AUBURN – The search was on Thursday for a man accused of stealing rings worth more than $6,000 from a family member and selling them to buy cigarettes earlier this year.

Police were searching for 50-year-old Gerard Laganiere with a warrant charging him with felony theft.

Laganiere, whose last known address was listed as Auburn, was indicted Wednesday by an Androscoggin County grand jury.

In February, Laganiere was asked by a family member to build some shelves at a home on Birch Drive in Poland, according to a police report. Soon after, the woman who lives there noticed three rings were missing from a dresser in a bedroom.

Police said the jewelry – two engagement rings and a wedding band – was worth approximately $6,200.

An Androscoggin County Sheriff’s deputy went to a rehabilitation center in Auburn where Laganiere was staying to ask him about the theft, according to the reports.

There, police said Laganiere admitted to stealing the rings and selling them for $100 to pay off a debt and to buy cigarettes.

Laganiere was indicted on the theft charge but police have been unable to find him. His last known addresses are listed as 51 Ninth St. and 24 Dunn St.

Investigators ask that anyone with information about Laganiere’s whereabouts call their local police department.