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After 8 Years, eBay Vigilance Reunites Man and His Missing Guitar

by Warren Riddle on September 21, 2010 at 01:20 PM

gibson les paul special
Stolen items routinely appear on online auction sites, and, occasionally, watchful victims will even discover their own missing goods. One burglary victim recently discovered the benefits of such eBay vigilance, although eight years had elapsed since his belongings were actually taken. When Minnesotan Doug Duncan's house was originally burgled, a 1957 Gibson Les Paul Special guitar was among the pilfered property.

Several years later, a hopeful Duncan registered to receive messages from eBay whenever similar models appeared on the site, and last month the coveted, longed-for email finally appeared in his inbox. According to Boston.com, Duncan identified the guitar's serial number as well as a patch of duct tape still on the axe's case, and subsequently notified authorities. Somehow, the missing Les Paul had traveled approximately 2,000 miles to California, where it had wound up in the hands of an apparently unwitting collector.

The model's namesake invented the solidbody electric guitar, and died just last summer, so '57 Les Pauls frequently fetch thousands of dollars from eager buyers. Since the thieves also took Duncan's childhood guitar, he's now hoping to make a more sentimental eBay recovery.

Tags: crime, eBay, EbayStolenGoods, gibson, GibsonLesPaul, guitar, LesPaul, music, stolen, thief

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