When he was a young man, Detroit resident George Talley’s 1979 Chevrolet Corvette was stolen in Michigan. Now 33 years later, the 71-year-old man got the surprise of his life when he was informed his car had been found in another state.
The Detroit Free Press reported that when Talley’s former employer, General Motors, heard about the story on the radio, the company made the offer to personally retrieve the car for Talley.
The discovery was made when not one, but two 1979 Chevrolet Corvette’s were used by an individual in order to obtain the same VIN number for the both of them.
Michigan Southwest Auto Recovery got wind of the case from the Secretary of State and according to the Michael Shaw, who is a police lieutenant for Michigan, “SCAR identified the first one in the Holland area back in October. The second vehicle recently resurfaced in the state of Mississippi.”
SCAR was able to work with both police in Mississippi and the National Insurance Crime Bureau to find the original owner of the second vehicle, which turned out to be Talley. His insurance didn’t pay once Talley filed claim, so he was still the car’s owner.
When the police called, Talley stated, “I said, ‘This isn’t no joke. They wouldn’t be joking with me because I don’t think they have time to play with me.’ I was shocked.”
New York Daily News reported when the vehicle was found, it still worked, but now had 47,000 miles put on. Before the news that his employer would retrieve the car, Talley had been concerned about how he would able to get the car back.
Police are still investigating the theft of the Corvette.