JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Several heists in the past few months from houses in the Ortega and Mandarin areas have prompted a crime alert for residents who keep valuable jewelry in their homes.

In the most recent crime, more than $122,000 of diamonds and gold was stolen from one house.

While the owner of a home near the corner of Athens Drive and Melrose Plantation was doing yard work outside, someone went inside and stole her valuable jewelry, including a necklace worth almost $30,000.

According to investigators, the crooks likely got in the home through an open garage door.

Across town in Ortega, at another home, someone stole almost $50,000 worth of jewelry.

Police believe the criminals broke in through the back of the home and left through the front door. When the homeowner came home, police said she discovered every room had been ransacked.

Nearly $200,000 worth of jewelry was stolen in only two of four very similar instances. Channel 4 found police reports dating back to October, when other homes were also burglarized.

In each instance, jewelry seemed to be the hot ticket item.

Carolann and Timothy Carroll's Mandarin home was also broken into, and it was caught on surveillance cameras.

The video shows a man pull up to the house and go in. Forty-five seconds later the man was seen leaving, walking out with a chest filled with jewelry, including a diamond ring worth more than $27,000.

"Family, heirlooms, things we were going to pass down to my daughters," Carolann Carroll said were taken from the home.

Earlier this month, in Ortega, warning signs were put up after burglars hit several homes. Ortega Security posted the signs. They said jewelry is what the thieves want and they know where to go to get it.

Whether the burglaries are related is not clear, but the Jacksonville sheriff's Office said it is looking into each of the crimes.