stolen badges

alphaiota · #1 09-14-2002, 07:36 PM

does anyone know what to do if your badges (standard active and alumni badges) are stolen? i've been searching everywhere for my badges and i can't find them. last time i wore them was at my graduation in may. the reason i think they are stolen is b/c of this girl who was living with me for a while. i think she may have pawned them. i'm calling the pawn shop she would have gone to on monday, but i'm really upset about this. those badges are so sacred to me and mean so much to me. it wouldn't surprise me if she did b/c we had a huge falling out and i told her to move out. she knew how much they meant to me and would have done it just to hurt me (and get money for her lazy butt that doesn't work). please let me know if you know what i should do. thanks.

shelley j
sigma k

KappaStargirl · #2 09-14-2002, 09:36 PM

Before you do anything: FILE A POLICE REPORT!! Here's why:

You are a Sigma Kappa. Sigma Kappa badges are currently going for a lot on Ebay, even ones that aren't old. If you file a police report, that badge is then considered stolen property. Without the report, you have almost no hope of getting it off Ebay should it end up there. With it, you can prove that a seller, wittingly or not, is selling stolen goods, and you can stop the sale and get your badge back. While on Ebay, search under the terms "Sigma Kappa," "sorority badge," "sorority pin," "Sigma," "Kappa," "snake," anything you can think of that a seller might use to describe your badge. Also, run searches through Google for other sites where badges may be sold. If God forbid your badge does end up on Ebay and you have that police report, don't contact the seller or bidders, contact Ebay directly.

Once you've done that, get a team together to scour local pawn and thrift shops as well as secondhand jewelry stores. Lots of badges are found there. I would also recommend that you PM MRSMRS, Mary Silzel, who has a lot of experience recovering badges and may be able to give you further help (plus she's a wonderful woman).

I wish you the best of luck in finding your badge.

alphaiota · #3 09-14-2002, 09:46 PM

can i still file a police report if i don't have any proof that she stole it? also, she's since moved to denver and i have no way of contacting her. i'm pretty sure which pawn shop it's in if it is at a pawn shop. i have my initials on the back and my date of intitiation.

PsychTau · #4 09-15-2002, 11:59 PM

You can file a police report even if you have no idea who stole it. That's how most reports are filed. . .they don't have a suspect listed. And if you do find your badges, then you can always retract or withdraw (I don't know the proper word, sorry!) your report. Just let the police dept. know that you located them.

My sister had her house robbed, they took her jewelry and nothing else. A lot of it was inherited from her grandmother. She filed a report, and went looking in pawn shops. The policeman told her if she found anything that was hers, to say NOTHING to the pawn shop, just walk out and immediately call the police dept. She wasn't even to tell the pawn shop what she was looking for or why. (Course her situation is a little different than yours.)

One thing that helped her insurance/police report is that her grandmother had photographed and described each piece of jewelry. That way she could prove the jewelry was hers. A very good idea to do with everything you own.

I hope you find your badges!!!

alphaiota · #5 09-16-2002, 12:27 AM

i'm going tomorrow to file a report. i'm doing it down in oxford where it would have been stolen from. then i'm going to this specific pawn shop cuz i know the guy who works there. he would help me take care of it if it was there. other than that i don't know what to do other than ask nationals for replacements.

shelley j
sigma k

alphaiota · #6 09-23-2002, 07:52 PM

well, i have my badges back. i looked everywhere in my house trying to find them and when i didn't i assumed they had been stolen by this one particular girl. well, i finally found them today. i've withdrawn my police report and i'm just glad to have found them. thanks for all of the suggestions of what to do.

shelley j
sigma k

Aquastar · #7 09-23-2002, 11:49 PM

Im happy you got it back :-)

PsychTau · #8 09-24-2002, 01:10 AM

I'm glad you found your badges!!!
All's well that ends well!!