Ring appeal in Cheltenham phone murder probe
Police investigating the murder of a man apparently stabbed as he tried to retrieve his stolen phone have released an image of a missing ring.
Keith Soons, 36, from Gloucester, was found with stab wounds to his head in Wellington Lane in Pitville, Cheltenham, on Saturday.
Officers believe Mr Soons was wearing a silver-coloured ring with the word "Dad" on the night he was attacked.
Mr Soons, the father of a young daughter, had been on a night out.
Police believe the phone had been stolen and he was fatally injured trying to get it back.
Det Supt Simon Atkinson, from Gloucestershire Police, who is leading the investigation, said: "This ring was given to Keith by his girlfriend as a gift when their daughter was born last year.
"We have been told that Keith never took the ring off.
"It has huge sentimental value and we would urge anyone who finds it or who may have been offered it for sale to contact us."
Mr Soon's iPhone 4 and Lloyds TSB debit card, which was inside the phone's leather holder, are also missing.
Police said preliminary post-mortem results show Mr Soons is likely to have died from a wound to the side of his head, thought to have been made with a screwdriver-type implement.
More than 30 detectives are working on the investigation.