Bob Benyo said he has received hundreds of tips thanks to his banner. Courtesy of Bob Benyo
- A Florida man said his wife’s 2016 Rolls Royce was stolen from their garage.
- Bob Benyo said he used a sky banner to solicit tips in exchange for a reward.
- After hundreds of calls and texts to Benyo, a “nice” woman found the car outside her Airbnb.
The Twilight Purple 2016 Rolls Royce Wraith Bob Benyo of Florida gave his wife a rare example – he estimates there are about six of them in the country.
“It stands out. I mean, it’s hard to miss,” Benyo told Insider.
So when two people followed his wife to her house and steel When he bought the car on September 21st, he knew he had to get it back.
“I can’t replace this car. Even though it’s not brand new – it’s a 2016 model – it’s something special. It was an anniversary gift,” Benyo told Insider.
Benyo said he cooperated with law enforcement, combed through surveillance footage and asked Rolls Royce for help. However, his most useful tool in recovering the car was his own business: a sky banner company.
“My wife and children were literally a room away”
Benyo told Insider that the incident occurred on a Thursday afternoon as his wife was driving home with their two children, seven and nine. A car followed her home without her knowledge and parked across the street from her neighbor’s house in a silver Mercedes in her Miami neighborhood.
Benyo said surveillance video taken from outside his home showed the two suspects jumping out of their car as soon as one of his home’s three garage doors closed. Benyo said North Miami Police Department officers believe she used a remote control device to open the garage door.
After searching the garage, Benyo said the thieves were able to find the keys to the Rolls Royce on a side switch. He said his mother-in-law pulled into the driveway during the robbery and wondered why the garage door was open, but didn’t see the suspects. Benyo said he believed they were also trying to steal his Aston Martin.
He later learned from police that the suspects were armed: “My wife and kids were literally a room away with a door in between,” Benyo said.
He contacted local law enforcement, called Rolls Royce and asked to use their tracking system to locate the car. This was just the beginning of Benyo’s journey to return his wife’s luxury car.
He said “immediately after” the conversation with police he decided to take some matters into his own hands.
“Stolen Purple Rolls-Royce Reward”
Benyo said he was known for using his company Aerial Banners to send unusual messages. He once used a banner to demand a company pay him money he said he owed.
He used one of his planes to tow a sign asking Miami-Dade County citizens if they had seen the royal dark purple car valued at over $200,000.
“Stolen Purple Rolls-Royce Reward” read the air sign, which had a phone number attached.
He offered a $5,000 reward. And it worked: the tips soon came.
Benyo told Insider he received a total of 310 calls and messages, including people wishing him luck. He said about 100 calls were legitimate tips and people told him they had seen the car.
“There were only one or two that were a little negative,” Benyo said. “For example, ‘Your car is ugly’ or ‘I hope you can’t find your car’.”
It took days of searching, haggling with the people who stole it – who Benyo said were already being pursued by police for other crimes – and combing through tips, until a call from a generous woman named Fay helped to return the car to his garage.
“Next time you should think about stealing a black one.”
Finally, Benyo got his first good tip: someone was offering the Rolls Royce for rent on Telegram.
“I thought, ‘Wow, that’s really bold,'” Benyo said.
Benyo said he worked with private investigators and the person who sent the tip this Saturday to infiltrate the chat and try to convince the thief to rent him the car.
Eventually, using the tipster’s Telegram account, Benyo told the person offering the car for rent that he was the owner trying to get his car back.
“I said, ‘I’m not trying to have the police hit you. Just park the car and walk away. I just want to get it back,'” Benyo told Insider.
The suspect repeatedly resisted, he said, telling Benyo that they knew it was a scheme and refused. Benyo said he told the suspect that they would be caught eventually.
“I said, ‘Next time you should think about maybe stealing a black style that suits you’ – I was joking to make light of it and trying to get him to give it up. And I couldn’t get any further.”
Then, just before midnight, Benyo said he got another tip. A woman who rented an Airbnb in Fort Lauderdale said she saw the car parked outside her window in a neighborhood with a maze of difficult-to-maneuver streets.
“They found a great parking spot,” Benyo said.
Benyo said the woman – who only wanted to be identified as Fay – received the reward after police discovered she had nothing to do with the people who stole the Rolls Royce.
“It’s replacing a window and fixing some dents and scratches and that’s about it,” Benyo told Insider. “Of course new keys will be made. They are on the trail of the suspects. They told me they knew who they were. So it’s only a matter of time before they arrest the suspects.”
Benyo said his family is relieved to have the car back but is taking extra precautions to secure their valuables, such as keeping their keys in a locked box and turning on their alarm system. Despite the negative experience, he said there was a silver lining to the entire incident.
“I think the most unique thing is how many people in Miami-Dade County, Fort Lauderdale and across the country have taken the time to reach out to me and just say, ‘Hey, I’m so sorry, I hope .’ You’ll get your car back.’ And I thought that was really, really unique… To this day I still get random messages.”
North Miami police did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment. Miami-Dade police referred Insider to the NMPD.
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