Pee-wee Herman and Craigslist Help Man Get Stolen Bike Back

About a year-and-a-half ago, copywriter Matt O’Rourke’s bike was stolen. And he was not happy about it. To help find his bike, O’Rourke posted a cleverly worded ad on Craigslist (link NSFW) that included photos of the bike and offered a $500 reward. The ad also included an offer of $1000 in return for certain parts of the bandit’s anatomy.

O’Rourke’s advertising industry connections got involved. Craig Newmark, whose “list” it is, also got involved.

Jalopnik got involved. Finally, Pee-wee Herman, that famous bike lover himself, helped out via Twitter.

Pee-wee is referencing this scene from ‘Pee-wee’s Big Adventure’ with the “exhibit A” part:

(What, no Amazing Larry shout-out, Pee-wee?)

And then … nothing happened. Everybody was interested in the ad, but nobody found the bike. The internet was abuzz with stolen bike outrage and offers of rewards, but still no one found the bike.

Until this summer, a year after the bike had been taken from its rightful owner, a call came in. A fellow, who preferred to remain unnamed, said a woman stopped him while he was riding the bike in town and told him she recognized the bike from the Craigslist ad.

The caller then said he had purchased the rare bicycle for about $200 from a guy in a park and wanted to return the bike. No questions asked. Just like the ad said.

A happy O’Rourke now has his beautiful bike back, but he’s not quite satisfied. He is unable to bestow the offered rewards upon the two Samaritans who helped him get his bike back, because he doesn’t know who they are. He hopes that, once again, the internet will lead him to them. Read Pee-wee’s plea below and help O’Rourke locate his bike’s guardian angels.

[via Jalopnik]