We spent Thanksgiving at Hannah's house last year (2013) and Amber drove over from Durham to spend the day with us. She had to leave early to get back to work her Black Friday shift from 8 pm to 8 am. Hannah, Dantrell and I went Black Friday shopping in Goldsboro. Hannah wanted to buy a new laptop for school and we had several other items we wanted to get. The next morning Hannah came to wake me up and said Amber's car was stolen. While she was working (shortly after the shift started) someone went into the break room and stole keys and wallets from the employees lockers. Amber's keys were among them and when she went outside after her shift, she realized her car was gone. She had left her purse in the car but had put her debit card in her pocket because she had planned to buy something. So the thief got her purse, wallet and several other items with her car. She, of course, was crying her eyes out. She hadn't slept for almost 24 hours and was exhausted. This car was her first vehicle given to her by her Dad after her first year of college. It had gone with her on many road trips. Her boyfriend, Casey, was in Charlotte with his parents and he hopped in the car to come back for her. We hurried and got ready and met her at her apt. Casey went and had the locks on her apartment changed because her apartment keys were also on the keychain. She felt violated and frustrated. She was sure she'd never see the car again.
Russ and I got online and looked for a good rental car deal and told her we would leave my Ion with her and if it wasn't returned we would give her that car as a replacement. We drove a rental car home to GA. She had to wait until Monday to talk to insurance because it was a holiday weekend. She filed a report with the police and after looking at surveillance tapes they realized they had his face on camera. He was wearing a hood and seemed to be familiar where one of the cameras was because he dodged it but there was another one that he obviously didn't see because he looked right at it unaware.
Since I was then left without a vehicle, Russ and I went car shopping. I had planned to make a trip to Akron to help out with Mom and needed a vehicle to get there with. We found a Nissan Altima in Seafoam Gray (blue/gray) that we liked. It had a few bells and whistles on it so it was quite an upgrade for us. We were sure we'd never see Amber's car again and had figured we would be signing the Saturn over to her. About a month or more after the theft, she got a call from the Insurance Agent that they had found her car in Jacksonville, FL abandoned on the side of the road with the car keys in it. They put it on a truck and brought it to her. It reeked of alcohol and cigarette smoke and had ashes all in it. Several of her items that were in her car (including her purse) were taken but they did leave a jacket that was worth something to her. They left her bible as well. (the most valuable thing in there). We gave Amber the choice of either keeping our Saturn and selling hers or keeping hers. She opted to keep her car because it had sentimental attachments to her. We drove out and picked up the Ion a few weeks later. It was quite a learning experience for her. It made me angry that someone thought it was a fun idea to joyride in a young girl's car. But in the end, I got a new car and we now have an extra vehicle to loan out as needed.
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