Authorities are searching for information on the whereabouts of a $40,000 violin that was left behind at a Boston train station and then taken by a woman seen in this surveillance image.
Authorities are searching for information on the whereabouts of a $40,000 violin that was left behind by its owner at a Boston train station and taken by a stranger.
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority police say that the violin’s owner, Amy Sims, put down the violin and the other things she was carrying on the platform while she was waiting for a train at South Station on June 9.
When the train arrived shortly after midnight, Sims jumped aboard, not realizing until later that she had forgotten to take the violin with her.
Earlier today, police released surveillance footage images of a woman in a red sweatshirt and striped skirt, who they say ‘took possession of the violin’ at the train station after it was left behind.
MBTA Superintendent Richard Sullivan said that police weren’t looking to press charges against the woman who took the violin — they just want her to return the missing item.
Mere hours after posting the woman’s photos and soliciting the public’s help in identifying the woman who is seen holding the violin case, authorities said they located the woman, according to a MBTA Transit Police tweet, which also thanked the transit community for their help in tracking her down.
However, the MBTA Transit Police followed up that tweet with another one, saying that ‘The investigation continues……we do not have the violin at this time.’
‘My violin could be anywhere, ‘ Sims told NBC Boston. ‘It could be exposed to the elements, it could be trading hands. It could be in another state by now. It could even be in another country.’
Sims, a freelance violinist, said that she is playing a borrowed instrument at the moment but needs her violin back to make a living.
