I once lent a 25 yr old Alvarez acoustic to a friend. We'd known each other for about 7 years, he stayed at our place all the time...etc. Then one day he shows up, asks to borrow this guitar (that he'd played many times) So, I lent it to him along with the only case I had. never gave it a second thought.

A few weeks later, another friend of ours called me to ask if I'd seen Steve (the borrower), with the warning, "Stay away from him if you do see him, he's hooked on coke again and has been acting shady"

I never saw him or my guitar again.
Not a Martin or Gibson, but the only halfway decent guitar I had at the time.. I've been lucky to have acquired much nicer guitars in the years since, but I still have a secret hope of finding the Alvarez someday