Dear listers,

I want to announce that the flute below was stolen from a friend of mine this week.
We don't know what kind of person could do this, but just in case I decided to post here and see if anyone get any news about it:

Haynes, all silver, B foot, handmade, serial# 45357.
email: davsonsouza@gmail.com

Thanks a lot for any help.

Zevang

Oh that is just awful I hope that your friend finds his flute very soon. It would appall me to think that another flutist might or could have done something like this since we already know what an attachment our flutes can be to us. I will keep my eye out on ebay as that is where a lot of stolen instruments appear.

you know what? my friend's girlfriend lost her Sankyo flute with 14K Lafin modified Muramatsu headjoint last year in a taxi! She cried 2 weeks before got over it, the taxi driver probably melted the gold headjoint...sigh. when she called Lafin to make another, Lafin said he doesn't do it anymore or delivery ~ 5 years.

Yes guys, this is a bit like loosing a child. I little bit worse in the sense that this child in particular doesn't cry so we cannot hear it calling us...
Thanks very much for your support.

good idea to post the serial number, be sure to send this info to fluteworld or other places and keep an eye out for it on Ebay

Good idea Patrick!
thanks

OMG, who would do that to a flute player???, certainly not another flute player, I had mine stolen at school once (not worth nearly as much though) and i was in tears for ages, until they found it under someone's car! but i will keep an eye out in my flute bargain hunting. i hope they find it though.

Indeed, we are sure it was not a musician, at all.
He acctually broke in my friend's house and took many things.
I think it's a person who saw the case and became curious if it could be of any value.
I've heard of people who "found" a flute and not knowing what it was sold it for $50.
Others sold an inherited instrument for a bargain, then the person who bought it discovers later that it in fact was rare and renowned.
In spite of this, in some point of this "net" there is always some person who take advantage and expose it in some vehicle to make "some money". That's the time for us to catch it...

if it was a burglary ensure the police are aware of its value and the serial number ect. then if your friend has insurance make sure she claims to get a flute to play.

After communicating the police, they write a paper we call here the "Occurrence Bulletin" where all the information is written for future reference, if needed.
This is the proof that this particular flute serial# belongs to a certain person.
About insurance, I don't think he had it. It's not very common here, just because it's difficult to find a company that accepts flutes as the object to be insured.

my flute has also been stolen on 2007's christmas!!!!! I was so sad... since then i play on a crappy tarnished garbage flute.

Hello . . My son & I know how you feel. Someone stole his lovely Haynes flute just a few weeks ago. We are devastated. It is almost like a loved one has died. We saved mony for 4 years to buy the flute of his dreams; then someone entered the practice-room at the Barcelona Conservatorio of the Liceu and took it. We can't afford to just go and buy another. We are looking at E-Bay every day and have contacted all the music shops and schools in Barcelona. So could you all please help us? If anyone has other ideas for how to amplify the search, we would be extremely grateful. The flute is silver, open hole, B-foot, 0.018 body, split E mechanism and has the serial number 51771.
Thanks to all and best wishes . . Chris

The Larry Krantz maintains a stolen flute list on his web site. I'd suggest reporting it to him for inclusion in his list.

http://www.larrykrantz.com/stolen.htm

Hello "musicman" and thankyou for the advice. We have already put in the report to the Larry Krantz listing. I don't know the probability of recovering the flute, but I haven't given up hope yet, in fact I probably never will. It is all too painful, as only someone who is a musician or the father of a musician could appreciate. In this case, I am both of these things.
Thanks again . . Best wishes from Spain and from Chris & Russell.

Hello again, I commented on the theft of my son's Haynes silver flute last November. The serial number I quoted was incorrect. Instead of 51771 it should have read 51871. The rest of the decription was, of course, accurate. We have not recovered the flute; we keep an eye on E-bay and the second hand areas. We live in hope!! Thanks to all . . Chris.