BOSTON (WHDH) - A $13,000 flute that was reported missing in 2012 after the owner left it in a taxi was recently recovered after a cab driver visited an instrument store in Boston to get the piece appraised.
Officers responding to the instrument store on Feb. 19, 2021, spoke with an employee who said that an individual had come in with a valuable flute looking to determine its value, according to the Boston Police Department.
The employee, who was able to determine that the flute may have been the one that was reported missing by contacting the manufacturer and tracking down the serial number. They then gave detectives the individual’s contact information and a picture of the instrument with that serial number, police said.
The individual allegedly told detectives that he was in possession of the flute and that he purchased it from an unknown male.
Detectives later learned that the person in question was a taxi driver who was driving a cab on the day that the flute was reported missing back in 2012.
The flute was returned to its rightful owner, Heidi Slyker, on Monday, according to police.
Slyker said it took her years to save up for the expensive instrument that helped to launch her career.
“It was pretty terrible. I felt like I lost a limb. It was a part of me. I know that sounds a little dramatic,” she said. “Because of this, my career was at a standstill.”
Slyker said she is still able to play the flute it just needs to be refurbished.
Police plan to file a charge of receiving stolen goods against the individual in Boston Municipal Court.
An investigation remains ongoing.
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