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Local authorities recover a cannon belonging to the city of Petoskey in a local resident’s backyard after 10-year mysterious disappearance
Petoskey News and Review
Posted: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 ·
Updated: Wednesday, November 4, 2009, 12:25 pm
By Christina Rohn News-Review Staff Writer ·
He didn't realize the wild goose chase he was in for. In early October, Lt. Randy Weston with the Petoskey Department of Public Safety was charged by city officials with the task of recovering one of five Civil War cannons owned by the city of Petoskey, which had mysteriously been sold out from under the municipality in 1999. After a month-long Internet investigation, Weston's search led him to a broker in Malaysia, and eventually back to the cannon's seller in Petoskey.
Weston said the complicated story of the cannon's disappearance began in the '90s, when the 1,200-pound cannon - which is described as an 1863 Hooper Napoleon, valued at around $70,000 - was loaned out to a former city employee, who had planned to restore the cannon with the help of the Disabled American Veterans organization.
Weston said, according to the National Registry of Known Surviving Civil War Artillery, the cannon was registered to the city of Petoskey in 1997, and by 1999 it somehow escaped the hands of the former city employee - whose name is not being released at this time - and was sold.
According to Weston, the city was unaware that these events had transpired, until Bob Meistrell, a Civil War historian from Kansas, contacted city officials in April of this year to alert them that the cannon was being sold on the Internet. Weston said Meistrell came across the cannon on www.gunbroker.com in November 2008, where he said it was being sold for $74,950.
During the next several months, Meistrell allegedly researched the cannon's foundry identification number (293) and its federal registration number (271) through the National Registry of Known Surviving Civl War Artillery, and discovered that it belonged to the city of Petoskey.
Weston said with this knowledge, Meistrell immediately alerted city officials to the situation in April. For the next six months, city officials attempted to investigate the cannon's disappearance, but eventually turned the case over to Weston in early October.
From that point on, Weston began an intensive Internet search, which included the issuance of several electronic search warrants.
Not long after his investigation commenced, Weston became aware that the cannon was for sale on www.cannonsuperstore.com for a reduced price of $59,950.
After some digging, Weston also uncovered that the broker for cannonsuperstore.com was located in Malaysia, and communicating with a seller in Petoskey.
On Tuesday, Nov. 3, Weston issued a search warrant for a home on Hill Street in Petoskey and discovered that the cannon was resting on wood pilings in the homeowner's backyard.
By noon, the cannon was returned to city possession, as two employees for Petoskey's Department of Public Works used a boom truck to carefully remove the Civil War relic from the resident's property.
"I'm very satisfied with the investigation," Weston said. "My goal was to recover the cannon, and I've done that - now I have to shift gears."
Weston has begun a criminal investigation into the disappearance and sale of the cannon, which has already led him to interview the wife of the former city employee, who was the last person in possession of the cannon before it was sold in 1999.
"That employee is now in a nursing facility, and unable to communicate because he had a stroke," Weston said. "His wife said (the cannon) was out in their yard, covered up with a tarp, and went missing - she doesn't know what happened to it."
Weston said he is excited to delve into this case, but understands that it may take awhile before he can issue criminal charges.
"I'm heading out now to start looking for evidence of criminal intent," he said. "I'll be doing a whole lot of interviews to track this cannon back 10 years, and find out who's criminally responsible for it. "If I can find that, I'll request criminal charges from the (prosecuting attorney's) office, but I have no proof at this time."
Robert Finch Camp 14 was involved in fund raising to restore a Augusta Arsenal cast iron Napoleon that had been discovered behind the Perry Stafford Hotel when we learned from the Park and Recreation staff that their Hooper Napoleon cannon barrel had been missing 4-5 years ago. We turned the information over to Michigan's SUVCW Civil War Memorial's officer, who examined the SUVCW Condemned and Obsolete Ordnance records that confirmed a Hooper cast-Napoleon had been given to the city of Petoskey. Nice to see the old cannon has finally home where it belongs.
