Swallowed Earrings Recovered, after Two-Week Wait
March 24, 25
(IDEX Online) - Police in Orlando, USA, have recovered Tiffany & Co diamond earrings - two weeks after a suspect swallowed them.
Jaythan Gilder, aged 32, allegedly posed as a representative of an Orlando Magic basketball player to view high-value items at the Tiffany & Co store, at the Mall of Millenia.
He fled with a pair of 8.19-carat diamond earrings (valued at $609,500), and a 4.86-carat diamond pair (valued at $160,000).
Two days later, as he was apprehended by state troopers 340 miles away in Washington County, he swallowed the earrings.
That was 26 February. The Orlando Police Department monitored him in hospital until three of the earrings were recovered on 10 March and the fourth on 12 March. They also recovered an additional pair of unidentified earrings.
Detectives have since confirmed that the serial numbers match those of the items stolen from Tiffany.
Gilder is now being held at Orange County Jail where he faces charges of robbery with a mask and first-degree grand theft.
Pics courtesy Orlando Police Department show the first three earrings and (inset) Jaythan Gilder.