Eagle-eyed folk fans spot stolen guitar on eBay
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 2, 2005 | 3:21 PM ET
CBC News
In December 2000, Yarrow's handmade Canadian Larrivée acoustic guitar – made in 1973 and stored in a case bearing his name – disappeared during a flight from Washington to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The $500 US reward for its recovery went unclaimed.
Larrivée custom guitars can sell for upwards of $10,000.
Recently, fans of the folk group recognized the guitar being sold in an eBay auction and notified both the auction website and Yarrow.
EBay immediately cancelled the auction and informed Florida law enforcement officials Monday. According to a spokesperson from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, agents recovered the guitar, within an hour, in the Miami suburb of Sunny Isles Beach.
"I'm very delighted and so is Puff the Magic Dragon," Yarrow, 66, told the Associated Press Tuesday. "It's an old friend you know and I'm eagerly awaiting its arrival."
Yarrow said that the Larrivée guitar had been a favourite that he had used for concerts, recordings, protest marches and during a visit to the White House.
"You don't make music on other guitars like you do on this," he said. "It's got its own personality and it has that history."
Yarrow has requested that no criminal charges be filed against the man auctioning the guitar. According to the FBI, the man told agents that he had been doing a favour for a friend and shared the names of everyone involved.
Yarrow plans to take the recovered guitar on his upcoming spring tour.
