My grandfather's violin, which my son plays, could not be found in the orchestra room after a weekend music competition, and we thought it was stolen. When I filed a police report, they told me that about half of what is in pawn shops is stolen, and the instrument was probably pawned right away, possibly in another town. Luckily, the violin was found in the school, where it had been moved and misplaced during all the events of the judging and performances. The police information gave me a new perspective about buying from pawn shops.