A Cold Case No More: Stolen Bike Returned to Owner After More than 25 Years

When a bike was found last fall behind a building near some dumpsters, Wayzata police penciled it in for their next auction.

The bike was an older model from the 1980s, and an initial search of the state's stolen property data base came up empty.

"The initial serial number search in the state database did not reveal it as reported stolen," Wayzata Police Chief Mike Risvold said. "Prior to sending items out to auction, we always make one more query with that database, and this time it came back as reported stolen out of Maple Plain."

Chief Risvold went on to say the bike's original owner, a current Eden Prairie police officer who still lived in Maple Plain, was stunned to find out his two-wheeler had been located—more than 25 years after he had first reported it stolen.

"We have no idea where it was for the other 25-plus years," Risvold said.

This week, bike and officer Tom Rowley were reunited. Rowley was 14 when the Raleigh ten-speed he'd saved up for was stolen, according to a blog posted Wednesday by the Eden Prairie Police Department.

"I’ve never seen a case like this," Chief Risvold said. "I’m in my 24th year in law enforcement, and this was reported stolen years before I became a police officer. That’s a long time."