The theft of our Camper ( The Movie )

[Bookumdanno]

Well, do I have a story to tell.... My wife went to go to her church sewing group on June 11 (yesterday) at 10 am. Right after she left I hear furious knocking on the door. When I answered it was my wife. She was MAD. Seems our camper was not there anymore. I immediately called 911 to report it. Notified our insurance company and bank. We had a hitch lock and x-chocks on wheels. The extension cord had been connected to an adapter and plugged into camper. The x-chocks were there, bent up and the extension cord was dragged down the driveway. No signs of the hitch lock. We noticed before Sheriff arrived the muddy tire tracks showed the camper had contacted the end rail on our bridge. The Sheriff arrived about 11:30am and took pictures of the tire tracks. During our talk he told us they had received a call from a man at 3:30am, from a back road about 10 miles from us, that someone had knocked on his door and asked to borrow a chain saw. Apparently a tree had fallen across the road and they needed to get thru. When he went out he saw a dilapidated red flatbed truck pulling a brand new camper. He was suspicious enough to write the tag number of the truck down. The tag had been stolen the day before from the next county over. Today at 10:30 am we received a call from the Sheriff office. Our camper had been found along with a flatbed truck abandoned on a back road. Seems they were using a GPS to travel and it took them down a narrow road and couldn't go any further or turn around. On the Sheriff's way to the camper he passed a guy sitting on a guard rail. The next Deputy stopped and he was one of 2 who had stolen the camper. He is well known to law enforcement. From what the Sheriff office told us the hitch is damaged, there a gash down the side and a door was broken open. We will go see it around 1 PM today and report back. It's still being held for fingerprinting etc.

anddddd the saga continues.... I should submit this to Netflix for a movie. I think it should not have been found. But that's my opinion. After talking to Tow company he told us there were 3 counties and the State Police and a helicopter were out searching for a red flatbed truck pulling a new camper. Around 4 pm they got a call from a resident that someone had been up their dead end road. ( more of a path ) . The tow guy said he wouldn't take a pickup truck up this road. Well the thieves went down to a barn and tried to hotwire a tractor ( I guess to try and get the camper out ) and a side by side to no avail. They did get a 4 wheeler and it was gone. The tow guy had to take an excavator and clear a path up and around the camper to get in front of it. They then pushed it backwards down the road for a mile to turn it around and hook a tow truck and then pull out the red truck now spray painted GREY truck. The front cap is torn off, there are gashes and scratches down both sides. The power jack is bent and busted up. Rear spare tire carrier is bent and loose. There's tears underneath the camper. The tow guy said it pulled sideways down the road. Lights were flashing. The power cord had been dragged. But surprise the adapter was still hooked to the cable. The storage compartment doors on either side are broken and one entrance door has a busted lock and pry bar bends along side. Doesn't seem to be anything missing. They found a lot of needles in the truck and when Karen went inside camper there was something all over a chair and we called the Sheriff to find out what it is before we remove interior contents. Now we wait for it to be trailered to the dealer and inspected and determined what is going to happen. Good thing we have insurance. Maybe they'll total it and we already have a new camper picked out..

[Chris Pastuzyn]

Wow ! I honestly was waiting for the punch line ! No offense! That's awful, You did everything that would /should have deterred them! Hopefully they total it, Can't be worth repairs,Keep us posted.

[cboss]

Just gotta ask...Where do you live?

[Chris Pastuzyn]

Looks like West Virginia on their info.

[Bookumdanno]

Yep.. All most Heaven.. almost.. I guess some one's going to have to sleep outside tonight. The funniest thing is the sewer connection didn't get touched. It hangs down about 8 to 10 inches and sits in front of the wheels but all 4 corner scissor jacks got smashed and bent up into the camper. They went over a lot of trees and ditches. Just glad we have USAA and everything is covered. The insurance adjuster just returned our call and she said they just got info a camper that was stolen in 2012 had been found, Wonder what that looks like

[cboss]

USAA...good for you! They are the best!
Thanks for your service from a fellow vet!

[Bookumdanno]

Thank you and Thanks for your service.

[Reverse_snowbird]

That's terrible! It does sound a bit like a bad tt movie.
Not the brightest were they? GPS strikes again.
I wonder if their GPS shows where they were planning on taking that trailer.
Hope you're able to get a new trailer and have it before you were planning on going camping.

[Bookumdanno]

We hope so too. I want to see what the bill was for the recovery. They probably stole the GPS too. They got one of the 2 already and I think they know who the other one is. The one in custody is well known to the Sheriff.

[Igave]

And another guy will get probation (probably on top of his current probation). Totally your fault. Ahem..

[TitanMike]

It seems like I read in the news of more and more incidents like this.

A growing problem. We might start seeing a return to days of old with drawbridges over moats filled with alligators.

A Camper may well be covered by insurance but who pays the deductible or for the loss of the little personal things with no way to place a value on them.

[Cabinfever97]

Im thinking my Hensley hitch might just cause thieves to move on.

[mwdilday]

Originally Posted by Bookumdanno

Yep.. All most Heaven.. almost.. I guess some one's going to have to sleep outside tonight. The funniest thing is the sewer connection didn't get touched. It hangs down about 8 to 10 inches and sits in front of the wheels but all 4 corner scissor jacks got smashed and bent up into the camper. They went over a lot of trees and ditches. Just glad we have USAA and everything is covered. The insurance adjuster just returned our call and she said they just got info a camper that was stolen in 2012 had been found, Wonder what that looks like

USAA Covers your trailer? I tried to get them to cover mine a few years back and they partnered with Progressive so my 5th wheel insurance is with Progressive.

[Geobound]

It would have been nice if you put a warning at the start of this thread that said something like..... "GRAB POPCORN, AND A DRINK".

That sure beat anything I've seen on Netflix lately!

Seriously though that totally sucks about your trailer, but holy smokes are you ever taking it well.

Fingers crossed that they write that one off, and you get the new trailer that you've already been drooling over.

I'm looking forward to the sequel now.

[babock]

Originally Posted by mwdilday

USAA Covers your trailer? I tried to get them to cover mine a few years back and they partnered with Progressive so my 5th wheel insurance is with Progressive.

If it isn't a motorhome, they will insure it. You have to call them and find someone who knows this. I had Progressive the first year too until I found out they would insure my trailer.

[A2pfunk]

Wow, I am so sorry this happened to you! As somebody else said, you certainly are taking it well. I've long said that if somebody ever steals my truck (or camper, for that matter) I never want it to be recovered. I don't want it back if somebody else has been doing God-knows-what with it. I don't care how short a time they had it for.


Since you are sharing your pain with us, are you going to post up some pics of the damage?

[omahagirl]

Ouch

[nomad297]

Originally Posted by babock

If it isn't a motorhome, they will insure it. You have to call them and find someone who knows this. I had Progressive the first year too until I found out they would insure my trailer.

USAA covers my travel trailer, my golf cart and everything else I own. USAA has been very good to me over the years. I would never go with anybody else.

Bruce

[cboss]

Originally Posted by nomad297

USAA covers my travel trailer, my golf cart and everything else I own. USAA has been very good to me over the years. I would never go with anybody else.

Bruce

X200000!!
I've been with them since 1979. I would not even think about another company for any price. They have been fantastic over the years.

[DBigbee]

USAA has covered my trailers ever since I bought the first one in 2014. Last year they covered two different large claims. They've been covering my cars since 1971 and my houses since 1972. My IRA since 1985, and my life since I'm not sure when. Like someone said, I wouldn't trust anyone else. Let's see, that makes 49 years. I get my gold sticker next year!