North Brisbane cleaner found guilty of stealing $3100 opal ring

When a Brisbane woman’s one-of-a-kind opal ring went missing she suspected the cleaner, but it took months of patience and online sleuthing before she and her husband could prove it. Here’s how they got it back.

Amateur sleuths uncovered who had stolen their $3100 opal ring, months after it went missing from their home in Brisbane’s north, Sandgate Magistrates Court heard this week.

Rachel Strelow noticed her distinctive opal ring, set in 24 carat gold, disappeared from her dresser drawer between February 13 and 14.

“I went to put on my favourite ring but it wasn’t in it’s usual spot, where I’d hidden it away,” Mrs Strelow said.

The one-of-a-kind ring that inspired its owner to search for months to retrieve it on Gumtree.

She didn’t think too much of it until she started to notice other pieces of jewellery had similarly disappeared, such as a broken watch she’d put in a bag to take to be repaired, and an amber ring she was fond of.

Something did not add up.

“We found about eight or nine pieces were missing,” she said.

“It was really unsettling to think someone had been going through our personal things.”

The timing of the missing jewellery coincided with the hiring of a fortnightly cleaner from Two Wog Girls Cleaning company.

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Ryan and Rachel Strelow had their jewellery taken from their home.

Mrs Strelow notified police and the cleaning company, who the court heard questioned their employees but failed to determine what had happened.

Little else was done until July 2.

Despite months having passed since the ring disappeared and a successful insurance claim, Mrs Strelow continued to search for the item on Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace.

“I’d bought the ring for myself (and) it was really important, really sentimental to me,” she said.

“It’s unique, one-of-a-kind, and I knew I’d be able to pick it out if I saw it online.”

Surely enough, when the ring was finally listed by Miranda Faye Hamilton, Mrs Strelow instantly recognised it as her own.

Her husband made contact with the seller, a 38-year-old former employee of Two Wog Girls Cleaning Company, and organised to purchase the ring for $300 from her home in Murrumba Downs.

Mrs Strelow was “so relieved (she) was in tears” when her husband brought home the ring, and reported the update to police.

The Gumtree ad for the opal ring taken by Miranda Faye Hamilton.

The police prosecutor told the court that Hamilton “located the ring on the driveway of a residence she cleaned”.

“She put the ring in the console of her car (and when her former employers) directly asked about it she didn’t say anything,” he said.

“When she was strapped for cash she decided to sell it on Gumtree.”

Hamilton, who now works as a bond cleaner for a different company, pleaded guilty to stealing the ring and dishonestly gaining money.

No charges were laid against Hamilton over the other missing jewellery and it’s not suggested Hamilton had any involvement in their disappearance .

She was convicted and fined $450. She was ordered to pay the victim $300 in restitution.

Two Wog Girls Cleaning Company deny Hamilton was ever on their books.