Do not publish the names.
Provide names by a private message

If it was something unique that could be pawned. Call all area pawn shops and ask if they have anything like your item that came in recently. If they do, go look at it, if it is your item, call the police and report it, the pawn shop then has to give the police the name of the person who pawned it, if it's your cleaners or their relative, bingo, you have your proof.

Defamation. fyi, the term "publish" or "publication" means to spread false information as either orally as slander or in writing as libel.

"Publication" is a term used for both of these. Be careful as to what you say or write. Even privately written slanderous information can be spread.

I was actually surprised recently when a lawyer at a hearing didn't know the definition of publish so it's a normal conclusion to think it means in writing.

If it was something unique that could be pawned. Call all area pawn shops and ask if they have anything like your item that came in recently. If they do, go look at it, if it is your item, call the police and report it, the pawn shop then has to give the police the name of the person who pawned it, if it's your cleaners or their relative, bingo, you have your proof.

Think you should ask her privately and be a bit more compassionate.
She is the one who was ripped off .

find out where they live, go pay them a visit. bring someone with you. never go it alone.

Missing Items
 

My best half owned a cleaning service back home for many years. Insured and bonded is feel good insurance for the customer. If there is no proof, mainly video the insurance company will deny the claim. We have instructed customers to never leave anything of value out when the team comes to clean. You can background check and verify your subcontractors, but one never knows what they will do when they are tempted. My advice to everyone that has a cleaning service never leave anything of value out. Place all valuables under lock and key (safe). Nanny cams are cheap these days. If you are concerned about internet spying get one that has internal memory for storage. Many today are very obscure (light bulbs, alarm clocks, etc.) place them in areas that have items that may be stolen. It is amazing that the human element will fall to petty theft if the opportunity presents itself.

Good idea, but I would call the police first. They would likely check pawn shops as well.

The items were probably pawned, here's the thing about pawn shops. When they take in items, the fingerprint, photograph and copy the seller's ID. Then once or twice a week they send a list of items they took in this week, to the local police departments when is then dispersed to other police departments. So, you call the police, file a complaint, list what you lost and they will check the list of items for your items. I know this because I had some tools stolen and the idiot who stole them took them to all different pawn shops. All I had to do was pay the pawn shop what they gave the thief for the items, the, before he could get out of jail, he had to pay me back. There's an ad in Nextdoor right now, for a person who does handy things, I googled the name and immediately came up with an arrest record. Before you hire anyone to come into your home, I suggest you google them, check out their Facebook wall.... you can even run a background check on the internet for a few bucks.

The cleaning people may have a legitimate reason for not showing up. You don't know. YOU PAY TAXES ! That money pays the police. They work for YOU ! Call them and put them to work !! If the missing items were stolen , they may recover them. You may be able to put in a claim on your insurance. You will need a police report. Accusing people on this forum is not productive at this point. CALL THE POLICE !!!

you can private message me...I know of a mother daughter team and i'm praying it's not them...

Are they from Okalumpa(sp?)
 

I just had mother and daughter clean. Are they from Okalumpha (sp?)

The first line of defense is yourself; don't leave valuables out when strangers are in the house,,,

It is ignorant to say that calling the police would be a waste of time. They will alert pawn shops to the stolen items......may get a lead there....followed up by security video of the person or persons who pawned the items. That's how many of these thieves are caught!

