DENVER (KDVR) A Denver woman is feeling devastated after a one-of-a-kind flying machine she bought was stolen off her porch only minutes after it was delivered, and the theft was caught on her doorbell camera.
Erica Massey only recently took up the paramotor hobby but quickly fell in love with it. She’s put in many hours of training on the ground while aiming toward the sky, hoping soon for her maiden voyage in her own paramotor.
“Essentially a two-stroke engine on a backpack with a propeller,” said Massey.
All of that is carried beneath a parachute. Massey had one ordered, and it was delivered on Saturday afternoon.
“The UPS driver dropped off the package but didn’t ring the bell or knock on the door, so even though I was home, I didn’t know it was delivered,” said Massey.
It was gone only minutes later, the theft was caught on her Ring camera.
“A Suburban pulled up, guy hopped out of the passenger seat, hops over the fence, grabs it, shoves it in the back and away they went,” said Massey.
Massey had saved up $8,000 over more than a year. It’s one-of-a-kind, custom-made because a normal paramotor is too heavy for her.
“There’s two of these engines in the U.S. and only one that is configured with the propeller and the cage size for me,” she said.
When she saw it vanish in the video, she was crushed.
“I immediately started crying,” said Massey.
The irony being even if the thieves knew what was in the package, because it was specifically made for Massey, they couldn’t even use it. She says she immediately filed a report with Denver police, who came to her home to get more information.
To the thieves themselves, Massey says getting it back would mean everything.
“It’s something I’ve been working really hard toward, so that’s devastating and if you could have a little bit of human empathy that would be great,” she said.
Massey says because the machine is so unique, she hopes someone in the paramotor community will recognize it if it’s sold somewhere. She says the box will have a “Fly Products” logo on it.
If you have any information, she asks that you report it to the Denver Police Department and says she is offering a $1,000 reward for anything that results in its return.
