$500,000 boat stolen from Canada found in Southern Florida

ORILLIA, Canada—A boat thief pulled off quite a heist, stealing a $500,000 boat from Canada, bringing it across the border and all the way down to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida before being caught.

Village Media reported the 39-foot 2015 Nor-Tech 390 Sport boat with four Mercury 400R white outboard motors was having some work done at a boat shop near Orillia when it was taken in the early morning hours on Nov. 26.

The boat’s owners, Nathan and Cari Reid, told Village Media at first they weren’t too worried since they had insurance. However, the fine print of the insurance policy required the boat to have a GPS tracker and since the Reids did not have one, the half-a-million-dollar boat was not covered.

The theft was featured by Crime Stoppers but the Reids also attempted to find it themselves. The Reids told Village Media they hired a private investigator and put out a Facebook ad promising a reward if found.

The social media ad was seen as far as Florida because that is where the article reported a man the Reids didn’t know was shown a photograph of a boat that was possibly the stolen vessel. The Reids told Village Media that person got a hold of them and showed them the photo in a matter of a few weeks from when the boat was taken. After seeing the photo, the Reids confirmed it was their boat and through a series of events, the boat was recovered and the reward paid.

There was another small win for the boat’s owners; the thief saved them a trip. The Reids told Village Media that the boat was going to be taken down to Florida for the winter after the service was complete at the boat shop.

The Reids also told the news outlet they have since had a GPS tracker installed.

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