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Sorry to hear this happened.

I would recommend two things:

Put in a notice at many of the local pawns, and especially those in the area surrounding the theft and those in nearby "low rent" areas.

Keep an eye on eBay.

Keep this post up near the top and post in other forums. If possible provide some pictures of the horn if it has any distinguishing marks (i.e. dents, scratches, etc.).

Make sure you fill out a police report if you haven't already ASAP. Keep in touch with the police every once in a while. Enough to show concern, not enough to bug them.

Keep an eye on the local classifieds. Especially any that has a very cheap tuba for sale.
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Best of luck to you. Talk to your homeowner's/renter's insurance and auto insurance to see if this will be covered, at least partially.

I would contact some other musicians/friends in the area too. Never know when one of them will come across something.

Good luck!!!

Sorry to hear about your horn. Check the local pawn shops. A lady here got her french horn stolen. It had dimes soldered onto the keys and also had an alligator case. That description allowed the police to go into several pawn shops (which I hear they love to do if they've got a good lead) and they found it. It was returned to the lady within a few days, and boy, was she happy! The guy that pawned it was traced and he went to jail.

One more suggestion would be to send a picture/description to local repair shops.

bloke wrote:

Wow,The crime rate must be incredibly low in Indy for cops to be able to do any sort of police work involving property crimes

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No, its just that, sometimes, the criminals are incredibly stupid.

bloke wrote:The crime rate must be incredibly low in Indy for cops to be able to do any sort of police work involving property crimes

Naptown Tuba wrote:allowed the police to go into several pawn shops, which I hear they love to do

Civil servants. On civil servant salaries. Of the non-New Orleans kind...

Horby wrote:I have already called all the pawn shops

It's quite possible that just calling them will not be enough, who knows how honest some of these pawn shop owners are (many of them are/used to be criminals). It wouldn't hurt to actually go there and take a look around.

Horby wrote: However, I don't have any pictures of the horn since I wasn't trying to sell it.

This drove home the point to me that I need to get pictures of all my instruments for situations like this or fire etc. insurance claims.
With the ease and low cost of digital cameras these days it just makes sense. One of those things that I guess we all think is a good idea, but never seem to get around to doing it.

Hope you get your horn back soon.

You might ask the police if there are any pawn shop owners who work closely with them and make a point of visiting them. A friend of mine got back $25,000 in keyboard equipment that way, thanks to an honest and scrupulous local owner and a stupid thief. Another got a Martin acoustic guitar worth a ton of money back from an unscrupulous owner by having the serial numbers, photographs, and proof of purchase. The Boy Scouts have it right.

I would never suggest calling a pawn shop. They don't like having stolen goods there, and if they are tipped off by a phone call, chances are they will usually sell it quick for cheap or even dump it somewhere to avoid the hassle. They paid someone for it, and probably won't get that money back. Pawn shop owners are not the most honest people out there!

I suggest personally going to as many of them as you can. It sucks, but not as much as not getting your horn back.