Missing rings - cleaner dilemma. Help!

[beguilingeyes]

I keep my rings in a small box on my dressing table. There are only a few. Wedding ring, engagement, my mum's engagement, a couple of others and some costume stuff.If I'm not wearing them that's where they live.
Friday morning I was getting ready for work and went to the box to put on a ring and two were missing. My wedding ring and a very old diamond solitaire.
My problem is...the fortnightly cleaning appointment was the day before. Nobody else has been in our house. Yesterday we turned the bedroom upside down, checked the hoover bag etc. Nothing.
It's really awkward. I can't directly accuse the cleaner of stealing them, but I can't think of any other explanation.
It's done through an agency and I've asked them to ask her if she remembers seeing them.
What now? Do I tell my insurers that they're stolen rather than lost? Do I need to tell the police? It's a horrible situation.

Ask her if she's seen them. She might suddenly "find" them somewhere. I don't know if your insurance would pay out for them, since you let her into your house.

This is so awful. Fills most of us with dred.

Does anyone else live in the house? My DD went through a phase of playing dress up with my good jewellery, I also found a diamond earring in the cat tray where the cat had knocked it off the bedside cabinet and then swallowed it.

I’d leave it a day or two, and see if they turn up - I know when I’m a bit stressed and actively looking for things I literally can’t see them. Is it possible you’ve taken them off somewhere else in the house, or set them down somewhere, are there any nooks and crannies they could have fallen into?

I’d avoid accusing the cleaner unless you have something more solid than she was in the room. It would be very silly to take something that would be obviously missed. If you’re claiming insurance is tell them they are lost, if you say they’re stolen you’ll need a crime reference number (which means the police may interview your cleaner) and you don’t actually know they’re stolen.

Noone else has been in the house.If it was anything else, I'd think that maybe they could be somewhere else but the only places they ever are are on my fingers or in the box. I never take them off outside the house and only before bed at home. The solitaire is never worn these days so never left the box at all.
We checked all possible nooks and crannies yesterday, hoover bag included. Inside shoes, pockets etc.

I’d say it’s highly likely it’s the cleaner, though they are obviously going to deny knowing anything.

Sorry OP, what a rubbish situation. I certainly wouldn’t have that cleaner back.

I think it’s obvious she’s pinched them. Now you’ve told the company you’re aware they’re missing, they may suddenly reappear.
Unless it was a burglary, I can’t imagine insurance would pay out easily claiming cleaner/carer stole them however if you wanted to go down this route you’d probably need a police crime ref number to give to insurance company.

Sam Faiers had something similar back in the summer. Google it. What if you didn’t say anything have the same cleaners back again and plant a trap like a fake pair of diamond earrings and see if they disappear. Then ask the cleaner or the company to return all the items anonymously in 7 days or you are involving the police.

Report it to cleaning company at least, ie a query about missing rings.

“Before I check the surveillance camera, when you were cleaning in my bedroom, did you open the small jewellery box?”

Why can’t you say that to her?

I don't think it fair to accuse your cleaner unless you have actual evidence. It could well be them, but you cannot be sure. You say no one else has been in the house but then say 'we' have looked everywhere- who is the 'we'? Could they have done something accidentally with them?

I thought this but then wondered if the company would request footage, of which OP wouldn’t actually have. It’s a good idea though.

I've gone back to the agency and they are going to talk to her about it.

The we is my husband and me, and no,.he wouldn't have done anything with them. His contribution to the search was going through the hoover bag.
This is the dilemma, I can't actually accuse her but when you've eliminated all other possibilities...

Tricky though, I'm not saying she didn't do anything with it, but the fact is another person has been around and had access to them, which makes it impossible to be certain (from a legal perspective.)

Maybe she knocked it off when she was cleaning and then put pack the rings she could see, she wouldn't have known how many were in there. Have you got under the bed with a torch?

That was the first thing we did.

Do you have children? My nephew once posted my sister’s rings into a money box/piggy bank.

No children.

Can you remember when you last saw them?

It's in the last week.

If youve had a thorough look, and no one else has been in the house, it pretty much only leaves the cleaner. Doesn't seem unreasonable to think its probably the cleaner unfortunately. Hopefully a few questions from the agency may prompt their return, if it doesnt it probably needs reporting to the police to get a crime number and then its up to your insurance company to decide if its covered.

The cleaners not the brightest. It's going to be pretty obvious that it's them, id have thought

It would be such a stupid thing for the cleaner to do though, and why the wedding ring (is it a band?) and not the flashier engagement rings.

Very good suggestion if the cleaner knocked off the box by accident and then picked up all she could see on the floor not realising some pieces were missing.
Have you looked really, really carefully all over the floor, along the edges of the room where carpet meets the skirting board, all the way around each leg of furniture, under each piece of furniture, at the side and back panels of the dressing table (sometimes there is a tiny ledge). Under any rug if there are any?
I have often dropped earrings and found them a lot further away than I expected. But earrings would be a lot smaller than a ring.
Shook the vacuum cleaner hose? Gone through the bin like a forensic scientist?
How annoying for you OP.
The cleaner must be spectacularly stupid if she actually stole the rings.

Be careful Op. I was convinced things were going missing after the cleaners had been. Ring turned up in a random bag (I now remember in a haste putting it there to clear the table before they came to clean) designer belt ended up in the washing machine (got caught up in my bed linen when I’d stripped my bed).