Once upon a time — say, last October — someone stole a significant amount of jewelry from a home in which he was working as a contractor. He drove directly from that home to a store that widely advertises that it purchases gold, jewelry, coins, and the like, and sold the jewelry. The store properly photographed the jewelry and the driver’s license of the thief.
Twenty days later, the thief was caught and the jewelry was located through the photograph taken of it by the store. But, consistent with both state and local law, the jewelry had already been melted down and both gold and diamonds sold as scrap. Some of it is easily replaceable; some of it was family heirlooms impossible to reproduce and of great sentimental value.
