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GIA Helps Recover Stolen Diamonds
The lab identified the stones when an uninvolved diamond dealer sent them in for grading.
GIA helped police in Colorado recover two diamonds that were stolen from a Colorado home last year.
Carlsbad, Calif.—The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has helped recover two diamonds that were stolen from a Colorado home last summer.
In June 2023, the diamonds, each more than four carats, were stolen along with other jewelry, and detectives from the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) reached out to GIA.
According to a BCSO press release from Dec. 8, 2023, GIA positively identified the stolen gems, which had ended up with an uninvolved wholesale diamond dealer in Cherry Creek, Colorado, who sent them to the lab for grading.
The diamonds were identified through both serial numbers and precise visual descriptors as part of the lot of stolen jewelry, the release said.
That information was instrumental in the sheriff’s office making an arrest in the case, GIA said.
Bryce Daniel Almus, 31, had allegedly pawned the diamonds in the dealer’s shop, according to the release.
After leaving Colorado, Almus was arrested by Michigan State Police on Nov. 27, 2023 and he was extradited to the Boulder County Jail on Dec. 5, 2023.
He is being charged with one count of theft, a class 3 felony, and two counts of pawnbroker-prohibited acts, a class 3 felony.
According to the BCSO, the six pieces of stolen jewelry had a combined value of over $475,000.
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In June 2023, the diamonds, each more than four carats, were stolen along with other jewelry, and detectives from the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) reached out to GIA.
According to a BCSO press release from Dec. 8, 2023, GIA positively identified the stolen gems, which had ended up with an uninvolved wholesale diamond dealer in Cherry Creek, Colorado, who sent them to the lab for grading.
The diamonds were identified through both serial numbers and precise visual descriptors as part of the lot of stolen jewelry, the release said.
That information was instrumental in the sheriff’s office making an arrest in the case, GIA said.
Bryce Daniel Almus, 31, had allegedly pawned the diamonds in the dealer’s shop, according to the release.
After leaving Colorado, Almus was arrested by Michigan State Police on Nov. 27, 2023 and he was extradited to the Boulder County Jail on Dec. 5, 2023.
He is being charged with one count of theft, a class 3 felony, and two counts of pawnbroker-prohibited acts, a class 3 felony.
According to the BCSO, the six pieces of stolen jewelry had a combined value of over $475,000.
“GIA often receives requests from law enforcement to help them recover GIA-graded diamonds that are reported lost or stolen,” said Christina Yates, GIA associate general counsel responsible for this aspect of GIA’s work with law enforcement.
“This is an important part of our consumer protection mission.”
GIA began providing training to law enforcement in 1965, beginning with the FBI, the Customs Service and the Federal Trade Commission and later expanding to local, state, and international police agencies.
In the last 15 years, nearly 400 officers from Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Dubai, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Malaysia, Mongolia, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. have participated in training by GIA, the lab said.
GIA’s work with law enforcement, as well as its expertise in gemology, was first prominently featured in a March 1964 episode of the American television program, “To Tell The Truth,” which featured G. Robert Crowningshield, then director of GIA’s New York office.
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