IOWA COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM HOSPTAIL FOUND ON EBAY http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060517/NEWS01/605170394/1001/NEWS

May 17, 2006

When 25 new laptop computers disappeared from a Des Moines hospital, police could have looked in car trunks, storage lockers, or any of the other places crooks usually stash their loot.

They searched online instead.The computers, stolen from Iowa Methodist Medical Center over the past month, were discovered on the eBay Internet auction site. And that's about all investigators will say about the case. No arrests have been made.

Jennifer Perry, spokeswoman for Iowa Methodist, said there was no sensitive information on the computers, which were worth $53,000.

The machines had been kept in a locked room since January but disappeared before they could be issued to employees. Hospital officials called police Friday.

Perry said some of the computers, which have yellow stickers to identify Iowa Health System as the owner, were purchased online before investigators closed in.

Police Lt. David Huberty declined to comment and would provide no details on how the case was cracked or who is responsible.