doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Update UPS employee stole favorite hunting rifle

UPDATE: Good news.
I filed complaint with local law enforcement when this theft happened. I recently received an email from the investigating officer. Lo and behold, he was able to make an arrest and in fact recovered my rifle. the case is in court now. I was told I would be contacted after the case is adjudicated to get the rifle. The stock blank was not recovered and the suspect stated he "got rid of it" UPS did not do squat with their investigation. they would rather just write it off. the hell with the customer.
Evidently this guy would remove packages that contained guns and would take them to his truck. no cameras in the sorting area. that he got rid of it.
so for the naysayers that felt I jumped the gun on my accusation of theft, I guess i was right !!!

three weeks ago I shipped a Ruger Hawkeye Stainless 338 Federal and a screaming piece of Turkish walnut to my stock maker for a restock.
Insured, with signed receipt from pick up. which UPS requires on anything over $1000 of insured value, (supposedly to assist in accountability and theft prevention)
Package containing rifle and blank (measured 50" x 10" x 4" and weighted 26 lbs) arrived at distribution center (Camdenton, MO) near my dealer.
after that it was tracked as "delayed". Package never got to my dealer. I initiated claim. UPS acts like its n big deal. I asked them if they notified ATF and they said no.

Of course they want me to produce a receipt for a rifle I purchased 15 years or so ago. Now the fight to get my value out of them.
I did file an official report with the Camdenton Police Dept. The officer said he will investigate. Thats better than what UPS will do. No way I am letting UPS sweep this under the rug.

On top of that, my stocker informed me that he had a 5K shotgun he purchased from a Florida dealer stolen at the same location, same circumstances, about 3 months ago. so obviously there is someone with penchant for stealing firearms. And believe it or not, ATF wont take a notification of firearms theft unless its form a dealer, meaning a gun logged in a dealers bound book. this was personal gun. ATF could care less.
So, anyone out in the Missouri area, please keep an eye peeled for a Ruger Hawkeye 338 Federal with a 20" barrel. I cut it down a while ago. Wood Ruger factory stock with crossbolt reinforcement.

im sure the stock blank ended up as firewood or donnage to hold up a broker vehicle in a driveway!!~!!

You are required by law to report this to law enforcement. If it involved an Interstate shipment that makes it a Federal issue. Contact the FBI and advise the local UPS delivery office that you have done this. You may be pleasantly surprised how things change. I got a $100,000 double rifle located and delivered in 2 days after it was 4 days overdue.

I already informed the Facility Manager in Camdenton that I was doing this.
However, ATF will not accept a report of a stolen firearm from an individual. I tried.
FBI will be next. Thanks for that suggestion.

It seems to me that the Apple Air Tag ($29.00) tracking device is a small price to pay to be able to learn where such a package is. They are being used successfully to locate airline bags that the airlines don't know or maybe do not care to know where their subcontractors have placed them after they stole them.

It may turn up. I had a set of barrels USPS lost from a 28 ga English gun for almost 2 months. Like you, I was very ticked off. But, they finally turned up. You may still have some hope. Good luck.

I already informed the Facility Manager in Camdenton that I was doing this.
However, ATF will not accept a report of a stolen firearm from an individual. I tried.
FBI will be next. Thanks for that suggestion.

A few people in Toronto have just used the Air Tags to determine that Air Canada was literally giving their luggage away. Donating it.

Sorry to hear of your lost. I have had run ins with Fedex, UPS and USPS. Nobody cares. Nobody wants to do anything and everyone wants to dodge the claims. Stay calm, keep pushing and I am sure you are to going to let this go away. Do keep notes about everyone you talk to and what was said. Not verbatim notes but clear notes of what they said and any dates that they bring forth. It will more likely come down to money being the best motivator for UPS. They will deny your claims at first as a way to delay, then demand more proof that I found reasonable. I was lucky and had clear auction records about what I paid for the gun along with a copy of the sales recorded with shipping and shipping fees, including a declared value that I paid import duties on.

I used a postal inspector to get USPS to find a gun they lost for seven weeks. It was shipped with a signature being required at every step along the way. Crickets for weeks. No tracking could find a trace once it entered the system. It took me weeks to find and get the right person involved. Postal inspector figured out where the trail wnet cold and started an investigation that found the gun in two days. And you are right that ATF could not care about your reporting a gun stolen. I thought that was rich. Could not even be bothered to enter a serial number in a non existent stolen gun registry.

At least with the USPS stringent signature requirements with registered mail there are enough bread crumbs to find where it breaks down. Son' s FIL is a retired postal inspector having had a second career after a career in the USN. Finding rotten eggs in the system was his job. One less than elegant method was the mailing of silver dollars that could be easily felt in envelopes. After each stage of "handling" they were able to isolate where the theft occurred. Some folks can resist everything but temptation. Gil

So, I can partly see the reasons you might feel it could have been stolen, but what is your proof that it is not just "lost in the system" like so many packages are/have been? You made a very strong claim that it has been stolen by a UPS employee.