 2024, she wasn’t just carrying the weight of an Olympic dream. Around her neck was a piece of jewelry that had been part of her story for years.

The 14K gold and diamond necklace, created by Janet Heller Fine Jewelry, featured a tiny silhouette of Davis-Woodhall performing her signature jumping pose. It was a miniature reminder of the athlete she had become and the journey that had brought her there.

And perhaps fittingly, she went on to win her first Olympic gold medal. The necklace wasn’t just another accessory for Davis-Woodhall. Her silhouette had been her personal logo since high school, making the custom piece a reflection of her identity as much as her career.

“I’ve always loved jewelry and love to jump in all types of jewelry… To express myself while wearing my silhouette is the best of both worlds.”

Heller Fine Jewelry later celebrated the moment, describing Davis-Woodhall’s journey as one of “triumph and determination” and highlighting how the necklace had stayed with her throughout her Olympic run.

But the silhouette necklace was only one part of Davis-Woodhall’s growing collection. Her relationship with jewelry goes back much further than Paris.
During the 2024 Olympics, she also had an Olympic rings necklace made by Heller, a piece she had been wearing since the Tokyo Games in 2020.

In August 2024, during an interview with Vogue, the Olympic champion once walked through some of her favorite pieces, revealing that almost every item had a story attached to it.

She began with a ring gifted by her husband, Hunter Woodhall. “Hunter did it. He did a really good job,” she said, proudly showing it off.

Then came the Olympic rings necklace, followed by her custom silhouette piece.
But her collection doesn’t stop there. Davis-Woodhall has openly embraced luxury jewelry and watches, once explaining that she competes wearing her Rolex and Cartier pieces. She also showed off her wedding ring, another Cartier ring, and a bracelet she had recently received from On Her Turf. Even her earrings had a purpose.

Before competing in Paris, she picked up a pair that gave her a subtle connection to the city hosting the Games. “I wanted a little bit of an Eiffel Tower moment, a little bit of a Paris moment to channel that gold,” she explained.

It was classic Davis-Woodhall… turning something as simple as jewelry into another way of expressing herself.

Davis-Woodhall has also turned her success on the track into considerable financial value. Sporting AZ estimated her net worth at around $2 million to $2.5 million in 2025. Yet even with that success, her relationship with jewelry still feels personal.