The tape recorder is still gone. It appears to be gone for good. This week I intend to purchase another one. This is very frustrating , not only because of the cost, but also because the recorder had the original tape in it that had recorded a couple of episodes of sounds that I wanted to check out further. Keep in mind, no one other than my dog, myself, and my wife have been further than the parlour of this house since Christmas. My dog is too short to reach the areas I placed the recorder in; my wife would tell me if she moved it or put ot away, and I know I'm getting old, but my memory hasn't gotten that bad yet. This is very frustrating.