Costa Mesa jewelry store owner who was kidnapped remains in hospital, daughter says; $1,000 reward offered

The daughter of the Costa Mesa jewelry store owner who was kidnapped last week and found bound and gagged in Santa Ana says he suffered serious injuries from being beaten and is still hospitalized.

The woman, who lives in Kentucky, said Tuesday that the family is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.

She posted detailed updates on Facebook in recent days about her father’s medical condition, saying he has a broken nose, jaw, palate and ribs and a damaged kidney, in addition to lacerations and severe bruising on his head and body.

The 65-year-old underwent a procedure Saturday that confirmed that assault by strangulation likely triggered strokes that caused tears in his carotid artery, a major blood vessel in the neck, she said.

Last week, she said the store — Diamond and Jewelry Exchange at 1808 Newport Blvd. — was robbed by two men. The Costa Mesa Police Department has said no arrests have been made and has not released details about any suspects.

“The only thing we ask is for people to stay vigilant and keep an eye out so we can find these animals,” the owner’s daughter wrote in a Facebook post. “We don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”

She said many people have responded to help and that “it has been so nice to see that in tough times, everyone pulls together.”

Costa Mesa police responded late Wednesday to an alarm sounding at the jewelry store. The door was unlocked, but officers saw no signs of theft, and the store’s safe was secure, police said in a statement.

“The business had closed at 6 p.m. and the owner could not be located,” according to the statement. “After speaking to the owner’s family, a missing-person report was initiated.”

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Costa Mesa jewelry store owner who was kidnapped is a veteran of the business, property manager says

A Costa Mesa jewelry store owner who police say was kidnapped Wednesday night and found bound and seriously injured the next morning in Santa Ana is a veteran of the jewelry and pawn business, according to the property manager for the store.

Dec. 6, 2019

Santa Ana police said they found the store owner early Thursday bound and gagged with duct tape in a parking lot near the 1200 block of East Dyer Road near the 55 Freeway.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Costa Mesa police Det. David Sevilla at (714) 754-5360 or Sgt. Scott Stafford at (714) 754-4933.

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