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Stolen Property Returns

An e-commerce startup that sells property held by police, is asking college students to register their bikes, iPods and laptops in case those items get stolen and later show up. The students are asked to provide serial numbers, photographs, sales receipts and other identifying data.

Tom Lane, a former detective and founder of the company, said: "Properly documenting valuable goods is a necessary step to recovering them, whether they find it through StealItBack, their local police department or the university lost and found". More than 30 owners were reunited this way with their stolen property, including an electric guitar from a Japanese punk band and an antique class ring from the Illinois College of Pharmacy from the 1890s.

Three weeks ago, radio-controlled off-road car enthusiast Glen Krause of Chula Vista was reunited with his Mammoth ST truck and a Mugen MBX5 Pro Spec buggy, each worth $1,500. The cars were pinched at a race in February, when turned away from his pit table. The company has contracts with more than 700 law enforcement agencies to collect, package and sell unreturned, found and seized goods, such as diamond rings, stereos, cars and even land.