A LAKE Innes couple are still shaking their heads after their bicycles were stolen from outside their house.
“What on earth would make something do that just for a few dollars when it is so important to the person who owns it?” Shona Webster said.
The saga started when Matthew and Shona accidentally left their two bikes leaning against a side wall of the house instead of safely locking away in the garage.
The next morning they went to the garage to get their bikes out to go for a ride and found they had vanished.
“We felt absolutely gutted,” Shona said.
“Matthew was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis three years ago, and the bike is really important to him. I work full-time as a nurse, and he is a-stay-at-home dad, so every penny is really important. We saved up to buy his bike and my bike was a Christmas present from him.”
The couple notified police and put up ads on Gumtree with photos of Matthew’s blue mountain bike and Shona’s white mountain bike. They had mentally accepted they would probably never see them again, but thought, ’nothing ventured, nothing gained’.
Then, a week later, they had a lucky breakthrough. Matthew was driving to the supermarket when he spotted a group of kids on bikes. He checked out the bikes as he drove past and immediately recognised his bike because of some distinctive features, even though it had been painted black.
Matthew jumped out of the car and spoke to the young boy riding his bike, who told him that he had bought it from a fellow school student for $50.
“He was totally shocked when he found out it had been stolen,” Matthew said.
Matthew walked the bike and the teen – who was happy to accompany him — back to his house and called the police.
A few days later, they heard that police had attended the home of the boy who had allegedly sold the bike, but there was no sign of Shona’s bike.
They still don’t know if the boy who sold the bike claimed to have bought the bike from someone else and they are yet to hear if police took any action against him.
Shona and Matthew said they were saddened over the affair, and warned other people to lock up their valuables without fail.
“We would like to submit a huge thumbs-down to the lowlife who stole our bikes,” Shona said.
“People shouldn’t have to lock everything away. I think it is a sad indictment on society as a whole.”
They say the silver lining in their saga was that you shouldn’t give up hope of finding your stolen item.
