Man gets car back 42 years after it was stolen.

[Dinner]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18848481

I like stories like this. A man living in Texas who bought a brand new Austin-Healey in 1967 but had it stolen in 1970 has finally gotten his car back. Apparently the guy retained his love of the Austin-Healey brand over the years and he happened to spot an online ad from a dealer in Los Angeles that looked just like his old car... It turns out it WAS his old car.

US man reunited with long-lost, stolen Austin-Healey

A US man has recovered a vintage sports car he spotted being sold on eBay 42 years after thieves stole it from him, officials in California say.
Robert Russell, 66, said he had never given up searching for the 1967 Austin-Healey, which was stolen in 1970.
After seeing the car on eBay, he found that the vehicle identification number on the website matched the one on his title certificate, AP reports.
The car was being put up for auction by a dealer in Los Angeles.
The dealer told Mr Russell they had bought it from a man who said it had been in his family since 1970.
After checking Mr Russell's claim, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department told him he could pick up his vehicle.
He has since brought it back to Texas where he currently lives, AP says.
Mr Russell told police he had originally bought the vehicle for $3,000 (£1,925). It is now valued at $23,000.

[ColdWizard]

Pfft. That's not a story. This is a story.

Bob Russell could not be blamed for losing hope that he would reunite with his 1967 Austin-Healey. Stolen outside his Philadelphia apartment 42 years ago, the British roadster seemed a lost cause.

But thanks to the Internet and some creative police work, Russell has his pride and joy back.

When Russell, then a graduate student at Temple University, returned home the morning after a date with his future wife, his car was nowhere to be found. For decades since, he searched for his beloved ride in vain. On a trip to Washington, D.C., he stared at a parked Austin-Healey for half an hour in hopes of finding a distinctive marking to no avail.

On a recent eBay session, though, his luck changed: the cream-colored car was listed for auction by a Los Angeles car dealer, with a final bid of $19,700. Russell, who now lives near Dallas, knew the car was his because its vehicle identification number (VIN) matched the one on the title he kept since the theft.

"I'm not trying to sound indelicate, but you're selling my car," Russell told the dealer.

After Los Angeles police told Russell they could not recover it because it was not listed as an active stolen car, Russell called the Philadelphia Police Department, which, luckily for him, had a few tricks up its sleeve.

Deborah Sanborn, in the department's information-systems division, dug up a Teletype report about the theft in an archive. In order for Philadelphia police to communicate with police in Los Angeles, the case needed to be active in the FBI's information system, which it had not been for about 35 years, said Walt Bielski, a detective in the Philadelphia Police Department's major crimes division.

There seemed to be no way to fix that problem without creating a new one — re-entering the case would cause it to be counted incorrectly in 2012 crime statistics.

But Lt. Fred McQuiggan devised a clever solution: create a new category, "re-entered stolen vehicle," which would allow the theft to be activated without adding to the city's current crime tally.

After Bielski filed the report, the LAPD impounded Russell's car and said the retired sales manager could pick it up whenever — though not without paying $600 in towing fees.

Russell said he did not mind paying the fees at all when he picked up his Austin in Los Angeles on June 18. He was just happy he did not have to fight for the car in court and amazed at the odds he had beaten.

"The chances of it being it one piece were slim to none. The chances of me finding it were slim to none. Fifty coincidences had to coincide to have this happen," Russell said. "I should have bought some lottery tickets."

The Austin-Healey 3000, discontinued in 1967, is not in the shape it was in the day it was stolen, but Russell said he plans to restore it to its former glory. The interior needs work, the paint needs a new coat and the top needs to be replaced, he said.

Bielski said the car is the oldest stolen car in his department's records.

"I think it'll probably stay that way for a long time," he said.

[Fake Boris]

Without surprise, it was originally stolen in Philadelphia.

[Snotty]

I think the detective who created the database entry of 're-entered stolen vehicle' is truly the hero of this piece

[Demonbinder]

Yes he is. But it's amazing that the guy kept looking after all this time. Great that he did get it back, eventually.

[Main_Brain]

re-entering the case would cause it to be counted incorrectly in 2012 crime statistics.

Sure, but it would also be counted as a SOLVED Case would it not?