[GreenKeys] ADP1A1 - Stolen Car Recovered After 42 Years

[COURYHOUSE at aol.com]

Love to see a happy end  to a quest  like this!
 
Ed#
 
a message dated 7/12/2012 6:27:30 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time,  
Packard42 at gmail.com writes:



Texas Man Finds Stolen Car 42 Years Later... via  Teletype

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.




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