Orem Shop Seeks Help To Find ‘Boutique’ Guitars Stolen During Break-In

OREM, Utah —A guitar designer was seeking help from the public Wednesday to recover three high-end guitars and a ukulele stolen from his workshop.

Robert Rask, owner of Rask Guitars, learned Monday morning from a worker across the street that a window had been broken at the front of his workshop near 500 South and 1300 West.

The front door was also ajar.

Can YOU help solve this case?! High-end, “boutique” guitars stolen out of this Orem workshop. Working on a story @KSL5TV at 10p #KSLTV #Utah pic.twitter.com/dBql2aWESd

— Andrew Adams (@AndrewAdamsKSL) July 15, 2021

Rask’s wife and business partner, Melissa, arrived to check out the damage and discovered that “Elise” — the second guitar Rask had ever made — had been taken from the front room.

Upon further inspection, she discovered two more guitars were missing from the back of the shop, as well as a vintage ukulele.

One of the guitars was one Robert had built with his nephew over the course of two years. It didn’t have a logo or label.

“To have someone come and snag it really, really that got him bad,” Melissa Rask said. “These are custom-made, boutique guitars; they’re not something you can go and pawn.”

The third guitar was a classical guitar that required the bridge to be reglued. It had been in the shop on repair, the shop owners said.

While Rask acknowledged the situation had been extremely frustrating, a post on the business’s Facebook page struck a conciliatory tone toward the thieves.

“I don’t know the circumstances that drove you to this, but I have compassion for you,” the statement read. “I forgive you and will sincerely pray for you. If you will return the two guitars that are not owned by me (the classical and the random hardwoods guitars) you can keep the other. I will not press charges or pursue any recourse. You can drop them off at any local music store. No questions asked.”

Rask said the Orem Police Department was also investigating and anyone with information in the case could reach out to detectives there as well.