After thief’s Craigslist blunder, Wichita musician gets stolen harp back

The harp heist has been solved.

More than six months after it was reported stolen, a large harp has been returned to local musician Raul Rangel.

On Friday, Rangel posted on Facebook that his Aoyama Model 42-B pedal harp was returned after it had been listed for sale on Craigslist.

The 65-pound harp, which is valued between $11,000 and $12,000, was reported stolen from Friends University’s Riney Fine Arts Center on Feb. 5, along with a bassoon.

The harp did not surface until last month, when a person allegedly posting from Mount Hope listed it for sale on Craigslist, advertising a “beautiful well taken care of Aoyama Pedal Harp,” according to a screenshot of the post. The seller was asking $11,500 for it.

The would-be seller also left an Oklahoma-based phone number to call for details.

Rangel saw the post, determined it was his stolen harp, and passed the contact number on to the police — who made contact with the Craigslist poster.

Shortly thereafter, Rangel said, the culprit dropped off both the harp and the bassoon at his attorney’s office in downtown Wichita.

The police currently have a “partial confession” from the suspect, Rangel said. He intends to press charges.

According to a Facebook post, the harp is in good condition — it “just needs two strings and a regulation and should be like new,” Rangel said.

It’s not the first time a thief has been busted by listing the item on Craigslist — Halloween-themed inflatables stolen from College Hill a few years ago were also eventually found for sale on the site.

This story was originally published August 17, 2018 at 5:15 PM.