FRIENDSWOOD, Texas — The adopted son of former NFL defensive lineman Vince Wilfork is accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of his father’s jewelry, including a pair of Super Bowl rings that were sold, authorities said.
D’Aundre Holmes-Wilfork, 23, of Friendswood, Texas, was arrested May 22 and charged with theft of property greater than $300,000, The Galveston County Daily News reported. The Galveston County District Attorney’s Office released a police complaint detailing the charges against Holmes-Wilfork on Monday, the newspaper reported.
Wilfork reported the stolen items on May 10, according to Sports Illustrated. They included the two Super Bowl championship rings from the 2004 and 2014 seasons, two AFC championship rings, a college football championship ring he won while playing for the University of Miami, expensive necklaces, bracelets and earrings, the Daily News reported.
Wilfork, a five-time Pro Bowl selection who played 13 seasons in the NFL with the New England Patriots and Houston Texans, discovered the items were missing in May 2020 while packing up his Friendswood home for a move, according to the complaint. But Wilfork did not immediately report the items as stolen because he believed they might have been packed away or in storage at his second home in Florida, according to the Daily News.
Wilfork realized the jewelry had been stolen when he was contacted by a Patriots fan who said that someone in a memorabilia group had the rings and wanted to know if they were authentic, KTRK reported.
Wilfork was able to contact the person who claimed to own the rings, the Daily News reported. That person said he had bought the jewelry from Holmes-Wilfork in May 2020, paying $62,000 for the items, the newspaper reported.
According to a criminal complaint, the rings were turned in to the Friendswood Police Department after they were reported stolen.
Holmes-Wilfork was arrested May 22, and his bail was set at $300,000, the Daily News reported. He was not in custody as of Tuesday morning, the newspaper reported.
Holmes-Wilfork is Wilfork’s adopted son and the oldest of his three children, CBS Sports reported. Holmes-Wilfork had already been born when his mother met Wilfork while he was attending the University of Miami. The couple later married and had two more children together.