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As the woman prepared to head to her own Thanksgiving celebration, she was met with an unsettling surprise—her car had vanished.
PORTLAND, Oregon — After spending the morning of Thanksgiving volunteering at a homeless shelter, a woman from Hillsboro returned to find her car had been stolen.
Cheryl, the volunteer who had generously offered her time at the Union Gospel Mission, parked her vehicle in a lot located at Northwest 1st Avenue and Northwest Davis Street. Upon completing her service of Thanksgiving meals, she was shocked to find her car missing.
“I was just shaking, and I thought, ‘Oh no. All my Thanksgiving. Everything’s in here,'” Cheryl recounted, expressing her disbelief and concern.
Inside the stolen car were her purse and various Thanksgiving dishes, leaving her in a distressing predicament.
For privacy reasons following the theft, Cheryl requested that her last name not be disclosed by the news outlet KGW.
“I feel so violated,” Cheryl said. “I came home, and I just didn’t know how to function. What do I do first? My ID’s out there and I’m worried about ID theft and just everything I could possibly think of — and where is my car and what condition is it in?’
The car, a 1999 beige Honda Accord with wine country plates WC 05465, is her only mode of transport.
“I use it for appointments and groceries and everything because I can’t walk everywhere, and so, I really want to get it back,” Cheryl said.
Portland Police Bureau data shows Honda Accords are in the top 10 models of cars stolen in the city.
Cheryl said she filed a police report and has been actively looking for her car with her son, driving around the city to hunt for it and visiting stores where her cards were used at. She said more than $600 was spent before she canceled them.
“My son and I went into a couple places where they used my card, and they said the police will have to go and look at cameras to see,” Cheryl said.
Portland Police data shows that 89% of stolen cars in the city are recovered, 77% of which within 30 days.
In the meantime, Cheryl said it will be tough, as she lives on a fixed income, and she is asking for help.
“I’m more interested now in just finding my car because I need it, and I can’t really afford to get another one,” Cheryl said. “I couldn’t even before this happened.”
Police said to never leave anything of value in your car and do things like activate the security alarm system or install anti-theft plate fasteners.
Cheryl’s son set up a GoFundMe to help his mom through this hard time.
