09 Jul 2026
A St Albans massage therapist has made a heartfelt public appeal for the return of her much-loved engagement ring after it is believed to have been stolen from a Royal Mail sorting office.
Nadya Giffen, who owns Nadya Giffen Therapies in The Quadrant, Marshalswick, had sent the ring via Royal Mail special delivery to have a stone reset, but it was ripped out of the packaging before she received it back.
The ring has huge personal significance as it belonged to Nadya’s late mother, who died suddenly two weeks before her 40th birthday when Nadya was just 14 years old.
She said: “No one ever ‘gets over’ the death of a parent, you just learn to live with it and it took me a whole life time to learn to live with the loss of my Mum.
“Her engagement ring was symbolic of true love. My Dad died of a broken heart, he simply couldn’t live without her. This was the ring he chose for her which she wore until she died, and I have kept hold of it ever since in the hope that one day I would find the kind of love they had.
“I was lucky enough to find that kind of love when I met my fiancé Richard, so when he proposed to me with a heart shaped chocolate, I accepted. I asked him not to buy me a ring as I had my Mum’s and I was saving it until I had found the kind of love my parents had.
“This ring means everything to me, it isn’t about monetary value, it is the last thing I have of my Mum’s that is really special, personal and unique.
“I am devastated that someone has stolen it, but it is so distinctive – even more so with a missing diamond – that whoever took it won’t be able to do anything with it due to it being so recognisable.
“Having my ring stolen has mentally floored me. It has reopened the trauma of losing my Mum and I feel the deepest sense of loss all over again. Someone somewhere must know something. If whoever took it reads my words and understands my pain and can just return it to me then it will help to reconcile my heartache.”
The Royal Mail has escalated the theft to their internal security team, but if the person who has it wants to return it direct to Nadya before a full investigation takes place, then they should send it to: Nadya Giffen Therapies, 47a The Quadrant, Marshalswick, St Albans AL4 9RB.
