MorganGrayson
01-18-2006, 11:55 AM
Two very cool stories:
N.Y. Man Gets Corvette Back After 37 Years
CARSON, Calif. (AP) - The last time former New York City resident Alan Poster saw his dream car, he was young and it was blue. Nearly four decades later, he's a little grayer and the car has turned silver - but it was love at first sight again as the Corvette somebody swiped in New York was returned to him.
"It's a dream. Wow, this is a beautiful model," Poster said as customs officials unveiled the 1968 sports car. "This is definitely a miracle. Because in speaking to the police, the odds of them finding me were a million to one."
Poster said last week that he won't drive the car much - he has a Mercedes - but he is glad to have it back in his collection.
Poster was living in New York in January 1969, when the car he'd bought for $6,000 three months earlier was stolen from a parking garage. Poster had not insured it against theft because he could not afford to do so.
He went on with his life, eventually moving to Northern California.
In November, the Corvette was inside a shipping container at the Port of Long Beach, destined for a buyer in Sweden. A routine customs check showed that the car had been reported stolen on Jan. 22, 1969, but there was no address for the owner.
Nobody knows where the car was or through how many hands it passed. While it appeared in perfect condition, some things had changed. It was silver with a red interior, had a different engine and lacked a gas tank, and its transmission had been stolen from another car.
The car was seized, and New York police were notified. Two detectives spent days studying microfilmed files until they found the report. They tracked down Poster and notified him that his long-lost Corvette had been found.
"The odds against finding it so many years afterward were phenomenal," said Mike Fleming, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
No arrests were made in connection with the theft of the car or the transmission.
The car's seller, a Long Beach collector, and the Swedish buyer are not suspected of wrongdoing, authorities said.
Poster, meanwhile, is overjoyed.
"This car was probably the last car I ever really (loved)," said Poster, 63. "It was the hottest thing around."
Wallet Returned to Woman After 56 Years
BLACKFOOT, Idaho (AP) - A woman who lost her wallet 56 years ago has had it returned to her after it was found behind a movie theater concession stand during cleaning.
The wallet belongs to Vestle Wixom, but Larry Christian had a hard-time locating the wallet's owner, who was then known as Vestle Michelson.
The wallet contained a Blackfoot High School student activity card from the 1949-50 school year and some photos, but no cash. The lack of moisture and light kept the wallet in near-perfect condition.
"You could still see the initials BHS on the front and a little note saying 'empty' the owner had placed on the coin purse," Christian told The Morning News newspaper in Blackfoot.
Christian said he found the wallet about two months ago when a work crew was cleaning out the area behind a concession stand to install new wallboard at the Nuart Theater. A work crew member tried to throw the wallet away, but Christian opened it anyway.
The wallet probably fell through a crack into a storage room behind concession stand, Christian said.
He turned in the wallet to the sheriff's department, where he works as a deputy, but said he was determined to find its owner. He consulted friends, and with some help, found out that Vestle Michelson had married Darwin Wixom.
Christian presented the wallet at last week's meeting of the Bingham County Historical Society, where Wixom is president. Christian told the group he had a historic item to present and handed the wallet to Wixom.
Wixom was amazed to have the wallet returned to her after it had been missing for so long.
"After all these years, I'd even forgotten about losing it," Wixom said.
Of course, you could be 93 before the car keys come home....
N.Y. Man Gets Corvette Back After 37 Years
CARSON, Calif. (AP) - The last time former New York City resident Alan Poster saw his dream car, he was young and it was blue. Nearly four decades later, he's a little grayer and the car has turned silver - but it was love at first sight again as the Corvette somebody swiped in New York was returned to him.
"It's a dream. Wow, this is a beautiful model," Poster said as customs officials unveiled the 1968 sports car. "This is definitely a miracle. Because in speaking to the police, the odds of them finding me were a million to one."
Poster said last week that he won't drive the car much - he has a Mercedes - but he is glad to have it back in his collection.
Poster was living in New York in January 1969, when the car he'd bought for $6,000 three months earlier was stolen from a parking garage. Poster had not insured it against theft because he could not afford to do so.
He went on with his life, eventually moving to Northern California.
In November, the Corvette was inside a shipping container at the Port of Long Beach, destined for a buyer in Sweden. A routine customs check showed that the car had been reported stolen on Jan. 22, 1969, but there was no address for the owner.
Nobody knows where the car was or through how many hands it passed. While it appeared in perfect condition, some things had changed. It was silver with a red interior, had a different engine and lacked a gas tank, and its transmission had been stolen from another car.
The car was seized, and New York police were notified. Two detectives spent days studying microfilmed files until they found the report. They tracked down Poster and notified him that his long-lost Corvette had been found.
"The odds against finding it so many years afterward were phenomenal," said Mike Fleming, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
No arrests were made in connection with the theft of the car or the transmission.
The car's seller, a Long Beach collector, and the Swedish buyer are not suspected of wrongdoing, authorities said.
Poster, meanwhile, is overjoyed.
"This car was probably the last car I ever really (loved)," said Poster, 63. "It was the hottest thing around."
Wallet Returned to Woman After 56 Years
BLACKFOOT, Idaho (AP) - A woman who lost her wallet 56 years ago has had it returned to her after it was found behind a movie theater concession stand during cleaning.
The wallet belongs to Vestle Wixom, but Larry Christian had a hard-time locating the wallet's owner, who was then known as Vestle Michelson.
The wallet contained a Blackfoot High School student activity card from the 1949-50 school year and some photos, but no cash. The lack of moisture and light kept the wallet in near-perfect condition.
"You could still see the initials BHS on the front and a little note saying 'empty' the owner had placed on the coin purse," Christian told The Morning News newspaper in Blackfoot.
Christian said he found the wallet about two months ago when a work crew was cleaning out the area behind a concession stand to install new wallboard at the Nuart Theater. A work crew member tried to throw the wallet away, but Christian opened it anyway.
The wallet probably fell through a crack into a storage room behind concession stand, Christian said.
He turned in the wallet to the sheriff's department, where he works as a deputy, but said he was determined to find its owner. He consulted friends, and with some help, found out that Vestle Michelson had married Darwin Wixom.
Christian presented the wallet at last week's meeting of the Bingham County Historical Society, where Wixom is president. Christian told the group he had a historic item to present and handed the wallet to Wixom.
Wixom was amazed to have the wallet returned to her after it had been missing for so long.
"After all these years, I'd even forgotten about losing it," Wixom said.
Of course, you could be 93 before the car keys come home....