Now here is a dilemma ....... what would you do?

That's awful. A dilemma indeed. Not sure what you can. If the rings were insured you might have to report the loss to the Police with all that entails. If it turns out that it was the young girl you could be doing others a good turn? Good luck whatever you decide and please keep us informed.

Have you straightforwardly said to her you can’t find them does she remember seeing them, perhaps in an unusual place, giving her the benefit of the doubt if, as you say, you might have moved them and forgotten this.
If not, police and an insurance claim I think but give her the chance first. Even flagging this up (assuming she took them) might stop her doing it again.

Are you sure it was her?
Is it possible the previous cleaner (or someone untelated to cleaning) took them months ago?

That is the problem - because I go into the rings very rarely I have no way of knowing when it went missing. It could have been during the time when my usual cleaner was here - but she is very local and well known in the area and I would find it hard to imagine it was her. Only the cleaners have ever been upstairs on their own.

This happened to me .
I took on a really sweet young girl to help with cleaning .
I would never have believed anything bad about her .

I had taken off my necklace to have a shower.
She'd cleaned the bathroom and taken it.
No one else had entered the bathroom .

When I said that it was missing she blushed - in fact she went bright red .
Then , she disappeared for about nearly a day .
I found out later that she'd gone to the pawn shop to redeem it .
I had told her that I would call the police unless the item was returned .

And it was .

I gave her salary for the next month and told her to go .
I felt really sad over it .

Oh - that sounds awful. If my situation was as clear cut as yours was, I think it would be easier. I do not know when these two items went missing, as I do not look in there very often.

It all feels very awkward.

A neighbour has started using this same lass, and I am itching to ask her how things are going, but do not want to open a can of worms or set up negative expectations for someone who might be wholly innocent.

Has the ring fallen off and rolled under the bed ? It happened to me. I took my rings off and put them on the bedside table. I might have knocked one of them off during the night and after a good search found it under the bed.
What an awful situation !

Could you call the local pawn shops with a description?

Do you have photos?

CrazyH, OP said earlier they were in boxes and couldn't have rolled anywhere.

It could just as easily been your old cleaner. Are you certain that she is off for a hip replacement and hasn’t just left after stealing them.

When did you last see the rings and in what circumstances? Maybe you did move them for some reason.

Indeed a dilemma Luckygirl3 I don't think there is much you can do about it really. Good advice from Aveline about the insurance claim but not sure how much help you would get from the Police apart from a crime number. If you had photos that would help. I should take my own good advice, I've been meaning to photograph my jewellery.

In March I had a new recommended cleaner come to see me.
She seemed ok and we arranged that she would start the following week.
She emailed on the morning to say she was ill.
I did say well if you are going to be unreliable I would not use her but I did give her the benefit of the doubt and she said she would be in touch.
I never heard another word.
Some weeks later she was the front page headline in the Manchester Evening News charged with stealing from clients.
She faced five token charges but it is believed there were more.
Her clients were astounded as she was reliable and a good cleaner.
Stupidly she was selling the items she stole on EBay using her own name which is how she was caught.
One lady recognised two designer handbags she had taken.
She pleaded some family problems and other mitigating circumstances and received a suspended sentence.
You can never be too careful.

It is all rather sad, as my instinct is to trust people. I have no photos. I do not wear the rings so could not have lost them in other circumstances. They simply live in that cupboard in their ring boxes.

I don't think there is anything you can do now.

You missed the oportunity of asking the girl if she had seen the two rings you couldn't find and getting her to help you turn out the bedroom to find them.

Like you, my first thought would have been that she had helped herself to them, and like you, I would not be absolutely certain that I had not misplaced them.

You must in no circumstances tell the person she now works for your suspicions - doing so could lead to a lot of unpleasantness for you.

Reporting the loss of your rings to the police and or your insurance company won't get you anywhere as you had given this girl permission to be in your home and sent her up to clean your bedroom unsupervised. Probably, you are responsible for the first X numbers of £s loss yourself as far as your insurance goes.

Sadly, your rings are gone, unless of course they turn up in the proverbial safe place one day.

Yup - this is how I see it.

I would definitely check out the local pawn shops and also tip off the neighbour- forewarned is forearmed. It doesn’t mean you’re jumping to conclusions, just trying to prevent it happening again. I might also find out where she’s been working before and ask why she left.

And keep a close eye when your new cleaner returns. 😕

I am thinking, as she is a young woman, that she would be more likely to whack it on ebay rather than use local pawn shop or jewellers. .... assuming shed is the culprit of course.

Of course your instinct is to trust people because that's exactly how you are Luckygirl13.
None of us hide our valuable possessions when the cleaner comes.
I'm sorry this has happened to you. It makes us all think twice.
I definitely think she would sell them online, not locally.

Luckygirl3

I am thinking, as she is a young woman, that she would be more likely to whack it on ebay rather than use local pawn shop or jewellers. .... assuming shed is the culprit of course.

Good point. Check out eBay.

Goodness me , a dilemma indeed! It does seem suspicious that the missing rings coincided with your new cleaner!!! I understand how you feel - you want to believe it wasn't her. Unfortunately you have no proof it was her , but my bet is - it was her! Not sure what you should do , perhaps make sure any cleaner you employ in the future is from a reputable agency. I am sorry this had happened to you .

Well she doesn’t know they did coincide with the new cleaner because she hadn’t looked before Shelflife it could have been the old cleaner and that will put things in a right pickle as she ll be back soon !!!

When we were first married my husband arrived home with a young lad who had started working on his construction site who had nowhere to sleep as he just arrived in London . We put him up on our living room floor for a couple of nights .I was working as a nurse and wearing jewellery was not allowed. A good few days later I realised that my engagement ring and a ring of my grandmother’s were missing. I was so upset but had no proof it was him - we also left our small bedroom window open sometimes . The young lad was no longer on site to quiz him . I’m sure it was him but the police were not helpful. The rings weren’t valuable as we had little money when we married but of such sentimental value.