I am sure many of you are aware we are part time antique dealers specializing in silver. We had done shows for about 20 years before my prostate surgery. For the last five years we've been doing only on-line auctions; however, a few months ago we decided to rent a showcase in one of the nicer antique malls in the area. It basically is giving us a chance to sell a rather large accumulated inventory. We had aske the operators of the mall about getting a larger showcase, and a couple of weeks ago one became available. Two weeks ago Saturday we moved our inventory into the larger case. Three hours later I received a call from the mall. I was thinking 'oh goodie someone wants to make an offer on something'. Some of our items are rather expensive, and we do have some room to bargain.

That was not the case. The showcase had been broken into and several items had been stolen. It turned out that two scarce olive servers, three fancy bonbon servers and a sugar sifter were gone. We met with a deputy sheriff as soon as we could get out there, and filed a report. We moved everything back into the more secure case on Sunday morning. We waited.

Monday evening, late, we received a call from a doctor friend whom I had told earlier that afternoon about the theft. "I think your silver's on eBay." It was. I quickly bid on all the items to wipe out the By-It-Now option, and called the Sheriff. This was at about 11:00 PM. I was able to talk to one of the investigators who took the case the next day. They had already identified the seller (not the thief). The items sold and the auction ended last Monday night. I had actually bought two of them back from my original bids. The Sheriff contacted the seller the next morning, and fortunately none of the items had been mailed out. The seller contacted eBay, and all the sales were canceled. By this time, the thief had been identified because Arkansas law requires identification when selling precious metals. The thief received $130 for $2500-$3500 worth of antigue silver. The thief is a known thief, parole violator, who has another felony charge waiting for him. He may be difficult to find as there is an APB out on him (All Points Bulletin).

Two deputies and I met with the dealer this afternoon, and he turned the items over to me. Arkansas law says that when stolen goods are sold to a pawn shop that the original owner can be required to reimburse the pawnshop what they paid the thief for the items. He refused to take the money, and we have our silver back.

The law enforcement personnel were very good. I just hope that they get this thief, and put him away for a while - like forever. Things worked out far better than we had ever hoped they would. Now, we just need to sell all that stuff.