Guitar Stolen 23 Years Ago In Skokie Found On eBay

SKOKIE, IL — A guitar reported stolen from a Skokie home in 1994 was rediscovered last month, and it brought back waves of emotion for Nicole Pompa. The Skokie Review reports she was alerted to an eBay listing for a blue acoustic guitar – exactly 23 years to the day after hers was stolen during an apartment break-in. The listed guitar turned out to be the same one, as a serial number revealed it the listed guitar was her long-lost 1983 limited edition Celebrity Ovation.

The seller told her he had bought the guitar from a Denver pawnshop, according to the Skokie Review. After she tearfully recounted the story of the guitar, he refused to accept any payment for the instrument and Pompa paid only for shipping.

Pompa told the paper the robbery made a lasting impact on her life and may have forever altered her musical career. Before her two guitars were stolen – the burglars also made off with her Fender Stratocaster – the then-17-year-old Niles West High School senior had been preparing to play her "first real gig" a few days later. At the time, she was also recording music and taking classes at Columbia College, she recalled.

"I got thrown out of the band for having no instruments. I continued with music but it wasn't the same," she told the Skokie Review. Now married and living in Arizona, Pompa runs her own online sports card business. "I haven't played a guitar for 20 years," she explained.

And while the Ovation needs some repairs to fix up a bit of damage its sustained over the decades, Pompa said "she still sounds good."

» Read more from the Skokie Review

_{Top photo: Taya Iv | via Unsplash}