TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

What at first seemed to be a collectible doll heist for the ages now looks more like a very expensive mother-daughter spat.

The District Attorney's office will not file criminal charges against 29-year-old Jennifer Watts, an Oildale woman who was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of grand theft and burglary, Assistant District Attorney Scott Spielman said Friday, because the case is actually a civil matter.

"We got it today, took a look at it and rejected it today," Spielman said. "The reason criminal charges are not being filed is because this appears to be a civil matter, since it revolves around a family dispute of property."

Watts's mother, 53-year-old Marie Watts, reported the theft of thousands of dollars' worth of collectible items, including Marie Osmond collector's dolls, Annette Funicello collector's bears, Boyds collector's bears and her husband's diecast cars on Nov. 25, said sheriff's department spokesman Ray Pruitt.

Wednesday, detectives served a search warrant at a house in the 1200 block of Woodrow Avenue, where Watts was subsequently arrested, a department news release said.

During the investigation, only a limited number of stolen items were recovered and evidence suggested some of the stolen property may have been sold to unsuspecting collectors in and around Kern County, the news release said.

But in reports on the case, Spielman said, the younger Watts contended that she had ownership access to many of the missing items.

"In the report, (Marie Watts) says she doesn't know how (Jennifer Watts) got a key," Spielman said. "Jennifer says the stuff was given to her and she had a key to the storage unit ... When you look at all that information, this is something that appears to be a civil matter and who owes what for the stuff that's gone."

Calls to the sheriff's department for comment on the rejected charges were not returned Friday afternoon.

Nevertheless, if you've purchased any Marie Osmond collector's dolls, Annette Funicello collector's bears, Boyds collector's bears or diecast cars recently, you may want to contact law enforcement, Spielman said -- they could still be stolen property.

Marie Watts said in no uncertain terms that she considers the property, which she estimated to be worth "easily $20,000," stolen.

Told that the District Attorney's office will not be filing criminal charges, she said, "I don't know what happened and I'm not going to stop until something's done."

She added: "(Jennifer) needs to be responsible for what she (did). I mean, she's got all of our stuff that we've worked for and everything else."

A phone number for Jennifer Watts could not be found.