Madison County music icon's handgun returned to him more than 43 years after its theft

GREENSBORO - Forty-three years is a long to wait to reclaim stolen property, but that's how long it took for one Madison County music legend.

On April 15, Sheriff Buddy Harwood presented Bobby Hicks with the pistol Hicks lost in 1978 in Greensboro. Hicks is a Marshall resident and former fiddle player with bluegrass music titan Bill Monroe.

Harwood returned the handgun, a Browning Hi-Power .9mm short cartridge, after a detective with the Greensboro Police Department called him and told him of the finding.

The gun was identified in a pawn shop in Greensboro, according to Harwood.

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"Bobby called and said, 'Can you help me get this gun back? I don't want to drive to Greensboro,'" Harwood said. "So I called Greensboro (PD) evidence section, and they said, 'Sure, Sheriff. We'll get you the gun.'"

According to Harwood, when he called the GPD office to arrange meeting up to have the gun transported back to Madison County, he urged the staff receptionist to explore some of Hicks' playing, as she was unfamiliar with him.

"The woman answered the phone, and I said, 'You haven't heard of Bobby Hicks? Why don't you Google him. He's got 10 Grammys. He's got them up in his house holding his doors open,'" Harwood said. "She said, 'I'll mail you that gun, Sheriff.' So I got it in (April 14). You talk about a legend getting a legend back. This gun was made in the 1930s."

While 43 years may seem like a long time to some, it wasn't long enough for the local music legend to forget about the incident.

"I never forget anything anybody steals from me," Hicks said. "I had it laying on the headboard of my bed. Whoever took it knew where it was at. It was the only thing I was missing."

While authorities are still investigating who broke into Hicks' home and stole his gun, the musician said he suspects it was stolen by someone close to him.

"I had two full-grown Doberman pinchers in my house," Hicks said. "It was one of the older houses, where the bottom-half of the back door is wood, the top half is glass. They broke that window, and one of my Dobermans had glass all in his fur. So it had to be somebody that I knew, that knew those dogs, because they would have ate him up."

According to the sheriff, the gun has a resale value of $600-$700.

Hicks said he bought it for a lot cheaper than that, though.

"I bought it for $20," the 10-time Grammy Award winner said. "I was playing in a dance hall-type place in Reno, Nevada. This guy was in there, and he was an alcoholic. He needed a drink, and he didn't have any money. But he had that gun. I didn't know he had it until he offered it to me for whatever I wanted to give him. I gave him a $20 bill and put it in my pocket."

Harwood said the nearly 44-year period between the theft and its return speaks to the meticulous gun records that law enforcement agencies employ.

"It was 1978 that his house got broken into," Harwood said. "Somebody has kept up a good hot files for all these years, because you have to validate them every 30 to 60 days. When you register a gun, it's entered into what's called a hot file. Somebody's keeping some good records in Greensboro."

With the pistol back in his possession, Hicks said it will go back into his safe with his other guns.

Hicks said his animals will deter any potential intruders should anyone try to take it from him again.

"I've got three dogs in the house, now," he said.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Local music icon's gun returned to him 40+ years after it was stolen