LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – After a sentimental necklace was ripped off a woman’s neck in Summerlin, she’s on the hunt to get it back.
The story starts in the parking lot of a business center near Charleston and Rampart.
The valley woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she was walking out of a store when a young man approached her, ripped the necklaces off of her neck and took off.
“I was more like ‘no, that’s not happening, you are not taking my necklaces, I will try to catch you as much as I can,’ and I did, I tried to catch them,” she said.
One necklace belonged to her mother, the other held a picture and fur from her “soul dog” Tiki, a 15-year-old chihuahua who passed away three years ago.
“I never took that necklace off. I don’t care what I was doing, that necklace was on me, always,” she said. “So when they took it, I was just, I’ve never been so angry.”
Thankfully her mother’s necklace was dropped in the parking lot of the business center during the incident, but the locket with Tiki’s fur was taken.
“Her fur was in that necklace, and I cannot get that back,” she said.
On top of filing a report with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the woman called nearby pawn shops to see if anyone tried to pawn it.
That’s when she learned about a national database that prevents people from pawning stolen items called “LeadsOnline.”
“We have to put in all the identifying characteristics, the carat weight of the gold, the gram weight,” Owner of Nevada Coin Mart Neil Buys, Neil Sackmary, said.
Although Nevada Coin Mart isn’t technically a pawn shop, Sackmary said they’re held to the same standard, which requires them to enter every characteristic, about each item they buy into the online database.
“Anything that would help in the identifying process is something we’re obligated to do,” Sackmary said.
LVMPD Public Information Officer Robert Wicks says detectives are including those details in their reports, too. He says if they get a match, detectives will visit that pawn shop and ask to see who pawned it.
Because a government issued I.D. is required to pawn an item, Wicks says they’ll use that I.D. and security camera footage from the shop to track down who pawned the item, and hopefully make an arrest.
The woman says she hasn’t lost hope that her locket will be recovered because it is so unique. But, whether or not it’s found, she says after what happened she will be keeping her head on a swivel.
“How it changed me is, I love wearing jewelry, not to wear my jewelry, or if I am wearing it to hide it,” she says.
Metro suggests writing down the serial numbers of any new items you buy. Serial numbers are plugged into the online database too, and detectives will be notified if they get a match.
Because jewelry does not have a serial number, they suggest taking a picture.
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