A dirt bike stolen several years ago from a former Ohio resident will soon have the motorcycle back in his possession.

The yellow 1977 Yamaha 400 dirt bike was found in April 2006 in a creek bed on Orchard View Lane in Blanchester, said Blanchester Police Chief Scott Reinbolt. Since then, the motorcycle has been sitting in the impound room at the Blanchester Municipal Building and the owner had not been located, Reinbolt said.

“At the time, the police department had no clear procedure for locating the owner of such property, and no written policy establishing who was responsible for searching out the owner,” Reinbolt said. “Therefore it sat in impound for the past two years.”

Reinbolt said several months ago the police department began an effort to return items from the evidence room to the owners if the items were not contraband or evidence needed in a pending criminal case. “It appears an effort to return such items had not been undertaken since the early 1990s,” Reinbolt said.

One of the items was the Yamaha dirt bike. Reinbolt said a search of the FBI’s stolen vehicle database revealed that the motorcycle had not been entered as a stolen vehicle.

“Next, a search of Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles ownership records revealed that the motorcycle was owned by a man named Hess residing in Crestline, Ohio in Crawford County,” Reinbolt said. “We were able to locate him and he told us he had sold the motorcycle years ago but could not recall who purchased it.”

Reinbolt said in January, the Ohio Department of Public Safety began making title records available to account holders via the internet. “Last month we took the necessary steps to obtain an account to permit searches of Ohio title records through police department computers,” Reinbolt said. “When we ran the motorcycle’s serial number through that system, we found that an Ohio title for the motorcycle had been issued to Alyssa Squier of Nevada in Wyandot County. After expending a bit of shoe leather, we were able to determine that Squire currently resides in Meyersdale, Pa. and contacted her.”

Last week, the police department received a phone call from Alyssa’s husband, Leigh Squier, a construction company owner as well as operator of a youth summer camp. “Mr. Squier stated he was a motorcycle aficionado and that the motorcycle had been stolen from him years ago,” Reinbolt said. “We sent him photographs of the motorcycle via e-mail for him to verify that it was one in the same, and he sent us back photographs he had of the motorcycle before it was stolen.”

Reinbolt said Mr. Squier plans to retrieve the motorcycle this week. “Squier reacted as if we had found a long lost friend,” the police chief said.

In February, the police department set up and adopted a comprehensive policy establishing clear responsibilities for locating the owner of recovered or found property, according to Reinbolt.