Found Diamond ring, need help.

[sidmind]

During the summer I was on a business trip to our Corporate office and found a diamond ring in the company parking lot.
I gave it to HR and they sent out a global email and checked with the police dept and a few other things. now it's been about 5 months and no one has claimed the ring, I asked them about if the ring could be returned to me the finder. and they told me that our company did not have a policy on how to handle this situation and they would get back to me.

I finally got my answer this week, they told me it would probably sit in the corporate safe forever, and that I would not get it back.
I think it's pretty sad, they basically are telling me that my honesty was not the best policy.

The ring had 14k printed in the band, and had a very large diamond with some smaller ones around it, so in my opinion it was either very valuable or a cheap knock off.

Does anyone know how these things work? are there any lost and found laws that apply here? what should I do?

 

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[Mackaydon]

Write out the event in every detail then make an appointment with your attorney. If your employee has decided to keep the diamond (temporarily) get that intention reduced to a letter to you. Hand your employer's letter and your letter to the lawyer and ask him for a solution.
I'm guessing that with a reasonable, yet unsuccessful, attempt to locate the owner, the item should be yours.
'Your' diamond may be microscopically marked with an ID. Have it checked for such an ID by a jeweler.
Don....

 

[sidmind]

Thanks for the reply, I am on another plane in the morning to head back to corporate for the rest of the week. I will be on the same campus as the ring, which is why I asked for the advice this week.

I will see what I can do and update this thread.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Good luck, but chances are slim in my opinion. I personally would have posted a ring found through company email and had someone describe it to claim it. Someone lost it, you did the honest thing and now they have stole it from you. Odds are someone in the corporate office will end up with it.

The problem is with it being your employer your limited on how far you can persue it without jeopardizing your job.

Good luck................

 

[cybercop106]

The legal requirements regarding found/unclaimed items varies from state to state. Where is the corporate office located Sid?

 

[sidmind]

The legal requirements regarding found/unclaimed items varies from state to state. Where is the corporate office located Sid?

Houston, Texas

 

[cybercop106]

From what I can find:

Unclaimed Lost & Found items are considered abandoned property as outlined in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedures, Article 1817. This code allows the item(s) be held for a period of 30 days from the date of receipt, unless estimated to be worth $500 or more, then they are kept for 60 days. Reasonable attempt(s) should be made to locate/notify the owner(s). After this period, cash and items of significant value such as computers, watches, etc... are subject to Texas Code of Criminal Procedures, Article 1817 [332a] and are to be turned over to and disposed of by the local police department of jurisdiction through the county court system BUT apparently only if found on "public property". It may be difficult for you to get any consideration because the owner of the premises MAY have a claim because it was found on their property, and can take title (ownership) by "adverse possession" in two years if unclaimed, according to Texas Business Law (see
http://books.google.com/books?id=h9...resnum=2&ved=0CAwQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=&f=false ) <--- start reading near the bottom of page 273 at "Abandoned, Lost and Misplaced Property"
Hope this helps your search..........