I work at a pawnshop and it's very very rare that we ever get anything stolen. The main reason behind this is pawners must show a pictured state ID, and we use leadsonline which is an online database for serial numbers and model number the police can check. If someone comes in and the person can't operate the item, we won't take it. Pawnshops don't want stolen merchandise, unlike popular belief, we loose everything we have in the item if that happens. I myself own a vx-170 and it's a great radio, sorry to hear about your misfortune. The police don't want you "bothering" them so they tell you to call around to the pawnshops, I hear this all the time. The places you may find your stuff is going to be a fleamarket or ebay.