“A professional-quality handmade violin stolen from a musician with the Missoula Symphony Orchestra during the weekend is back in the hands of its owner after it was sold at a pawn shop, which recognized the item as having been stolen,” report Dillon Kato in Wednesday’s (5/25) Missoulian (Montana). “Sarah Harmsworth posted on her Facebook page Monday afternoon that her instrument, as well as the case and two violin bows altogether valued at around $8,000, had been sold to a Missoula pawn shop for $50. The instrument was taken out of Harmsworth’s car sometime between Friday evening and Saturday morning. Steven Sethney, manager of Cash 1 Pawn, said some of his employees had recognized the violin and case from a description Harmsworth posted online that had been shared on social media. The store contacted her and the police on Monday to say it may have their instrument.… Public information officer Sgt. Travis Welsh said they have suspect in the case, and an investigation into the theft is ongoing. Harmsworth, a University of Montana student who is also principal second violinist for the Missoula Symphony, said everything that had been in her violin case was recovered except for her sheet music.”
Posted May 25, 2016
