One-third of a huge haul of stolen property found near Hastings a fortnight ago remains unclaimed despite a police operation which has returned goods to more than 50 burglary and theft victims.
Hawke's Bay police tactical crime squad member Senior Constable Pehi Potaka said most of the goods which have been returned were able to be connected to victims by markings, serial numbers or other records. Some had been missing for up to two years.
But outstanding goods - which include kitchen kits, a compactor trailer, an irrigator boom and hoses and a commercial vacuum cleaner - are not as easily identified or linked to specific thefts, some of which may never have been reported.
The haul, including building machinery and tools, construction materials and appliances, and tentatively valued by police at more than $100,000, was uncovered by police during a search on August 25 at a residential address off Ngatarawa Rd, near Bridge Pa.
Mr Potaka said yesterday there had since been two more "showings," and while more goods were able to be returned to rightful owners, he is left with memories of those walking out "devastated" that items they had hoped to find were not in the haul.