A friend left his bike in an apartment basement after moving. 1 year later he moved back to the state. We went to look for his bike. It was still there. We fixed it up. He has a bike. He is very happy.

I would bet the owner of the bike knows where the bike is, and would expect that it is stolen. However, when he comes back for it and it is still there he will be very happy (and surprised).

Besides you said it yourself it's just a crappy old Schwinn. Go buy something from Bikesdirect, it'll probably work better anyway.