Thief with a taste for 61 black pearls hits Sea Pines residence

A thief with fashionable taste in jewelry hit a Sea Pines home in an incident that happened in May but wasn't reported to police until Tuesday, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office report.

A 26-inch black Tahitian pearl necklace with 59 pearls and a set of matching earrings with 17 millimeter pearls, each surrounded by approximately 30 diamond chips, was stolen for the Marsh Wren Road home while the owner was away in May. She noticed the items missing this week and contacted deputies on Tuesday.

The owner left the pieces in a wooden Suarez Jewelers box, the report said. She normally locks the box in her safe, but forgot to before she left for the trip, the report said.

The investigation into the thief is still open, the report said.

This story was originally published June 13, 2018 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Thief with a taste for 61 black pearls hits Sea Pines residence."