Man Praised for Evicting Family Despite Finding $4K Ring Feared Stolen

A man who evicted his own brother and family from his apartment after his nephew stole an expensive engagement ring is refusing to back down—despite finally locating the missing item of jewelry.

A Reddit user posting anonymously as missingring_ previously went viral after revealing how he turfed his destitute sibling along with his wife and son out of his home.

Household thefts are traumatic enough when they involve strangers in the home, but it is a whole different ballgame when the perpetrator is not only a family member but a guest staying with you.

Yet that was the reality facing this Redditor, and may explain why he took drastic action.

In the original post, which garnered over 12,000 upvotes, he explained he had little choice after his 9-year-old nephew, who "has a habit of stealing things" stole a $4,000 ring he was set to propose to his girlfriend with.

Worse still, his nephew failed to disclose where he had hidden the ring, leading some on social media to speculate that his mom and dad may have pawned it off. The man, meanwhile, decided to issue an ultimatum to his brother.

"I told him either they find the ring or he repays me the $4k I spent on it, if not they can't stay here anymore," he wrote in the viral Reddit post.

When the ring failed to materialize, the man made good on his threat, evicting his family. Despite the recommendations of others on Reddit, however, the man stopped short of reporting the theft to police: and that is an not uncommon scenario.

According to data from the Pew Research Center, in 2019 alone household thefts represented one of the most underreported crimes, with just 26.8 percent referred to the police.

Though the man threatened to get the police involved if his brother did not stump up the $4,000 spent on the engagement ring he held off getting them involved and, ultimately, things ended up working out for all concerned.

Well, almost.

In a follow-up Reddit post that has now racked up over 20,000 upvotes, the same man writing as missingring_ announced, to his understandable delight, that the ring had been found.

He revealed that he ended up finding the ring in "the sink" and credited those commenting on the original post "who told me to look in those places."

"It was the sink that was in their guest room," he said. "I'm glad he didn't just throw it away." Though he was relieved to find it, the man acknowledged it took some effort to get it back as he had to remove "the P trap under the sink to get it out."

Even so, he was so happy that he ended up proposing to his girlfriend that same night after a romantic dinner together—and she said yes. To top it all off, he later found out she is also pregnant.

Given the joyous news, his brother evidently expected all would be forgiven and they would be able to leave the motel where they were staying and move back in.

Unfortunately, his sibling saw things differently.

"I told him he's lucky I haven't gone to the cops since there was already video evidence of his son taking the ring, and there's no way I'm letting them back in when my nephew wouldn't even say what he did with the ring," he wrote.

According to the man, his nephew subsequently explained to him that "he didn't want to tell anyone because then I'd be mad at him for hiding it."

Despite his nephew's confession, the man was unmoved, writing that he didn't have "the energy for them anymore" and that the boy was his brother's "problem" now and the only "important" thing to him was his fiancée and their wedding.

It may have been harsh, but his hard-line stance drew widespread support on social media with one Reddit user, posting as YogurtFirm, warning that the boy is "going to end up in prison if his parents don't wake up."

"The fact that the kid refused to tell you where it was, and his parents refused to make him, means you are absolutely in the right and would be crazy to let them back in," they added.

PaddyCow concurred, writing: "If he's stealing, lying and manipulating people to this level at 9 and his parents do nothing but enable him, imagine where he's going to be at 19."

Self-Aware felt that, if anything, the discovery of the ring down a sinkhole made the theft more concerning.

"A kid stealing something that valuable is a huge problem, obviously, but that he stole it solely to throw it away? That's damn near pathologically destructive," they wrote. "The fact that his parents seem oddly unconcerned about uncovering his motives for such behavior is both negligent and somewhat suspicious."

DirkDastardly felt a degree of sympathy for the young boy, writing: "He desperately needs help and his parents are failing him on every level. No child behaves like this at the age of nine unless there is something seriously wrong with him."

LarkScarlett, however, felt he was right to cut ties with them. "Don't light yourself on fire to keep someone else warm," they warned. "Arm's length is a safe distance to keep this family...having them in your home takes too much toll on your mental health. Have empathy for their tough times, but also take care of yourself."

Slow-Bumblebee-8609 hoped that one day the boy would thank his uncle for taking a hard-line stance on the matter. "Hopefully he understands that you aren't punishing him, but that you not wanting him near valuables is a natural consequence of him stealing," they wrote.

Newsweek has contacted missingring_ for comment.