Family Theft and Defamation Issue. Help if you can...

I am 21 and this past holiday, I visited my father in another state. While I was up there, he lost a pocket knife and kept looking for it. None of us could find it, however, so we(I) forgot about it. While there, I stayed in my brother's room while all 4 of my younger siblings stayed in there with me so we could have "sleep-overs". Needless to say, the room got very messy, very quickly, and when it came time to pack, I had a tough time finding all of my belongings in the mess. The night I got home, I was unpacking and discovered some of my brothers things had gotten into my bag. A few knives was all, just little boy pocket knives, so I immediately called my father to let him know. No answer, so I left a message. His wife had lent me a book for the ride home and I was to send it back whenever I finished it, so I said I would send the knives with the book when I could afford the postage. (Did I mention I am b-r-o-k-e?)

A few days later, he calls to accuse me of stealing knives from my brother. I hadn't, of course, so I calmly explained the situation. He can't believe that the knives magically appeared in my suitcase, which I think is complete nonsense anyway, of course they didn't just appear. They were obviously put there by mistake, a concept he and his wife refuse to believe. His wife then accuses me of lying about the most petty and mundane things I have ever heard anyone lie about. She believes that the fact that I had my door locked while I was packing is the most damning evidence of all that I was stealing from them. From then on, I refused to talk to her. Or him, for that matter.

A week or so later, they leave a message saying a book is missing and that since those knives were in my bag, I had obviously stolen my father's missing knife from the holiday. They called the police, and had an officer call me. A few days later, when the officer had left me a message, they had added a few more items to the list of missing goods. All together, I would estimate the cost of the missing items at under $100.

I do not know if they filed an official police report, but up until this point we were the only ones involved. Tonight my father sent an e-mail to my real mother full of all his accusations and ended with a threat that I am to be arrested any day now.

Q: Does he have any legal standing without ANY physical evidence, witnesses, or anything besides his heresay?

Q: Is this grounds for Misdemeanor Petty Theft?

Q: Should I be seeking a lawyer?

Q: Should I pursue a Defamation of Character suit against him for the slander to me and the officer, and now the libelous e-mail to my mother?

Any sincere advice would be appreciated,
Kt

You cannot sue for defamation here.

If the police pursue it you may want to have counsel just to make sure that this does not get blown out of proportion, and somehow you get charged etc.

It does seem a little strange if many items ended up in your bag...they would have reason to question that...