Stroller for special needs teen stolen from Lynnwood family

LYNNWOOD, Wash. — A Lynnwood mother is asking for your help; someone stole her vehicle with a virtually irreplaceable stroller inside.
  
Emilee Pope, 18, has special needs, and while she's happy watching the fish swim in the living room fish tank and playing with her musical toys, just like most teenagers, she likes to get out of the house.

But suddenly that's tougher to do.

"It was called vertical talus so her feet were malformed," explains Emilee's mom, Keri Pope. "The surgeries were for the most part successful but she still has some deformity and walking long distance is hard for her so we use the stroller for long distances."
  
Make that used the stroller.

"I'm a single mom so money is tight and actually my car broke down last week, and I was borrowing my father's car.  The stroller was in the back of my dad's car and they stole my dad's car so it's been quite a week," Keri Pope tells us.

Her father's vehicle -- a 1999 silver Chevy Tracker -- was parked in the handicap spot outside the Keri's Lynnwood condo when it was taken some time Tuesday night. Emilee's handicap placard was hanging on the rearview mirror.

"So whoever took it knew it was for a handicapped person," Keri Pope explains.

It's not just that Emilee's stroller is expensive -- what makes it particularly difficult to replace is that it's relatively rare.

"She's 90 pounds and typical strollers aren't strong enough to hold her weight," says Keri Pope.

So she filed a police report and posted a photo of a similar stroller to Facebook, hoping that by spreading the word someone might find Emilee's advertised for sale online or dumped roadside.

"Return it -- do the right thing.  Give it back to Emilee, it's Emilee's chair, and she deserves it.  She deserves to have her chair back," Keri Pope concluded.

And she deserves the car back too -- with one cruel act, Emilee lost both her modes of transportation.

If you'd like to help, friends set up a Go Fund Me account for a new stroller.

Cox Media Group