Kelowna RCMP are the true Great Ones in a story of a valuable hockey card returning to its rightful owner.
Ian Moore is back in possession of a prized 1979 Wayne Gretzky rookie card that was stolen in a break-and-enter at a business in West Kelowna in 2015.
The case eventually went cold without many leads, and was closed without any arrests.
It was four years later in 2019 that Kelowna officers responded to reports of a suspicious vehicle on Boyce Crescent in Kelowna, leading to the arrest of a man and woman in possession of a pile of stolen property.
Brought back to the Kelowna detachment to be stored as exhibits, among the pile was the Gretzky card.
Officers once again came across the card in April 2022, and upon doing some research, their interest was piqued as to the high value of the card.
“When I learned there was a vintage hockey card in exhibits, I immediately remembered the investigation from 2015,” said Cst. Rick Goodwin, with the Kelowna RCMP Target Team. “I dug up the details of the old file and was able to track down Mr. Moore. I was surprised to learn he still had my old business card I had given him years earlier.”
Moore was able to identify the card at the detachment without needing to see it, giving an exact description and records and documents.
Moore said he was “very impressed” with Goodwin’s digging after all these years.
“I am grateful for all the hard work that has been done to return my card.”
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