UPDATE 4:19 P.M.: Seymour Police Chief Michael Metzler said the boat reported stolen from a Maple Street home Monday was recovered Tuesday (July 15) afternoon.
An anonymous tip led cops to the boat, which was found parked at a business on Skokorat Street.
“Upon recovery of the vehicle the owner decided not to pursue the case further,” Metzler said. “He’s happy with recovery.”
Original post from 2:47 p.m. follows
A local family is scratching their heads after someone stole their six-passenger boat from Maple Street in Seymour.
John Blackwell said the boat disappeared from his driveway sometime between 11:30 p.m. July 13 and 7 a.m. July 14.
He is asking anyone with information about the theft to call him at 203 – 996-9166. He said he filed a report with the Seymour Police Department.
The boat is worth about $5,000, Blackwell said. The trailer upon which it sat was also stolen. The trailer is worth about $2,000.
The boat was a gift from Blackwell’s father in Florida to his grandkids. The boat’s only been on the water locally — one ride on Lake Zoar.
The Blackwells just moved to Oxford. They had moved just about everything out of their Maple Street property — except the boat.
He discovered it was stolen after getting off work. Since then he’s been hanging posters and posting to social media hoping the boat can be recovered.
“That was the last thing I had to get out of the house. That and a plow,” Blackwell said. “And they stole the boat. My heart dropped.”
Blackwell thinks whomever stole it probably saw the moving trucks at the property during the last two weeks.
The boat was chained up, but the chain was cut. The driveway is about 100 feet long. He estimates it must have taken the thief or thieves 20 minutes to hook up the trailer and drive away.
Neighbors didn’t see anything, he said.
“The police said it was the first boat theft they had dealt with. They said cars are found, but jet skis, quads, things like that, typically are not,” Blackwell said.
The boat has a Florida registration, as does the trailer, because it only arrived in the area about a month ago.
Seymour police can be reached at (203) 881‑7600.
