I had druggies (one the daughter of a respected judge) steal a bunch of stuff from my garage. The police took a report, but didn't do anything for reasons I can understand. However, my wife went on the hunt and found golf clubs, tennis gear, etc at a Play It Again Sports store. We got that stuff back and the police arrested them based on the store's copy of their drivers license.

It may be worth your time to do some sleuthing.

Brad