Recovery Description

6 months after my bike was stolen I found it on gumtree. The bike had been sold at a car boot sale soon after it was stolen and the couple that bought it wanted to sell it a couple of days ago. It is worth thinking about intermediary owners selling the bike unknowingly on gumtree months after it was stolen as well as the actual thief. The people selling my bike had no suspicion and that made finding it on gumtree easier. When preparing to find your bike online, think about the long run instead of the short run. It is possible you will find your bike months later when you have forgotten about it. Your frame number and the crime reference number will allow you to get your bike back at any stage in time if you find it. Advice to find your bike again: 1a. SET UP THE "FindThatBike" gumtree/eBay alert! I received frequent notifications and checked every entry that matched my bike's name (try to be as specific as possible when entering the search words, this helps when your bike is unusual). In my case, the bike was put up on Gumtree 6 months after I had it stolen with the exact name of the model (sellers are likely not to be the thieves at this stage if they advertise it so specifically). DO NOT set up the alert with trivial words like "road bike" and check everyday frenetically. It is better to be specific and take your time (you can still manually research terms like "road bike" every day if you have the energy, but if you get too many emails and are overwhelmed with entries you will soon give up and unsubscribe from the tracker). In my case, SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE. Your bike will maybe pop up like in my case with an unknowing seller. 1b. CONTACT THE MANUFACTURER and let them know of your frame number and loss (in my case the couple selling the bike had called the manufacturer 5 months ago to inquire if it was a stolen bike). 1c. Of course notify the police. 2. If you find your bike online. DO NOT CONTACT THE SELLER YET. 3. Take screenshots of the ad on gumtree/ebay, the seller's name, the ad number, the phone number, the location and PASTE ALL THAT INFORMATION INTO A WORD document (in case the ad is taken down by the seller). 4. Investigate the location and try to find an exact address. See if the seller is advertising any other products (sometimes they use other phone numbers there). 5. Call the police early in the morning (7am) to notify them of your bike (the earlier you call the earlier the police will be able to tackle your inquiry). 6. Let them know of ALL the information: phone number, location, seller etc. The police are able to compare your findings (name, location) with their database (this is why it helps to do EXTENSIVE investigations from home). In my case, the police were very efficient and went to see the seller the same day. 7. INFO: Once the police contacted the person, but for any reason, they cannot see the bike, you are on the "safe" side. I was informed that it is a criminal offence to sell or hide that bike and sooner or later the police will be able to see it. 7. DO NOT THINK THAT THE SELLER IS ALWAYS THE THIEF. In my case, the seller was a couple that bought the bike off a car boot sale. This is how I got my bike back 6 months later. REMEMBER: Slow and steady wins the race (if you have an unusual bike that you can easily spot).