Las Vegas resort housekeeper accused of stealing more than $700,000 worth of jewelry from her room

A housekeeper at a Las Vegas resort is accused of stealing more than $700,000 worth of jewelry from a hotel room, police say.

Las Vegas police responded to Hotel Vdara & Spa on the Strip on May 7 regarding an alleged theft. Three male guests said they returned to their rooms the night before, several hours after requesting room service, to find their “bags upside down, beds half-made and cleaning supplies left behind. “, according to an arrest report.

Police said 14 luxury items totaling $768,400 – including two Rolex watches, an Audemars Piguet watch, a Cartier watch, diamond chains and a gold ring – were reported missing from the guests, according to the report. The jewelry was in a computer bag that guests had “hidden” among other bags in the room, police said. The men told the police that they had not lost their room keys.

Vdara’s housekeeping records showed the suspect – identified as Amanda Melendez, 28, of Las Vegas – cleaned the room the night of the robbery, according to the report. Hotel security records showed she accessed the room using her housekeeping key for about 20 minutes, according to the report.

After cleaning, the room was re-accessible using a different key that had not been found since May 5, according to the report. That key, #86, was also used on May 5 to gain access to a room where a guest reported theft of $300 in cash, according to the report.

“It is believed that at this time Melendez had key #86 and was using it to gain unauthorized access to rooms,” the arrest report states.

When questioned by police on May 7, Melendez allegedly denied knowing anything about the stolen property and refused to give a statement, according to the arrest report.

Further investigation revealed that Melendez had been in contact with a man at the Clark County Detention Center since October 2022, according to the report. On the day of the robbery, the man called Melendez on a taped line, during which she allegedly told him she was cleaning a room where “there was an Audemars Piguet, a Rollie (Rolex) and a bunch of other s—‘ referring to jewelry she found in a room,” the arrest report said.

The call took place while Melendez was in the victims’ bedroom, and the items would match the description of the stolen jewelry, according to police.

Melendez allegedly told the man that she would “make the room ‘look like a tornado'” and asked, “Do I have to take them all?” – referring to two Rolex and Cartier watches – to which he replied “Yeah, yeah”, according to the arrest report.

She then allegedly told the man she “couldn’t think straight” and was going out, according to the arrest report.

Melendez was taken into custody May 15 on grand larceny, residential burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary charges. She has posted bond and is due in court on June 20.

ABC News could not reach Melendez for comment.

Melendez had worked at Vdara since November 2022 and had not faced any prior disciplinary action on his record, according to the police report.

ABC News has reached out to MGM Resorts International, the parent company of the Vdara hotel brand, for comment.

Las Vegas police said there are no indications at this time that Melendez is linked to any other robberies reported to Vdara, but they are still investigating.

Police said they are also continuing to review phone calls between Melendez and the detained man.