Joseph Louis David Florida man wanted after stealing one girlfriend’s engagement ring to propose to his other girlfriend, both whom he met through dating app, OKCupid.
Did he propose to you as well? A convicted felon from Florida is wanted for theft after allegedly stealing a diamond engagement ring from his fiancée to propose to a second woman, after meeting both of them on the same dating website OKCupid using two fake identities.
Joseph Davis, 48, is wanted on a felony charge for reportedly stealing around $6,270 worth of jewelry from his girlfriend in Orange City including the ring he gave to her when he proposed and a ring that belonged to her grandmother.
He is accused of using the engagement ring to propose to a second woman in Orlando, 30 miles away.
The thefts led to both women ending their relationships with the man they knew as ‘Joe Brown’ and ‘Marcus Brown’ after teaming up with police to bring him for questioning.
Detectives say both women met Davis, aka Brown, on dating app, OKCupid in 2015 and 2016. But, neither one of them knew his real name according to WHAS11.com.
Duped woman spots second woman wearing her engagement ring on Facebook
Matters came to the fold when one unnamed partner in Orange City came forward to detectives after spotting the man she knew as ‘Joe Brown’ on Facebook with a woman she suspected was wearing her engagement ring, reported Yahoo.
When the woman went to her jewelry box she found that several items, including the engagement ring and her wedding band from a previous marriage were missing.
In a statement posted on Facebook, Volusia County detectives wrote: ‘Several other pieces of jewelry [were missing], including a diamond ring that belonged to her grandmother. The total value of property stolen was about $6,270.’
When the victim confronted ‘Brown’ about the thefts she also sent messages to the second fiancée and recovered some of her belongings.
With both relationships over due to the alleged infidelity, the victims began cooperating with each other and with detectives.
Volusia police added: ‘The Orlando fiancée described to police how ‘Brown’ had fooled her, too – even taking her to the Orange City girlfriend’s house while she was at work, claiming the house was his, and asking her to move in with him.’
They added: ‘She told detectives she packed up her apartment, disassembled her furniture and was ready to move until one day, he told her the deal fell through.’
Duped woman were able to track wanted man only to discover love interest prior criminal history
But there’s more.
The Orlando fiancée also reported a laptop and jewelry missing from her apartment after ‘Brown’ moved out and disappeared.
When detectives searched databases and shared photos of Davis with other law enforcement agencies in hopes of identifying him, they came up empty.
However, one of the fiancées remembered the name and address of a niece that he had in North Carolina.
With that information, detectives were able to track down a woman who turned out to be the sister of a Joseph Louis Davis, whose photos matched the photos provided by both victims.
Volusia police added that Davis ‘had a record as a convicted felon out of Oregon and North Carolina, and has an active arrest warrant out of Oregon for a hit and run crash with injuries.’
They added: ‘His prior arrests include possession of fictitious ID, filing a false police report, domestic assault and possession of cocaine with intent to sell. In one of his out-of-state booking records from 2014, the jail listed a tattoo described as a cross with “Only God can judge me” on his left arm – identical to the tattoo both victims described their boyfriend/fiancée as having.’
Anyone with information about Davis’ whereabouts is asked to contact the Volusia Sheriff’s Office at 386-668-3830 and ask for Detective Wheeler. If you want to remain anonymous and qualify for a potential cash reward, you can contact Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida at 888-277-TIPS, or via the P3 Tips app.
