We went to our lake house near San Angelo over the weekend and discovered our kayak had been stolen.
A dealer suggested posting a description here, so if anyone in the west or central regions of Texas should happen to see it, please let me know.
It is a blue, 2-place Wilderness Systems Pamlico 135T. I do not know the serial number. It has two distinguishing features: there is a stainless steel U-bolt on top of the bow that I used to lock it (they stole the chain and lock, too). Also, since we let the kids use it, I added extra foam flotation (black closed cell foam) in the stern.
Please call 432-six six four-2832 if you see it.
Thanks!!!
Pawn Shops
Pawn shops have to hold pawned items for 90 days. While they are holding them they will not let you see them or even tell you about them. My stolen kayak showed up at a pawn shop just a couple of miles from my apartment after 3 months. I had been there a couple of times looking to “buy” a kayak but they never even mentioned having one. Do not mention a stolen kayak to them or they will have it out of the location before you can blink an eye.
My recommendation.
- Make some flyers and get them to local police departments. I was told by an officer that the filed reports may not draw attention but going to the trouble to make a flyer especially with a picture helps get the police more interested.
- Make rounds of any local pawn shops as if you are looking to buy a kayak.
- After 90 days make the rounds of the pawn shops again in case it has been held in storage.
- If you find it at a pawn shop call the police and get them there before you ever mention to the pawn shop that it might be stolen. In my case, even with the police there, they accused me of scratching a fake serial number on the kayak while they were not looking. Unluckily for them the guy that found the kayak and called me and the police was an off-duty commander of the SWAT team. Tough sell convincing the responding officer that the commander and I had faked the SN.
Good luck.
Mark
Seems like nothing good
comes out of Texas these days. Good luck.
Good advice
Pawnshops here have to abide by a similar waiting period.
A blue double should be fairly easy to spot around here. I’ll keep an eye out for it in case it makes it way to CO.
Boats are stolen everywhere
It’s got nothing to do with the state you live in. Your comment shows your prejudice, nothing more.
To the original poster, without a serial number it’s difficult to establish ownership. If a kayak matching the description is spotted how do you prove it was stolen?
Serial Number was key
to getting mine back. If you can find out the SN you can add it to the original police report. If are not able to get the SN I would recommend adding the U-bolt and added foam info plus any other identifiers to the original police report so it will at least be officially on the record. Call the police dept to find out about adding info to the original report.
Mark
I think he was talking about Texas
not just stolen boats
Stolen Kayak
Thanks for the info about pawn shops. I figured they would try to help in an investigation, guess not.
I did call the sheriff’s deputy today and told him about my modifications to the boat.
During his initial visit to my lake house, I told him that someone had stolen our electric meter last month. The electric company told me that one of my neighbors had stolen it, but they wouldn’t tell me which one. It appears that the deputy followed up on that and found out who stole the meter. He said that he had a lead on the kayak, as well, but that wouldn’t go into detail. At least it sounds like he’s doing his job. Not much goes on in the little community where our lake is, so I guess he has time to spend on it.
Keeping my fingers crossed!
.
Good luck getting it back, it’s unfortunate that these things happen.
Just to add to the pawn shop discussion. The reason pawn shops do not like to help you find your stolen items is that they have already spent money to purchase it. So saying, if it turns out it’s your stolen item, they obviously have to give it back to you free of charge, which means they just lost money.
As honest as anyone may be, no one likes losing money. It’s the sad truth. I wholeheartedly agree with the statements above: go to a pawn shop “looking to buy” not “looking to find.” Going into a pawn shop to find a particular item may very well mean getting the run around from the owner.
Update
Haven’t found my kayak, but we were cleaning house this past weekend and found the Manufacturer’s Statement of Origin.
Several good folks in San Angelo said they will watch for it. The serial number of my boat is:
WEMPDKVWH607
Thanks!