Members of the Tri Delta sorority never technically own the diamond-studded star-and-crescent pins they are given upon initiation. They are merely caretakers, required to return the badges to the national organization upon their death, unless the executive board grants a special exception.
That explains how Delta Delta Delta's Arlington headquarters came to be home to scores of previously worn pins, a "significant number" of which turned up missing from a on February 27, according to a letter from fraternity president Phyllis Grissom.
It didn't take terribly long for Arlington police to figure out what had happened to the badges, about 2,000 of which were taken. Who but someone inside the organization would know that its headquarters housed hundreds of thousands of dollars in jewelry and could access the secure storage area where it was kept without trashing the place?
Their suspicions proved warranted. On Thursday, police arrested the husband-and-wife team of Carla Rae Seals, 42, and Mark Jason Stroface, 41,according to The Dallas Morning News.
In a letter addressed to her Tri Delt "Sisters," Grissom applauded Arlington PD for its work, which is ongoing.
"We anxiously await the results of the search [for the pins] being conducted by the authorities," she wrote. "At the same time, we are deeply saddened to learn that the theft may have involved one of our own staff members."
Seals, she writes, was immediately placed on leave pending the outcome of criminal proceedings.
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