Police Looking For More Clues Where Stolen Bagpipes Were Recovered

Police were searching for other stolen items off of Alexandria Pike in Southgate today. Image via Google.

A Cincinnati-area honor guard member whose bagpipes were stolen from his vehicle after a vigil has the instrument back after a mail carrier found it along a road in nearby northern Kentucky.

Someone stole the instrument Monday night in Cincinnati’s Mount Adams neighborhood. It was found Tuesday night in Southgate, Kentucky, across the Ohio River from Cincinnati.

Mariemont police officer Steve Watt says he’s ecstatic to have the bagpipes back.

Watt is a member of the Hamilton County Honor Guard. He used borrowed bagpipes to play at a vigil Tuesday.

This is an advertisement. 859-781-5777.

He says several irreplaceable personal mementos that he kept in the bagpipe case are still missing, including a note from the 2015 funeral of slain Cincinnati police Officer Sonny Kim. Watt's Honor Guard uniform, off-duty 9 mm handgun, badge and precious mementos from police funerals are still missing, police said.

Fort Thomas Police were assisting Southgate Police today to search the area for other items that were stolen.

Fort Thomas Lt. Rich Whitford, said that nothing else was recovered, however.

A mail carrier found the bagpipes alongside a road in Southgate.

The mail carrier, Glen Harderer, said he spotted the musical instrument in the weeds off Alexandria Pike next to a bag marked "Mariemont police."

He said he first saw the items about 10 a.m. Tuesday, but kept working and didn't go back to check until a few hours later.

The mail carrier said Watt retrieved his beloved bagpipes late Tuesday.

Cincinnati police are investigating the apparent random break-in of Watt's black, four-door 2006 Honda Accord. A vehicle parked in front of his car also had windows smashed out, which had two purses taken.

Watt said he had the bagpipes and other items in his car because he had just come from standing vigil for a retired law enforcement officer who recently died.

Watt, 54, has served on the honor guard several years and worked at the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office before retiring as a sergeant in 2014. He now works as a police officer patrolling Mariemont.