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Stolen U-Haul truck contained nearly everything Tacoma family owned

By John Knicely
By John Knicely

TACOMA, Wash. — UPDATE:  The family texted KIRO 7's John Knicely Wednesday and said the truck was found Monday night in North Tacoma, a few miles away from where they live. 

Joe Carbajal said a the plates had been removed from the truck and a neighbor called police reporting the vehicle as being suspicious. U-Haul told Carbajal there are items in the truck and the family is going to take a look Wednesday afternoon.

Original story

A Tacoma family hopes people will keep an eye out for a U-Haul truck that was stolen while containing nearly everything they own, including priceless family heirlooms.

The Carbajal family moved most of the contents of their house into a U-Haul while their floors were being done last week. Then they went camping in Oregon to be out of the way of the contractor.

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On Friday, the contractor called Joe Carbajal in Oregon to say the floors were done and asked if he’d moved the U-Haul. After speaking, the contractor and the Carbajal's realized that it had been stolen. Joe Carbajal had backed up the U-Haul as close as he could to the house in the driveway to prevent people from stealing stuff out the back, instead thieves made off with the truck.

“We had another 100-year-old dresser there, that's gone,” Joe said Tuesday as he showed KIRO 7 his now near-empty house. “Our bed, too.”

The Carbajal's cut their vacation short because they had to file a police report in person.

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“This is all the clothing that we have left,” Joe said as he showed only a couple shirts left on the hangers. “My wife is using the suitcase as a dresser.”

Among the stolen items were most of 10-year-old Elijah’s toys, including his car collection.

“Trucks, convertibles, a lot of sports cars,” Elijah said. “I had a collection of like 400. Most of the irreplaceable stuff was taken. I'm kind of bummed about that.”

That includes many generational items that can’t be replaced, including handmade quilts from Joe’s deceased grandmother.

“A pocket watch that belonged to a great-great grandfather,” were among other items Joe said were taken. “There were dog tags from my grandfather. I'm trying to think -- there was a ring, too, from a distant relative.”

The U-Haul had Arizona license plate AD 74434 and the U-Haul truck number # EL 2679C. If you see it, call police.

Cox Media Group

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