LOS ANGELES — Three women’s volleyball Olympic medals were stolen in a burglary at a Southern California home, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said Thursday.
The medals were the gold the team won at the 2020 Games in Tokyo, the silver won in the 2012 London Games and the bronze won in the 2016 Olympics in Rio, the sheriff’s department said in a statement.
They were in a safe that was stolen the night of Oct. 29 from a home in Laguna Hills, a city in Orange County that is inland and east of the beach of the same name, the sheriff’s department said.
The sheriff’s department did not identify the athlete. Department spokesperson Carrie Braun said investigators are working with USA Volleyball and that organization is working with the athlete.
The three stolen medals were being temporarily stored at the home, the sheriff’s department said.
It’s the second time this year that a women’s volleyball Olympic medal has been stolen in Orange County, which is south of Los Angeles.
In the earlier case, starting setter Jordyn Poulter’s 2020 Games gold medal was stolen from her car in Anaheim in May. The medal was found discarded in a plastic bag behind a barbershop a month later, and it was returned. A suspect was arrested and has pleaded not guilty.
The 2020 Tokyo Games, which were held in 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, was a historic one for women’s volleyball.
It was the team’s first Olympic gold, and Team USA won it by sweeping Brazil.
The sheriff's department is asking for the public's help in finding the three stolen medals. Anyone who sees a person with a medal who should not have one is asked to call the sheriff's department.
USA Volleyball did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night.
