Couple traveling the country has truck stolen from REI parking lot in Tacoma

A couple who took to the road to travel the country is looking for their truck after it was stolen in Tacoma on Saturday.

The truck, a dark red 1999 Ford F250 Superduty, was stolen from the parking lot of REI at 3825 S. Steele St. about 3 p.m. Saturday.

It remained missing Monday afternoon, Tacoma police said. The license plate is Nevada 920-F83. People are asked to call 911 if they see the truck.

For the past five years, longtime partners Ching Fu, 38, and Jerud Crandall, 41, have traveled the country. With a love of the outdoors and wanting a lifestyle change, they first left from North Carolina with their two dogs, Tyki and Tybee, in an camping trailer named “The Toaster,” which is powered entirely by solar panels. The trailer is pulled by the truck.

“We’ve traveled all over the U.S., and we’ve been places where we leave our windows down and have never had to worry about it,” Fu said.

Fu and Crandall have been staying in Puyallup with a friend for the past few months. In the meantime, Fu picked up a part-time job with REI.

The truck also was stolen in May but found the same day. Since then, Fu said, they purchased a wheel lock to leave in the truck overnight but didn’t use it while she worked on Saturday.

“We didn’t realize there was a safety concern in the middle of the day in a public area,” she said.

Surveillance footage captured the incident, which is still under investigation by police.

Fu and Crandall are asking the public to keep an eye out.

“This isn’t just a regular vehicle, this is part of our home. We depend on our truck to move our home around as we travel around the country,” Fu said.

Cox Media Group