Merchants are probably not going to help anyone in recovering stolen cons.
Let's say I stole a bunch of bitcoins and bought a nice 70" LCD HDTV from Newegg (value of $3000 USD)
Newegg shipped it to me and they know who I am.
Three weeks later some guy in Japan tracked the transaction/address and contacts Newegg to get his stolen bitcoins back.
What is the incentive for Newegg to do anything at all? If they do all the work how will Newegg benefit from it? If it is proven that I did buy the HDTV with stolen bitcoins, Newegg has to give the bitcoins back to the owner, and then they have to go through more trouble to get their HDTV back or sue me for the $3000 USD value.
Why would any merchant go through the headaches and lose money to help someone in another country?
If they sit and do nothing, their bitcoins gets exchanged and they get their money for the products they sold.
I think at some point an address can be tied to a person Some examples would be:
Pay for lunch with BTC - Cameras/Witnesses
Trading BTC for fiat - Identity is known for Wire Transfers
Buying a TV through NewEgg - Name/Shipping Address
Selling Coins to People - WU has cameras, Loading cards gives places you spent at which have cameras not to mention phone numbers and IP addresses
Pretty much anything that involves you getting a good or a physical service you can be identified.
The only thing I can think of you can do with BTC that is anonymous is trade between coins, make more BTC, and look at them.
Citizens might have a hard time tracking down a person, but law enforcement with warrants and all their other goodies could find people easy enough.