Paula Deen's Housekeeper Charged with Stealing $100,000 Worth of Jewelry

SAVANNAH, Ga. (CBS/AP) Police say a housekeeper stole and tried to pawn thousands of dollars worth of jewelry belonging to Food Network star and celebrity chef Paula Deen.

Savannah-Chatham police told the Savannah Morning News they went to Deen's Wilmington Island home on May 3 on a report of about $100,000 worth of men's and women's jewelry that had vanished within the past year.

Deen's husband Michael Anthony Groover told police the couple had caught housekeeper Mary Alice White, 47, with some jewelry and had fired her.

Authorities charged White on May 5 with theft. They say she was caught trying to pawn a pair of $18,000 earrings at a Savannah pawnshop.

When contacted by The Associated Press, White denied the allegations and hung up.