Police recover WWI airplane parts stolen last year

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - After almost a year of investigating, police have located parts of rare World War I engines that were stolen from a hotel parking lot.

Kansas City police announced Tuesday that detectives from Shoal Creek and Lexington, Missouri found the parts buried in brush that was being cleared out by the Lexington Public Works Department.

After almost a year-long search, our detectives, with the help of the Lexington, Missouri Police Department, have recovered stolen World War I airplane engine parts.https://t.co/Vin3AabiN5

(1/4) pic.twitter.com/StUsVDtOrA
— kcpolice (@kcpolice) June 7, 2022

The parts belong to Robert Visser, who resides in Austin, Texas. He was traveling from Texas to Minnesota in June of 2021 when his truck was stolen from a hotel near I-35 and 152 Highway. In the truck were the rare engine parts valued at $50,000.

“It contained two World War I aircraft motors for which I have spent the better part of 35 years collecting parts to complete,” Visser said. “Only a few were manufactured in about 1917-1918 by Wright Martin. They simply cannot be replaced at any cost.”

While some parts were recovered, police say the investigation is ongoing and that more parts are still missing.