25years of visitors end w/theft..

[heckinohio]

Recently entertained 8 members of a religious missionary group. Members of this missionary group have visited several times over the past 10 years. Smaller group had been here twice, Dec. & Jan., before returning as part of this 8 member group visit & knew the "lay of the land"......Never occurred to me to take a inventory after they left. Couple weeks later I went to get my NIB Colt Custom Cobra 4" to take some pictures of it......gone!!!! Trying to recall specifics of who had access after 3 weeks is more than I could do. I do remember seeing more than one member of this group of 8 visitors pick this particular gun up & look at it. Eight visitors milling around a 50x16 gun room w/450 guns hanging or lying about are just too many to keep track of when they are asking questions from different locations in the room at the same time.

I am reluctant not to pursue this, I know that there is only one guilty in this group, their leaders promised co-operation......very tounge in cheek with that offer. Police chief asked me to make up a report & wants to include the names of the more likely suspects..........the ones who left this area soon after the visit.

Gun serial #263042....4", SS., .357...barrel marked Colt Custom Cobra.......is there a list of stolen here??

Advice??? Comments??? Anyone been here & done this???

PJH

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[jonnyc]

I would definitely pursue any legal route.
None of my gun room visitors, even my shooting friends, have unsupervised access, or know where I keep the keys.

[Badger]

Gun serial #263042....4", SS., .357...barrel marked Colt Custom Cobra.......is there a list of stolen here??

That's unfortunate...

I'd also pursue some kind of legal recourse ....

We do have a section for stolen items...

Report STOLEN or LOST military surplus firearms and accessories !! (click here)

Regards,
Doug

[browningautorifle]

I'd take them all the way down town on this one. They aren't friends, just aquaintences. Friends wouldn't do that. Give the Chief all the names you can come up with.

[heckinohio]

Detailed theft report completed & submitted, per instructions by local chief of police. I dont know what goes into the stolen data base as far as information other than, I'm guessing here, description, serial, date of theft & location particulars. Other principals called here & told wife they had requested audiance w/chief. I asked him if I could sit in, he said he will have to know what they want before making that decision

PJH

[browningautorifle]

Good luck on this one.

[Maple_Leaf_Eh]

I guess being a missionary doesn't exactly prevent temptation. Report this incident through the church's oversight department. Without lowering the tone of the conversation, your situation would not be the first time a person representing a faith group misbehaved.

[Sarge1998]

Detailed theft report completed & submitted, per instructions by local chief of police. I dont know what goes into the stolen data base as far as information other than, I'm guessing here, description, serial, date of theft & location particulars. Other principals called here & told wife they had requested audiance w/chief. I asked him if I could sit in, he said he will have to know what they want before making that decision

PJH

If you are lucky they may be willing to get the item returned without having to out the culprit (act as a neutral party if that's possible), or some information as to who the suspect is, either case I would not let you in on the interview or let you know when the meeting takes place, not if it compromises the investigation. Encourage the callers to contact the Chief but you should not interfere, don't initiate any calls as they may get cold feet or hesitant to follow through. You handed it over to the police, let them do their work their way for the best possible results.

I realize you have much stress over this situation, but you're doing the right thing in reporting it. There are people who are not normally prone to illegal acts that do so when temptation is overwhelming, your collection is an overwhelming temptation (IMO). We read often the story of clergy and those with deep religious convictions that make extreme errors of judgement, is this case any different? Best of luck and let us know the outcome or an update when resolved or the leads dry up.