Stolen wedding bands, what am I supposed to do?

Question

I am 99% sure that my brother who is just recently homeless has stolen our wedding bands that we have had for 9 years. He was the ONLY person in our place.

I have filed a police report,......which they seemed as they could give a s**t, also gave me the impression I had to find them myself.

I talked to a friend of mine who works at a Pawn shop he suggested I make a flyer and send it to the Pawn shops around town. I called a few and the overwhelming response I would get is shops telling me I am wasting my time due to privacy laws "even if we had your stuff, I couldn't even call you and tell you" I've been told.

So I ask again, what can I do?

Answer 1

Unfortunetly not much. sorry.

Were they insured? if so you can claim them stolen on your insurance. (although I'm sure sentiment is worth more than any dollar amount) Or you could claim them stolen on your renter's/home insurance.

Answer 2

The police should have gone to the pawn shops.

Take him to Small Claims Court. You will need some kind of proof -- pawn tickets or a witness who saw or knows that he took them.

Never admit him into your house again.

Answer 3

If I were you, I would contact the brother immediately and tell him I am prepared to forget about it if he brings the rings back.  I would also offer him $500 if necessary to get them back (at least more than he can get from the pawn shop).  This is really your only hope of getting them back.

FYI -Contrary to popular belief, the police don't actually investigate most crimes.  Except for serious crimes, local police departments operate on an incident-driven basis.  In other words, when you call the cops for a theft or whatever, all that happens if that they come over, file a report if it appears warranted, and then move on with their lives.  Increasingly, you are lucky to even get them to show up, as many departments will only take "cold" reports over the phone or at their office (i.e., reports where the criminal has left the scene already).  Unless they can apprehend the criminal on the scene, they won't bother to follow up.  They will claim it is a result of limited resources, but in light of that, isn't it interesting how much time they spend sitting on the side of the road catching speeders?  The real answer is that it doesn't do the police department any good to investigate these cases - best case, they catch a crook... so what?  They'd rather issue speeding tickets, generate some revenue, etc.   If you live in a small town you may get better service since they are more accountable to the public.

Unless the rings are very distinctive, there is likely little that the pawn shops can do.  If the rings are distinctive, go check out the local pawn shops yourself.  Even then, you will probably have to buy them to get them back...