Band recovers music gear Tuesday after having it stolen Sunday night

A band who had their gear stolen Sunday night recovered most of their equipment Tuesday in Raleigh.

According to the Kelli Baker Band, the band recovered "80%" of their stolen equipment.

Kelli Baker, lead singer and the band's namesake, said the band got a tip their gear was taken to National Pawn on Fleetwood Drive in Raleigh.

According to Baker, a "couple of guys" showed up with a trailer, not the one the band owned, and sold the gear to the pawn shop.

The employees kept the gear off to the side until the band could pick it up.

In total, more than $20,000 in music equipment was stolen from the band, including a drum kit, six guitars, amplifiers and speakers.

Baker said the gear makes up "90%" of the band's total equipment, calling the theft "catastrophic."

"When you steal a musician's instrument, and this is not the first time it's happened to me, it's different than stealing somebody's purse. It's different than stealing somebody's laptop. It's almost a part of your soul and your identity," Baker explained. "You create with it with your body. It's such a different kind of personal thing and it's almost a different kind of violation. You're stealing art, you're stealing things that make the world beautiful."

The New York-based band played at Bowstring Pizza on Wake Forest Road and spent the night at a Hilton Hotel at 3415 Wake Forest Road.

The next morning, the trailer carrying their equipment was missing. Baker managed to track down the trailer, after leaving her iPad in the truck it was hitched to, but when they opened the truck, all the band members found was a dented safe.

The Raleigh Police Department is investigating the theft and it is unclear who sold the gear to the pawn shop.

Police are asking anyone with information that will assist with their investigation to contact Crime Stoppers at www.p3tips.com/89 or call 919-996-1193.