YORKTON – It was Dec. 26, 2011, when Joe Bisschop and his wife Cheryl left their home to deliver some goods to his mother.
"We were gone for about 30 minutes, and when we came back, both sleds and trailer were gone from the front yard," said Bisschop.
"I started asking around the neighbourhood – one of our friends across the street had a camera on his house and he said 'it was a white half-ton' – well, that narrows it down in Saskatchewan," said Bisschop with a laugh.
"So, about a year and a half later I get a phone call from Weyburn RCMP and he said, 'we have a sled here that might be yours'," said Bisschop, adding that the RCMP officer asked him to describe the sled so as to confirm it belonged to him.
Bisschop was able to clarify that the snowmobile belonged to him.
"I went to Weyburn and picked it up – that was 150 bucks plus fuel," said Bisschop on the costs of bringing his sled back to Yorkton.
In the spring of 2013, Bisschop would be returned another piece of stolen property in the form of his sled trailer.
The trailer had been abandoned near Melville and Bisschop was once again able to confirm it was his property.
"So, now I got one sled and my trailer back", said Bisschop, noting that he'd purchased another sled in the meantime.
Nine years later, Bisschop would receive another phone call about a piece of stolen property.
"It was hilarious – Cheryl said, 'there's a big thing going on in Stenen – you're not supposed to go there, cops are all over the place' – we started laughing, you know, probably a drug bust or something."
"On April 25, 2022, Canora RCMP executed a search warrant at a residence on the outskirts of the community of Stenen, Saskatchewan, in the RM of Clayton, in relation to an ongoing investigation," read a news release from the Canora RCMP, adding, "property seized includes a truck, multiple recreational vehicles and trailers previously reported stolen from the Yorkton area."
Bisschop said he received a phone call about 30 minutes later. The person on the other end of the line asked him, "Are you missing a sled?"
"I mean, that's 11 years ago," said Bisschop.
Bisschop explained to the person on the phone that he'd had two sleds taken from him in 2011.
RCMP were able to match the serial number on the recently recovered sled to Bisschop.
"Bingo – serial number is still on it, so they phoned me right away to find out,"
Again, Bisschop was able to describe the stolen property in detail.
Bisschop said the sled sat at a local impound for two weeks and was delivered to him on May 6.
"It cost me 50 bucks to get it here – because I don't have a trailer anymore," said Bisschop with a laugh.
Bisschop said the sled, which was driven by his wife, had 1,450 km on it when it went missing.
"Now it's got 7,800," said Bisschop.
Bisschop said the sled is in surprisingly good shape given its history.
"I brought it here, I took the three plugs out – checked – all the pistons looked the same – put the plugs back in," said Bisschop, adding, "there was about a third of a tank of gas – I said, 'what the hell' – click, choke, second pull – purring away."
The sled was only two years old when it went missing.
"It does need some TLC now," said Bisschop, "when it left our hands it was – well, it was mint."
Bisschop said the once $9,000 dollar sled is likely only worth $2,500 - $3,000 the way it sits, but he's happy to have it back.
"I'm probably going to get rid of it," said Bisschop, "we need a boat more than we need another sled."