Bill Skillman
Randolf Mess-USSS
Robert Finch Camp 14
SUVCW
Petoskey News and Review
Posted: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 ·
Updated: Wednesday, November 4, 2009, 12:25 pm
By Christina Rohn News-Review Staff Writer ·
He didn't realize the wild goose chase he was in for. In early October, Lt. Randy Weston with the Petoskey Department of Public Safety was charged by city officials with the task of recovering one of five Civil War cannons owned by the city of Petoskey, which had mysteriously been sold out from under the municipality in 1999. After a month-long Internet investigation, Weston's search led him to a broker in Malaysia, and eventually back to the cannon's seller in Petoskey.
Weston said the complicated story of the cannon's disappearance began in the '90s, when the 1,200-pound cannon - which is described as an 1863 Hooper Napoleon, valued at around $70,000 - was loaned out to a former city employee, who had planned to restore the cannon with the help of the Disabled American Veterans organization.
Weston said, according to the National Registry of Known Surviving Civil War Artillery, the cannon was registered to the city of Petoskey in 1997, and by 1999 it somehow escaped the hands of the former city employee - whose name is not being released at this time - and was sold.
According to Weston, the city was unaware that these events had transpired, until Bob Meistrell, a Civil War historian from Kansas, contacted city officials in April of this year to alert them that the cannon was being sold on the Internet. Weston said Meistrell came across the cannon on www.gunbroker.com in November 2008, where he said it was being sold for $74,950.
During the next several months, Meistrell allegedly researched the cannon's foundry identification number (293) and its federal registration number (271) through the National Registry of Known Surviving Civl War Artillery, and discovered that it belonged to the city of Petoskey.
Weston said with this knowledge, Meistrell immediately alerted city officials to the situation in April. For the next six months, city officials attempted to investigate the cannon's disappearance, but eventually turned the case over to Weston in early October.
From that point on, Weston began an intensive Internet search, which included the issuance of several electronic search warrants.
Not long after his investigation commenced, Weston became aware that the cannon was for sale on www.cannonsuperstore.com for a reduced price of $59,950.
After some digging, Weston also uncovered that the broker for cannonsuperstore.com was located in Malaysia, and communicating with a seller in Petoskey.
On Tuesday, Nov. 3, Weston issued a search warrant for a home on Hill Street in Petoskey and discovered that the cannon was resting on wood pilings in the homeowner's backyard.
By noon, the cannon was returned to city possession, as two employees for Petoskey's Department of Public Works used a boom truck to carefully remove the Civil War relic from the resident's property.
"I'm very satisfied with the investigation," Weston said. "My goal was to recover the cannon, and I've done that - now I have to shift gears."
Weston has begun a criminal investigation into the disappearance and sale of the cannon, which has already led him to interview the wife of the former city employee, who was the last person in possession of the cannon before it was sold in 1999.
"That employee is now in a nursing facility, and unable to communicate because he had a stroke," Weston said. "His wife said (the cannon) was out in their yard, covered up with a tarp, and went missing - she doesn't know what happened to it."
Weston said he is excited to delve into this case, but understands that it may take awhile before he can issue criminal charges.
"I'm heading out now to start looking for evidence of criminal intent," he said. "I'll be doing a whole lot of interviews to track this cannon back 10 years, and find out who's criminally responsible for it. "If I can find that, I'll request criminal charges from the (prosecuting attorney's) office, but I have no proof at this time."
Robert Finch Camp 14 was involved in fund raising to restore a Augusta Arsenal cast iron Napoleon that had been discovered behind the Perry Stafford Hotel when we learned from the Park and Recreation staff that their Hooper Napoleon cannon barrel had been missing 4-5 years ago. We turned the information over to Michigan's SUVCW Civil War Memorial's officer, who examined the SUVCW Condemned and Obsolete Ordnance records that confirmed a Hooper cast-Napoleon had been given to the city of Petoskey. Nice to see the old cannon has finally home where it belongs.
Bill Skillman
Randolf Mess-USSS
Robert Finch Camp 14
SUVCW
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