Las Vegas maid stole $768,000 in jewelry from hotel room, police say

A housekeeper for a Las Vegas hotel was charged for allegedly stealing more than $750,000 worth of jewelry from a room last month, including designer watches, bracelets and necklaces, according to police and court files obtained by The Washington Post.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department identified Amanda Melendez from housekeeping logs and key card tracking information at Vdara Hotel & Spa, an MGM property on the Strip. Investigators also unearthed a recording of a collect phone call to Melendez from Clark County Detention Center in which she describes the stolen items to an apparent romantic partner in the prison, detailing her plan to take them from a room she was assigned to clean.

During the call, an arrest report says, Melendez called the prisoner "Daddy," "Master" and "King," and said she planned to leave the door open, making the room look like "something else" took place. She can be heard clocking out of work during the call at a time that matches surveillance footage of her leaving the hotel, the arrest report says. The two also allegedly discussed the stolen items on multiple calls afterward.

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In the early hours of May 7, three people staying at the Vdara reported 14 items missing from their hotel room. An itemized list in the arrest report lists a total value of $768,400 for the items, including Rolex and Audemars Piguet watches with a claimed value of $100,000 or more; seven diamond Cuban link necklaces, Cartier bracelets and a gold ring.

The hotel guests told police that when they arrived to their hotel room around 11 p.m., their bags were turned inside-out, one of the beds was unmade and cleaning supplies had been left behind. The three guests told police they hid their jewelry inside a computer bag.

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Room key records at the hotel showed a housekeeping key that had been assigned to Melendez accessed the room where the theft occurred at 7:54 p.m. Police believe Melendez had another key that went missing but was used to access the room 21 minutes later. A guest in a different room accessed from that key reported a theft of $300 cash.

Police arrested Melendez at her apartment in Las Vegas on May 15, more than a week after the theft. She was charged with felony residential burglary, felony grand larceny exceeding $100,000 and misdemeanor conspiracy to commit burglary. A status check for the case is set for June 20 at Las Vegas Township Justice Court.

No one answered phone calls made to a listed number for Melendez on Thursday. MGM Resorts International did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Las Vegas maid stole $768,000 in jewelry from hotel room, police say