Advice from A Stolen Bicycle

My commuter bicycle was stolen when I was at the gym on Halloween of this year. I arrived at the public bike lock area a half block away from the front door, worked out for an hour, and when I returned it was gone. Yes, I locked it up with an Abus U lock and a Teflon reinforced cable. I had the bike registered with Locker 527, so as soon as I got home I reported it stolen there, along with the police. A week later, I received an email from a stranger. In it was a picture of my bicycle with the phrase "It's at (address), go and get it." I called the police to let them know, and they said they would send an officer. An hour later, they called me to say that it wasn't my bike. They said it was similar to the pictures I'd uploaded onto 527, but the handlebar tape and fenders were different. Also, the serial number was close but not an exact match, so there was nothing they could do. A day later, when I showed the pic to my LBS mechanic, he said it was my bike 100%. He told me to forward his information to the police so he could act like a witness and confirm the bike was mine. I did so, and again, the cops couldn't do anything because of the serial number. The things I learned from this experience was: 1) if you haven't already, register your bike(s) with Locker 527. You don't know who's connected. 2) every time you change ANYTHING on your bike that affects the appearance (handlebar tape, fenders), upload a new pic to Locker 527. The cops go off the information available, even if it's out of date. 3) if you bought your bike from an LBS, make sure they keep a record of your serial number in case you begin to doubt that the information you have is correct. 4) when there's a will, there's a way. My mechanic told me he's sure there are a couple of bike chop shops in the city, and I can tell by the way that cable was cut, they had the right tools for the job.