Being a cleaning lady myself this really is disappointing to hear. I have taken on customers that this has happened to before and it really makes me sad to hear. First of all yes call the police let them check the pawn shops hopefully they will find your things there. I have clients I have cleaned for over 7 years and I find things here and there..lost jewelry, medication etc. I return EVERYTHING I find to them no matter how small it may seem.
Listen people “test” your cleaners from the very first visit! Leave a couple $20 bills on the counter but make sure you write down the serial numbers & take pictures of the bills in case they go “missing” also empty out some med bottles & fill them with plain unmarked tylenol count how many you put in the bottle then recount when they leave. Most importantly take some costume jewelry fill a jewelry box with it & put it in a spare room. Then tear a TINY piece of the corner of a tissue and place it in the top corner frame of that door. Now make sure it is small enough they would never see it but YOU will know it’s there. Then gently close the door with it lodged in place before they arrive. After you have all that in place and your real meds & jewelry are locked up invite them in to clean. After they have been there for a little while casually mention that you have to run up and check your mail. Look them straight in the eye and say “ hey I prefer you to stay out of this room as it contains your valuables & medication so you would rather they don’t enter that room” then take a ride in the golf cart around a few streets and come back. When you return go to that door IF that little piece of tissue is still in place and you see it fall when you open the door then you know they stayed out and you probably have some trustworthy cleaners. BUT if the tiny piece of tissue is gone or on the floor then they entered that room while you were away looking for valuables even though you asked them not to! IF that’s the case go straight to them and insist they leave your house immediately!! There are many ways to “test” cleaners. My snowbirds that go back up north before summer I have taught them all how to test their cleaners up north. And always leave some tylenol and costume jewelry around just in case. And hey if they steal that then all the fools got is some tylenol and fake jewelry! My own opinion look for cleaners that work alone. Sure she/he will be there twice the time but this is why MANY of us clean alone because even we don’t trust other people. Or I don’t! No way will anyone clean with me. I have worked with a big cleaning company before and I saw what some of my partners tried! So when I started my own business I refuse to hire. I would rather do all the work myself because I know what I’m doing at all times but it’s hard to keep your eyes on someone else and get your own work done. And yes the BEST protection is always cameras. One last note.. a cleaner should NEVER put anything away for the client. You pick up dust/clean and put all items right back where you found them. I hope this helps at least a little for some. TEST, TEST & TEST before you trust. I am sorry to hear what happened to you and I do hope you find your belongings. All cleaners are not bad but you always have those certain ones that are just bad apples!

You have to make a police report. May not do anything as far as proving guilt but you will need it to submit to your insurance.

The moral to that story is "Trust no one but yourself" i keep all if my valuables in a 600lb safe and only i have the combination. Clean your own house, it is not that hard. You have no proof.

Great advise thanks for sharing

crimes against seniors do not do anything except maintain a list

I always at a minimum move my jewelry box and my computer where someone in the house could not get it.

If you weren’t home or weren’t paying attention that’s on you. Truth is you have no recourse you didn’t check their background and the state agencies in FL that are supposed to deal with this do not help at all.

Do NOT name them on any forum.
Name them to relevant Law Enforcement and Crime against Seniors as advised.

File a report with the police if you do nothing else

In Colorado, I had the same maid for decades. At first ,every time I couldn't find something, I'd suspect the maid might have taken it. Turns out I'd always find the missing item. Sometimes I would hide things from my maid and forget where I put them. I never once accused my maid, because I learned that it was I who was misplacing things. I am not sure we can make a firm case that a maid took our things, because we didn't see her take them, and we can't prove a burglar didn't take them. And as I age I can't even find my glasses, much less my expensive things (o:

I had a friend refuse to give back items she had that were mine. I was told that my only hope would be small claims court. It takes a long time.

Not much of a friend

Hopefully you have pictures of the missing items? If so, detectives usually will go to pawn shops, find the item and get the name of the person responsible...good luck

Visit Seniors Against Crime and they will go after them if you have their home address. If you don’t you’re out of luck.

That's why I like to stay home when I have people cleaning. I'm not comfortable with anyone in my house when I'm not there.

Not so. You would be amazed at the information a good detective can uncover while interviewing a”person of interest “.

In Va we knew the lady very well and would go out as necessary. Without knowing them very well no way do we leave

Police repirt
 

File a police report.

Seniors vs Crime does far more than “maintain a list.” That’s, frankly, an insult to a group of dedicated VOLUNTEERS who recover hundreds of thousands of dollars to victims every year. I know.

SVC, however, is not a law enforcement agency. That’s why, many posts back, I recommended filing a police report with the appropriate law enforcement agency. If the OP prefers not to do this, that’s their decision.

One technique I have read about is to look at marketplace websites such as EBay and Facebook Marketplace. Thieves will often try to sell their loot on these sites. If the items are high value, even the police will search these sites. If the object is listed for sale the police will feign as a buyer, meet with the seller and make an arrest.

You can do this search yourself. If you do not have an account at the more popular marketplace websites, ask a trusted friend or relative to help you.

So what if she publicly names the mother and daughter and tomorrow finds the items?! I think it is strictly a matter to be handled by the police. If you are hiring someone you should ask for and investigate references.

Thank you for the voice of sanity. Of course, I can't put their names out there. If people want to know their names, contact me via private message and I will respond.

No problem but do think you should contact the local police. Costs nothing but even if you do not get your stuff back the guilty party is now known to the police.

What was the response from law enforcement, OP?

I would notify police and if you know where they live---check pawn shops in area to see if articles have been sold. Good luck.

Sadly no. Unless you caught them or have proof there is nothing police will help you with. Even if you find your items at a pawn shop, you will have to buy them back.
Laws are not meant to protect people.