Detective Rich Honored For Cracking $100,000 Worth Of Stolen Jewelry

What do you do when a victim reports thousands of dollars in missing jewelry after holding a party but won't tell you who came to the event. If you're Detective Tom Rich, the answer is this: find the jewelry.

According to a certificate of recognition Detective Rich received in a city ceremony late last month, that was his task, after a woman on Chatfield Place reported $18,000 worth of stolen jewelery. According to Chief Glenn Eidman, "the victim stated she hosted a large party at her residence the week before, but she did not want any of her high profile guests questioned and did not provide their names. The only information she gave was the name of the gardening company which had done landscaping on the day of the event."

Chief Eidman credited Detective Rich for using his contacts in the pawn industry to discover a gardening company employee had sold the stolen jewelry. He went further and was able to connect the same suspect with jewelry thefts in Ladue, totaling approximately $118,000 in stolen jewelry which had made its way to the pawn market.