Curt, interesting story I heard years ago over in Illinois. A collector had similarly purchased a gun, and it was shipped to him supposedly by UPS. The gun never arrived. He got the shipping info and filed a claim for the amount he had paid. Eventually UPS paid the claim, because he had never signed off as receiving the gun. He was still upset that he "lost" a rifle that he wanted, but was OK with getting his money back without too great a hassle.
Months later (fall or winter?) he happened to look down in the bushes off to the side of his porch, and saw an old, wet carton mostly hidden by the shrubs, down on the ground behind them. Guess what was in it? Yup. The UPS guy must have slid it in the bushes to keep it safe from people seeing it from the road. Obviously he did a great job as far a security was concerned, but maybe not so great as far as the customer's ability to find it! I guess the gun's condition wasn't quite as good as when the buyer first bought it, but at least he found out what happened, and did get the gun, or what was left of it, in the end. But then, it was probably just one of those Illinois rifles! Indiana Friend