Missing ring brings change in administrator’s office

KANSAS CITY, Missouri - Keely Dunham contacted Call For Action after she says she discovered her mom's diamond anniversary ring missing.

"I got very upset.  I was crying because I knew then I was never going to see the ring again," Dunham said. 

When her mom passed away, the Jackson County Public Administrator's office was court ordered to settle the estate which includes liquidating assets and settling debts.

Dunhan took her mom's jewelry into the office, some 200 items, to be appraised and sold.  She asked to buy back the jewelry.  She did for an appraised value of $1,250. That is when she said she noticed the ring was gone.

“I knew that it was the single most expensive piece of jewelry that she owned. It was a very significant ring,"she said. 

Rebecca Lake Wood runs the Jackson County Public Administrators Office.  

“This is the first time we've ever had anyone make a claim like this,"Wood said.

Wood said when assets like jewelry come into her office; multiple people witness the inventory process.  In this case, Dunham was also there.

The items are then carefully placed into a sealed box and a vault, removed only to be appraised.

Wood said her office and the appraiser both noted a ring matching the anniversary ring.    The sealed box was handed over to Dunham when she returned to purchase her mother’s jewelry.   

"I don't know what happened to that box after she took it and left our office but I know while we had possession of the items, they were maintained in a sealed and secured setting,” Wood said.    

The ring appraised for $35. 

Wood said the Public Administrator’s Office did nothing wrong but to protect the office, they will now take an extra step and tag each asset that comes in to be appraised and sold.

This takes extra time at a cost to the person’s estate.

If you find yourself in a similar situation, you can avoid some of these costs by carefully organizing and tagging the estate assets yourself.