An owner of a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro cannot be lucky: after no less than 17 years, he has his stolen Camaro back. Only not quite in the state in which he had it himself before.
After his Chevrolet Camaro was stolen, a man from Virginia did not give up for 17 years and did everything he could to find it. With success, because the classic is now back with its owner. That writes The Daily Progress. Owner Tommy Cook told local media he never gave up on the search for his beloved Camaro. The car was found in a garage in Maryland, not far from the crime scene. The last time Cook saw his Camaro, it was in his garage. When he returned from a trip the car had disappeared.
After the theft, Cook continued to renew the status of ‘stolen car’ with police forces far and wide. He felt the car would one day be found when the Camaro stayed on police radar. But he also kept looking out for his car and that paid off. Cook was recently checking out another Camaro for sale for a friend. In one corner of the garage where that Camaro was, was another Camaro. It stood out because of the fold-down seats, an option that was apparently quite rare and that rang a bell at Cook. After some searching, he discovered the chassis number under a polyester cover under the bonnet and that matched his missing Camaro.
The car was painted in a green color, while the Camaro was still orange in color when it was still with Cook. So it was extra special that, thanks to his relentless search for his car, Cook discovered that it was his. The owner turned out to have bought the car from someone else without any knowledge of the stolen status (before that the car was already in the possession of two others) and is not to blame. Although the police were called in, it soon became apparent that the person was not malicious and Cook was handed the keys from him. Undoubtedly a big disappointment for the man who initially kept him at home, but for Cook a huge reward for his years of search.