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Photo courtesy of Caroline Bailey.
Caroline Bailey Ring
Bailey’s wedding ring, shown here, was lost at the Mountain Brook Verizon store on Thursday, June 5.
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Photo courtesy of Mountain Brook Police Department.
Caroline Bailey 2
This woman was identified through Verizon security footage as a person of interest in the case.
While Caroline Bailey was waiting for her phone to be fixed at her local Verizon, she decided to put lotion on her hands to pass the time. She slipped off her wedding ring, a keepsake of 28 years of marriage, and laid it to the side. When a store employee called her name, she unknowingly left the ring behind.
That’s when, according to the store’s security camera, an unidentified woman came in and spotted the ring. The woman cautiously slipped the ring into her purse and left the store without buying anything. Bailey said she was on the phone “standing two feet away the entire time” and had no idea.
“She had a greedy moment,” Bailey said. “I think she took it to keep it.”
Now, Bailey has enlisted the help of the Mountain Brook Police Department and her friends on social media to recover her lost wedding ring. The police have released security camera images of a dark-haired woman that they have identified as a person of interest. The picture is grainy, but Bailey believes it’s enough for friends or family to recognize the woman.
“To me, though, she’s pretty identifiable,” Bailey said. “Somebody has to know who she is.”
Despite spreading the word to everyone she knows, Bailey said no one has called her or the police department yet. She continues to check local pawn and jewelry stores and watch Craigslist and eBay for any sign of the ring. It was custom-made, so Bailey would recognize it on sight.
“There’s not another ring exactly like mine, probably anywhere,” Bailey said.
Bailey doesn’t want the ring back for its dollar value; she wants the ring that has been on her hand for the births of her children and the highs and lows of nearly three decades of married life. She has no intention to buy a replacement ring.
Bailey said she is “kicking herself” for taking the ring off in a public place, but hopes the woman who took the ring will be identified or decide to come forward. She is offering a $1,500 reward for information that leads to the ring’s safe return.
“I am desperate for it in the sense it’s irreplaceable to me,” Bailey said. “I can’t explain how upset I’ve been over this thing.”
The wedding ring is size 7 and platinum. It divides into three separate bands, with three diamonds on the center band. If you know anything about the location of the ring or the woman in the security camera footage, call the Mountain Brook Police Department at 871-3535.
