Florida police have finally recovered, and cleaned, $769,000 worth of stolen jewelry that was swallowed by a suspect several weeks ago.
Describing the effort to recover the diamond earrings as "laborious," the Orlando Police Department announced on Facebook that the jewelry taken in a February 26 botched heist had been recovered after about 12 days.
"This case quickly turned into a marathon, not a sprint," Detective Aaron Goss said.
According to police, on February 26, Jaythan Gilder, 32, entered a Tiffany & Co. store and pretended to be an assistant to an Orlando Magic basketball player. Gilder convinced staff to show him "very high-end" pieces of jewelry. The staff took Gilder to it's private VIP room to show him the jewelry.
Police said that Gilder then took a ring valued at $575,000 and earrings valued at $780,000 and escaped the store. Eventually, police were able to track down his vehicle, but as the Florida Highway Patrol arrested him they noticed "items in his mouth that he was attempting to swallow," Goss said.
After a body scan confirmed the stolen earrings were inside Gilder, the wait began.
"Later, after the items were expelled from his system, we were able to take the diamonds to Tiffany's, where they were cleaned," Goss said. He added that the master jeweler examined the items and was able to identify the serial numbers on the items, confirming that they were the items taken on February 26.
Gilder faces charges of grand theft and robbery with a mask.
