Dinah Darcy left for a three-week vacation earlier this year and thought she left her Pembroke Pines home with a trusted housekeeper who would help take care of the family’s dog. When she returned, she said her trust had been misplaced.
“I was heart-broken. I was totally heart-broken,” Darcy told NBC 6’s Keith Jones.
Dinah said she left her housekeeper of five years, Roxanna Diolinda Gallo, a key to her house while she was away. She said that besides Gallo, no one knew that she was leaving that Sunday. When Darcy returned, she said she found $25,000 in cash and two rings missing from a hidden drawer in an antique cabinet.
Darcy said much like her trip, Gallo was the only person who knew about the hidden drawer. Darcy said she immediately called Pembroke Pines Police who in turn dusted for fingerprints.
“I was sure they would find something, prints. Nothing! Not even a half. Everything was wiped clean,” Darcy said.
After a few months passed, Darcy said it dawned on her that Gallo may be the culprit. So, she went back to the police with Gallo’s name. Detectives began to canvass pawn shops and got a hit at a Hollywood shop.
Detectives found Gallo had sold a large diamond ring for $16,000. According to the police report, Gallo told them she found the ring in the yard and assumed it belonged to Darcy.
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Darcy said the ring was a prized-possession, a 6.7 carat, emerald cut diamond engagement ring. But, when police showed them the ring, Darcy said something wasn’t right. Darcy said the ring Morningstar Jewelers and Pawn in Hollywood returned a stone that was 5.8 carats, not 6.7 carats.
“It had a beveled side and the one they returned did not,” Darcy said. “It was completely rectangular like that and was visibly smaller.”
NBC 6 attempted to talk to Morningstar’s owner, but was told through a locked door, “We’re closed.”
Darcy said she’s out the $25,000 in cash, a $5,000 ring, and her once appraised $250,000 ring, along with a trusted housekeeper.
“They were taking her with her hands by her back,” Darcy said. “I said, ‘Listen, if you give me everything back. I’ll take the charges off.’ She said, 'This is an injustice.'"
Gallo faces multiple charges including grand theft.
