To my brethren in the Springfield MO area..Help needed

you mean the trans pan? its not uncommon to find metal in them. it could just be band debri the water happened to catch, who knows. i wouldnt worry about it. just keep the fluid fresh and the water out of it LOL

i have seen some horrific stuff in pans of transmissions that were still working.

ah ok. it didnt look like metal shaving..more like someone threw a black powder into it..idk really how to describe it