According to the Los Angeles Register, California Highway Patrol officials Terry Bealey and Michael Maleta and National Insurance Crime Bureau special agent Lou Koven helped identify the stolen 1967 Jaguar. Making up the Foreign Export and Recovery outbound team, they reportedly help identify stolen or misclaimed vehicles that people plan to ship overseas.
Customs was eventually able to cross-reference the information they found a container with the 67 Jaguar and they had it returned immediately.
The Los Angeles Register reports that the California Border Patrol agents checked the Jaguar's vehicle identification number after it left the local port. They found out that the Jaguar was stolen and they notified the carrier to bring the car back to the country.
According to Koven, he called Schneider about the stolen 1967 Jaguar after they found his information from the New York City police report.
Koven said, "At first he thought it was a scam; he thought we were pulling his leg."
"Never in anybody's lifetime would I think I would see this car again. Who would believe a car would show up 45 years later?" said Schneider.
The stolen 1967 Jaguar was found along with a another stolen car, a blue 1969 Chevrolet Corvette and fraudulently obtained light brown 1976 and 2007 white Mercedes models 280 and E350, respectively and a 2014 red Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. According to CBS Local, the vehicles were on their way to the Netherlands, out of the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.
Once the vehicles reached Europe, they would have reportedly been gone forever; therefore it had been a close call.
According to the Inquisitr, Schneider is currently planning to have his stolen 1967 Jaguar returned to New York. He wants it restored at an estimated cost of $100,000, from its current condition which would reportedly fetch about $23,600. Customs officials said the Jaguar will be worth over six figures once restored.
Still, the question remains of who stole Schneider's car that day in 1968.
According to Maleta, the owner who attempted to ship the car bought it three months ago from a man in Northern California said he had it in a garage for 40 years.
"I still have to dig deeper. (Prosecution) will be difficult, but not impossible," Maleta said.
According to the Los Angeles Register, the thief of the stolen 1967 Jaguar can face vehicle theft and possession of stolen property charges if caught.
It also remains unclear whether the containers or if customs officials will increase efforts to stop stolen cars getting shipped out of the U.S.
It had been reported by the Inquisitr that there seems to be an increase in crime being mixed in with legitimate trade.
Still, in any case, Schneider is happy to have found his stolen 1967 Jaguar.
He said, it's "My Christmas gift. I feel wonderful."
"It's a miracle. I never thought I'd see the car again," he added during a Skype call on Wednesday.
Stolen 1967 Jaguar will be reunited finally with Schneider, who lives in Miami Beach, Fla.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
