Ford F150 Blues

This morning I woke before dawn like I usually do to let my dog out to do his business. As I stepped onto my front porch and casually glanced across my driveway, I noticed something was missing. Something very large.

My truck was gone.

My 2012 Ford F150 that I love so dearly was absent from its normal spot, and it took me a few double takes before I could process what I was (or rather was not) seeing. Maybe one of my kids took it in the middle of the night and wasn't back with it yet? I know, crazy that one of them would do that, but I had to know. When I checked their locations on my phone, they were all where they were supposed to be, so they didn't borrow my truck. Plus, my keys were still in the house and I always try to remember to lock it at night.

Confused, I next pulled up the footage from my Ring doorbell camera. Surely that would reveal what happened to my truck in the middle of the night. Strangely, there was no footage at all during the night that showed any kind of movement. In fact, when I spoke to my next door neighbor, he had no footage as well (I've since learned there are WiFi jammers that can block signals). My Ring does a quick snapshot video every hour, and when I checked my footage again the truck was in my driveway at 3:28 a.m. but when it posted the next snapshot at 4:28 a.m. it was gone. My truck had simply vanished.

After calling my wife who was out of town to tell her the news, I phoned 911 and in less than an hour an officer was in my driveway taking a full report and putting out a BOLO for my truck. He told me there are dumping spots for stolen vehicles around Wilmington and he would be checking those out. A bulletin had been released with my license plate number so that in-town cameras around traffic lights would trigger if it showed up. In the meantime, all I could do was wait.

I opted to drive around with my daughter in her car for a couple of hours and check big parking lots such as Walmart, Target, and Costco, but I knew I was probably looking for a needle in a haystack. I posted the situation and a picture of the truck on Facebook and had many great friends sharing it around in the area in hopes that someone might spot it. Also, another good friend got footage from the owner of a local bar not even half a mile away that showed the truck driving up to a stop sign at 4:11 a.m. and then taking a left, possibly with two occupants in it. Knowing the direction they were heading gives me the chance to stop at some local stores to see if they have any video footage as well.

It is incredibly frustrating and a little scary to have someone steal a vehicle from your driveway. It makes me angry that someone would take something from my home that I worked hard for, leaving my family without a vehicle that we need for work and school. But that is not what bothers me the most.

You see, if someone needs to borrow my truck, I am happy to lend it to them to help them out or at least give them a ride to where they need to go. All they have to do is ask. And shoot, if they need a little cash, I'm happy to help with that as well. Just don't take what is not yours.

At the end of the day, I hope and pray my truck can be found and that it has no damage done to it. And it's not that he should be let off the hook for his crime, but honestly, if the thief showed back up with my truck today and apologized, I would tell him it's all good and thank him for bringing it back. Case closed.