Odds of actually getting stolen property back

Had my truck broken into tonight, pretty much all they got was an old backpack with an iPad mini inside. I set the thing to lost mode, or whatever it’s called, and I gave HPD the serial number when they came to talk to me. I know I’m small bananas in the grand scheme of things, but they mentioned that if it gets pawned there is a chance that they’ll end up being able to get it back for me. Has anyone had any experience with this, or is there any realistic chance that it shakes out that way? At this point I’m thinking that the only reason he mentioned it is because it is a non-zero chance that it happens, and I’m not holding my breath over it.