The listing went down quickly, and Roddenberry’s son is trying to track it down.
Sure, roddennberry lent it to the motion picture set guys and it was never returned even with gene asking for it directly. No 0 one misplaces ≈50lbs of wood that’s 3ft long and has specific storage requirements.
Historians, like model-maker David Shaw, who wrote a detailed history of the lost 3-foot model, believe that for at least a time, the model sat on Roddenberry’s desk and was his property. They believe Roddenberry loaned it to people working on the production of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, but it was never returned. There is even a record of Roddenberry writing to contacts at the production house inquiring to get it back to no avail.
Ed: off work. And yes it was actually reported stolen.
https://www.therpf.com/forums/threads/red-alert-lost-3-ft-tos-enterprise-found.354596/
Ed: estimated value given current sales of available studio models. ≈3 million+
