Millions of dollars in jewelry stolen in California: ‘Their whole life’s savings is now gone’

A group of thieves hit a Brink’s truck in Frazier Park, California

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Millions of dollars of jewelry and gems were stolen in an armored truck heist near Los Angeles this week.

Authorities say that a Brink’s truck was hit in Frazier Park, California, as it went to a company storage facility.

The truck contained jewelry belonging to exhibitors taking part in the International Gem & Jewelry Show in California, according to its director Brandy Swanson.

Brink’s said in a statement that there was less than $10m worth of merchandise on the truck, while Ms Swanson told Reuters that the figure was nearer $100m.

She explained the discrepancy by saying that exhibitors undervalued their pieces for insurance purposes because of the high cost of getting them covered.

Officials say that the thieves made off with between 25 and 30 lockers of jewelry belonging to 18 exhibitors that had taken part in a retail show in San Mateo, near San Francisco.

It was being stored by security company Brink’s ahead of another show in Pasadena, California.

“It’s all fine jewellery ... and they’re just gone,” one vendor told KCAL9.

“Sunday you had merchandise, today you don’t have anything.”

No details on how the truck was robbed have been released and the incident is under investigation by the FBI.

“These victims are mom and pop operators, but the value that was in those lockers is worth more than people understand,” Ms Swanson told Reuters. “That’s their life. Their whole life’s savings is now gone.”