I had a similar experience that took place over the course of a single day in which I tracked down that thieves in real-time and confronted them in a parking lot. Instead of calling the cops, and since they had taken money and not an actual laptop, I had them give me collateral and gave them 2 weeks to give me money back in exchange, which they did after.

I actually did write up and submit a police report, but it was about 3 months before I heard anything from the police.

Lessons learned: (1) sometimes it's better to roll up your sleeves and do it yourself and (2) some (most?) people legitimately want to come clean.