Local couple get wedding rings stolen just days before big day: 'Like a punch to the gut'

SEATTLE--Car prowls are a crime of opportunity happening everyday in every one of our communities. A West Seattle couple found this out the hard way.

Some consider it the greatest symbol of a couple’s love but thanks to a thief who broke into Matthew Miller and Naomi Taylor’s car, they’ll be without the wedding bands they had bought for their big day on August 26.

Looking through their engagement pictures, the couple prepare for a day they’ll always remember.

“That was the engagement ring they gave me when we were down in Texas,” said Taylor.

However, just days from saying ‘I do’ came one they wish they could forget.

“I got back to my car after work and somebody had pried the door open and the whole car was ransacked and they took all my loose change,” said Miller.

But that’s not all.

Miller said on Tuesday he just had their engagement and wedding rings cleaned for the big day and picked them up before work. He then parked at the First Hill Plaza parking garage for a few hours. He said he hid them in his ashtray because he feared he’d lose them while working his job as an electrician apprentice.

“When I saw the door was open, I thought ‘oh man,’ I hope they didn’t take those rings,” said Miller.

But sure enough, the rings were gone.

“It was like a punch to the gut,” said Taylor.

However, while the rings may have been a symbol of their love, they say they aren’t the only ones that hold them together.

“I got the girl; I still win,” said Miller.

They’re still hoping that someone recognizes those rings and turns them in.