14 year old theft: Remington 1911A1

[Griff Murphey]

I came across the old paperwork for two guns I had stolen 14 years ago. I know some of you guys archive information like this so here it is: Remington US 1911A1 S/n 1425595, stolen July 26th, 1996.

At the same time also a Smith M-59-2 S/n A399013. Thanks!

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Chuckindenver]

have a local PD check to see if they are still on the HOT sheets, sometimes they get purged from the system, you may want to update your personal info with them as well.
i had a nice Colt 1911 that was recovered and destroyed, i changed my number, they couldnt reach me, waited 90 days, and cut it up...
suuuuuure they did..
however.
i have got a few guns back that were stolen back in the mid 80,s from my dads place.
we found them at a local gunshow, dealer selling out an estate.
called the PD, they came, checked my pops ID. gave him back his guns. they were stolen in 1985.

[Griff Murphey]

Chuck, I have contacted the Fort Worth PD every few years on these; always ask if they are still active on NCIC - they never respond.

[coppertales]

gun shows in Fort Worth every month, it is probably sitting in someone's house. Maybe you will get lucky and someone will sell it to a pawn shop or dealer and it will pop up on the stolen list when the number is run.....chris3

[Chuckindenver]

i have found if you have a buddy thats a cop, just have him look for you.
being a gunsmith, im lucky to have a few cop buddies,
i had a Savage 720 stolen at a show a few months ago, had a buddy check last week. yup, its on the list.

[Mike Haas]

Chuck, I have contacted the Fort Worth PD every few years on these; always ask if they are still active on NCIC - they never respond.

Griff - I'm a retired Md. State Trooper and I was a Warrant/Fugitive Investigator.
By Federal Law we had to annually "Validate" all of our NCIC entrys for fugitives. We also assisted on the annual "Validation" of Stolen Firearms NCIC entrys.
Stolen firearms remain in NCIC for 99 years unless reported "Recovered" which always has to be initated by a Police Inquiry and subsequent followup reports by the inquiring Agency as to disposition and the orginal NCIC entry can only be removed by the reporting Police Agency.
Part of the "Validition" Process will often include weather or not the "Victim" was paid for his loss by his Insurence Co. If so - the Insurence Co is the owner of the property (Firearms) and NOT the "Victim". That means you'd never hear of the recovery unless your Insurence Co. called you and asked you if you wanted to "buy" your firearms back! (this only applys if you recieved an Insurence payment). The likelyhood of your Ins. Co. calling you is less than "NIL" -"Nada" - "Never" - or less!!!

If you wish to actually determine if your firearms are still entered on NCIC go to the PD you reported the theft to IN PERSON!! with your Firearms Serial #'s and info (Case # also if you have it) in hand and ask to speak with a Criminal Investigator. Be polite but firm!. Your request is simple, you want to verify your firearms are still on NCIC or have they been cleared for some reason. If they have been cleared from NCIC then WHEN and by WHOM? - If they were cleared from NCIC your next question is WHY and by WHOM.
Any decent Criminal Inv. can run your firearms data into NCIC and have a response for you inside of 5 minutes after typing it into the computor. If it's been cleared he will have a response for you in a week or so..but make an appointment within two weeks to find out WHY/WHEN/WHERE/WHOM cleared the NCIC entry.

If the NCIC entry is still active ask for a printout as it will have the original case # on it; you may need that later for followup.

If you get jerked around some (Likely) ask for a Superior, polite but firm! It flat out doesn't take that much time to check you out (ID etc) and run your serial #s. If they are still entered you've got your answer, if they aren't you'll likely get where they went to and why. If your property was NEVER entered (A possibility!!) then you can correct that!

Again!! - Polite and firm, jump through some hoops but followup on it because if you don't you'll always be nagged about it.

FWIW - I was contacted about 8 years after I retired to verify a report of stolen firearms I had taken in 1971. I did so by viewing a copy of my original report. One of the stolen guns was recovered from a Hunter going into Canada for a Spring Bear hunt. The rifle (WIN Model 70 -30-06) was seized and returned to the original owner (No-Ins. ). I have no idea if the Hunter was charged..I just know the system worked that time.

HTH - Mike