If your rings, gold necklaces or silver coins have recently been stolen from your home, the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department may have some good news for you. Your missing valuables may be sitting in a big pile of evidence recently seized by Sheriff's Detectives.
There are certain things you need to do to get your items back, and things everybody should be doing to increase the chances of recovering property if it's ever stolen.
Detectives with the Sheriff's Burglary Investigations Unit have begun sorting through all of the items they seized the last week from the home of a north side man suspected of buying and selling stolen loot.
After they're done with their inventory, detectives will take calls from possible owners who can prove what is in the evidence room, is theirs. “If you can write down some identifying marks, you know what size it is, if you know what the karat weight is, the gold weight, different stones in it, if you took a photo of it, that would be great,” said Sgt. Mike Norton, with the Sheriff’s Department burglary squad.
Without any engravings or special markings, rings are very difficult for detectives to return to their rightful owners. Pictures always help. “If you take a photograph, a close up of the item, with some sort of a scale or a ruler or a coin to give an idea of how big it is,” said Det. Bob Pitman.
Detectives suggest you put your driver’s license or some of ID in the photo next to the item, to show it's yours.
It’s a good practice, especially with your rare, irreplaceable and sentimental valuables. It's going to take a couple of days for detectives to sort all those rings, watches and coins. They'll start taking calls next week, at 435-3081.
