The violin was made in 1676 by Austrian Jakob Steiner. It may be as valuable as a Stradivarius. And it was left behind by burglars in a run-down apartment raided by police. Police believe the violin was stolen from the home of a family that has owned it for five generations and values it at $800,000. Detective Tom Ryan said Tuesday he found the violin as he searched an apartment in neighboring Daytona Beach for jewelry, guns and other items taken in a string of house burglaries in the last two weeks here and in adjoining Ormond Beach. Two men arrested last week tipped off police to the apartment, which they said also had been used by two other men as a stash house for stolen property. Ryan said he suspects the other men took the violin in an Oct. 20 burglary. Violins made by Steiner, who died in 1683, may be even rarer than those of the Italian Antonio Stradivari because Steiner made fewer of them, according to some collectors. According to library records, Stradivari made about 650 violins. The series of about 18 burglaries netted the crooks between $35,000 and $50,000 in jewelry and guns, police said. The two arrested, Jason Lee Signore, 18, and Edward Revas, 20, were picked up in an unrelated burglary, detectives said.
