A photo posted to the Kamloops Facebook page Brock Watch shows a pickup that was stolen from a Valleyview auto shop on Sunday, June 9. The owner says the truck was recovered by RCMP near Chase.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK
June 15, 2019 - 12:00 PM
KAMLOOPS — A distinctive pickup truck stolen from a Valleyview auto shop has been reunited with its owner.
Dustin Thomas turned to Facebook on Sunday, June 9, when he realized his truck had been stolen from Active Care Auto. The post was shared more than 3,000 times according to Thomas and yesterday, June 11, he found out his truck had been recovered by RCMP.
"I was really surprised," he says, adding that the truck has since been repainted.
Kamloops RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Jodi Shelkie says an officer located the truck in a field on the Neskonlith Indian Band land. The officer noted the truck had been painted a light pink colour with household paint.
"When the police first phoned me I wasn't sure it was my truck," he says. "They said it was found on the reserve above Chase, so it was a ways away so I didn't want to get my hopes up."
Thomas says the truck has been around for ten years in Valleyview and has become a common sight for locals in the area. The truck has sentimental value to Thomas as it had originally belonged to his father who passed away from lung cancer.
"This truck was one of the last things I have of his," he said in a Facebook post.
Thomas says he is currently assessing the damage to the truck.
"The ignition is smashed out of it and the windshield is smashed out of it," he says. "I guess when (the post) got around the people who took it abandoned it."
Thomas says he is now dealing with ICBC and luckily his work has offered to repaint the truck for him.
"The shop is going to fix it up for me," he says.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2019