Victim of Antiques Heist Thanks Trade Industry for Support

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The victim of a $1 million antique heist said support from all corners of the antiques industry sent a strong message to the thieves – you won’t get away with it.

"I would like to thank all of our great friends and colleagues in the antiques trade who have helped us through this difficult time,” said Andrew Vogel, president of Wellesley House, Ltd. of Lake Forest, Ill., from whom 30 bins of valuable antiques and two dozen pieces of period furniture were stolen. “The warm thoughts, kind words, and outstanding press coverage by all of the trade publications and the quick action by our friends at GoAntiques.com to post pictures of a large portion of the stolen items have made a difference."

Vogel’s saga started in a Florida hotel parking lot when his trailer packed with $1 million in antiques from 1700 to 1900 collected over 13 years was stolen. Vogel had attended the annual Winter Antiques Show in West Palm Beach.

As word of the theft circulated, the antiques industry came to the rescue by publishing news reports about the stolen merchandise.

GoAntiques.com (www.GoAntiques.com), the world’s largest network for art, antiques and collectibles, immediately posted photos of much of the stolen merchandise on its website visited by more than 1 million people monthly.

“Posting photos was important because it showed the thieves and others thinking they can get away with this that they can’t. They are being watched,” Vogel said. “It’s extremely important to be as proactive as possible. Helping the police and the media get the word out is critical to the recovery effort. It made a difference in that the thieves were not able to get away with fencing the items.”

He said GoAntiques.com was an important piece of the puzzle.

“Not only is GoAntiques important for buying and selling antiques, but it’s also important when things go wrong. Digital photos and resources such as GoAntiques make merchandise much easier to track,” Vogel added.

Several of the antiques have been recovered in good shape, but antique furniture items were destroyed when the thieves dumped them in a canal, Vogel said. Two suspects are in police custody facing multiple federal and state charges of grand theft, trafficking stolen property and destruction of evidence.

Florida police are continuing their investigation. Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at 800-458-8477.


About GoAntiques.com

With offices in Columbus, Ohio, GoAntiques, Inc. (GoAntiques.com) is the largest and only virtual marketplace for art, antiques and collectibles offering an integrated, one-stop solution for storefront and live auction selling plus a host of marketing services for both dealers and buyers. GoAntiques has developed a distribution network providing art, antiques and collectibles to Yahoo Shopping, Froogle and BobVila.com, as well as eBay Live Auctions. GoAntiques also offers a Wholesale Channel for member dealers looking to sell and source quality merchandise at wholesale prices. GoAntiques.com offers over 470,000 items from more than 1,400 dealers in 27 countries. GoAntiques.com logs 1 million visits and thousands of transactions each month. More than 250,000 people are registered as GoAntiques.com buyers.

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