VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Volusia County deputies are looking for a man who gave both women he was dating a fake name, stole from them and took rings from one of his girlfriends to propose to his other girlfriend.
The love triangle began to unravel earlier this year when an Orange City woman realized her boyfriend was engaged to another woman who lives in Orlando.
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The Orange City girlfriend looked through the fiancée’s Facebook page and saw she was wearing her wedding band and engagement ring from a prior marriage, records show. The Orange City woman checked her jewelry box and discovered her old wedding rings were missing along with several other pieces of jewelry and a diamond ring that belonged to her grandmother, according to the report.
Deputies said all in all, $6,270 worth of jewelry was stolen from the Orange City girlfriend.
She then confronted her boyfriend about the thefts and began communicating with the Orlando fiancée so she could get her jewelry back since both relationships were now over due to the infidelity, records show.
The man told the women his name was “Marcus Brown” or “Joe Brown” but really his name was Joseph L. Davis, a convicted felon who is wanted on a hit-and-run charge out of Oregon.
The Orlando fiancée also said that Davis had fooled her. One day, he took her to the Orange City girlfriend’s home while that woman was at work and claimed the house was his and he wanted the Orlando fiancée to move in with him, according to the report.
The fiancée packed up her apartment and disassembled her furniture but before she could move, Davis told her the deal on the house had fallen through.
Deputies said Davis stole a laptop and jewelry from his fiancée after he moved out and disappeared.
The women, who both met Davis on OkCupid, teamed up and went to detectives to provide photos in hopes of learning his true identity.
Investigators searched databases and shared photos of Davis with other law enforcement agencies to try to find a match but they came up short until the fiancée remembered that Davis had a niece in North Carolina and she happened to have the name and address for that relative.
Deputies said they tracked down that woman, who was actually Davis’ sister, and that led them to discover his true identity.
As of now, his whereabouts are unknown.
He’s wanted on a felony grand theft charge out of Volusia County as well as the hit-and-run warrant out of Oregon. His prior arrests include possession of fictitious ID, filing a false police report, domestic assault and possession of cocaine with intent to sell.
He has “Only God can judge me” tattooed on his left arm.
Anyone with information about Davis’ whereabouts is asked to call the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office at 386-668-3830 and ask for Detective Wheeler.
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