I have an exciting (?) update on our stolen car. It seems as though it's been FOUND! We got a cryptic message in the mail late Wednesday afternoon, that we believe to be a copy of an email from B.A.T.I.C. (Border Auto Theft Information Center) in El Paso, Texas, to the San Diego Police Department. I say it's a cryptic message, because, well, we couldn't exactly figure out what it was telling us. It had a bunch of different foreign phone numbers on it, along with the following comments. "Vehicle was inquired by Policarpio ***(Officer's name) with the Federal Highway Police in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico on 071408. At the time of inquiry vehicle was in custody. (That means they've got our car, right?) Request you advise owner of vehicle location...Do not remove vehicle from NCIC list (not sure what this list is...) as this may interfere with the return of the vehicle via the treaty process...." OK, so let me get this straight - a police officer in TJ found our car on Saturday. The paperwork we got says nothing about the condition of the car, whether it was stopped while it was being driven, or whether a stripped down frame with a VIN number and a license plate was found on a corner somewhere. Apparently it has been impounded somewhere in the TJ area, and is waiting for us to come and get it? WOW! I've got to say, I'm shocked. Now the only concern is what condition the car is in. We are keeping our fingers crossed...
The next step for us is waiting to hear where exactly the car is, and how it looks. As soon as we got the information in the mail, we called our Insurance agent, and told her of the update. She has counterparts in Mexico that work on this kind of stuff every day. She has passed the information on to them, and now we play a waiting game. She says it can take anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of weeks to actually figure out which impound lot the car is in (apparently there must be a LOT of lots in TJ) and to get a person over there to check it out.
So we will wait, and wonder...and hope...that the car is either in really good shape, and just needs some minor repairs, cleaning, ignition, locks, etc. Or that it's bad enough to be considered a total loss, and we get paid quickly and get this all behind us. Either way, it will be interesting...I'm hoping for the best, but not holding my breath.
...random thoughts of a 50-something Mom of 3, Golden Retriever lover, who still, at times, feels like she's in high school...
3 comments:
I never thought following the story of someone's stolen car could be interesting.. but it is! I hope it's in fantastic condition.... or a total wreck and you get paid out for it! have a neat weekend chick.
Wow! It'll be interesting to find out if this turns out to be good news or bad news. Of course, we're hoping for the good news: either it is still in good shape or totaled.
Hey, we figured out how to do this blog thing.
The NCIC list is the national list of stolen vehicles. It's the list they run for suspicious vehicles ... they'll run the local list at every stop, then go on to NCIC for apparent bad guys.
This is where the border story I know I typed somewhere comes in - there is a specific procedure that leads to driving through the border line, getting removed from vehicle at gunpoint (because it's still on the NCIC list and needs to stay there,) getting x-rayed, and then clearing the border.
Once the vehicle has cleared x-ray, you can call the police to come take a recovered vehicle report and at that point the vehicle will be removed from teh 10851 (stolen veh) lists and you will no longer be pulled over and removed at gunpoint while driving.
Post a Comment