Miami Man Arrested After Stolen 18k Cuban Link Chain Traced to Instagram

A stolen 18k gold Cuban link chain worth $18,697.99 broke an arrest wide open, not because the thief was careful, but because the victim kept her receipt and the stolen piece ended up on a jeweler's Instagram page the very next day.

Miami police took Jaylyn Coleman, 30, of Miami Gardens, into custody on Wednesday after the victim and Coleman had been at the Gale Miami Hotel and Residences, located downtown at 159 NE Sixth St., on January 5. When the victim got out of the shower, she noticed her purse open, the gold Cuban link chain missing, and Coleman, who had been there when she entered the shower, gone.

When she called Coleman, he told her not to return to Miami, stating, "That's what I do, I take things," before hanging up. He then contacted her a second time to repeat the warning. It was the kind of brazen admission that investigators rarely receive gift-wrapped in a phone log.

The victim had purchased the chain for $18,697.99 and provided police a receipt as proof. That document proved to be the spine of the investigation. The following day, she noticed Coleman in a photo on a jeweler's Instagram page and contacted the jeweler, identified only as Joey. Joey, who operates out of The Village Flea Market and Mall at 7900 NW 27th Ave., told police Coleman had come into his store attempting to sell a gold chain but behaved suspiciously, repeatedly asking "how much will I get for this?" while insisting the chain be tested. Wanting to get rid of Coleman, Joey told him the chain was fake.

The same day, the victim received a text from an unknown number reading, "you trynna make n s beef over a fake chain is insane girl you better leave me alone." The message was preserved as evidence.

In addition to surveillance footage that corroborated the victim's account, detectives also received photos from Coleman's own Instagram showing him wearing the chain. The digital trail ran from Instagram post to arrest form in under 90 days.

The case is a textbook illustration of how quickly a high-value piece of gold jewelry can move through informal resale channels, and how those same channels can become the instrument of recovery. An 18k Cuban link of this weight and price point, roughly $18,700 at time of purchase, is not an anonymous commodity. The density and handcraft of each interlocking double-oval link make it distinctive; a trained eye can often identify a specific chain from a photograph alone.

Joey's instinct at The Village Flea Market deserves attention. When a seller fixates on metal testing and repeatedly demands a price quote, that behavioral pattern is a known red flag in secondhand gold markets. The ethical response is exactly what Joey did: decline the transaction, document the encounter, and cooperate with investigators. Jewelers who purchase pre-owned gold without requesting proof of purchase, photo ID, or a signed receipt create the laundering layer that makes thefts like this one economically viable.

For anyone buying pre-owned gold through Instagram or social media marketplaces, the Coleman case offers a hard lesson. Insist on a receipt, even a photographed copy, before money changes hands. Cross-reference the seller's identity against the original purchase documentation. Independently verify gold purity with a reputable assayer rather than taking a seller's word. And if a deal is struck with urgency, a "can't be tested" caveat, or a price well below market value for 18k gold, that insistence should be treated as a warning, not a bargaining advantage.

Coleman is facing a felony charge of grand theft and was being held on bond as of Thursday morning. The chain that he allegedly called fake is, according to the victim's receipt, anything but.