Angry Florida Man Gets His Stolen Ram TRX Back Himself

Read the full story on The Auto Wire
After having his beloved Ram TRX stolen from in front of his house, a Florida man decided to take matters into his own hands. He did things the 'right way' at first, reporting the theft to police and waiting for Broward Sheriff's Office to perform and investigation.But when that was taking too long, he started searching for information about where his truck might be. Randomly looking at Facebook Marketplace didn't net any real leads, but then luck smiled on him when he received a notification that an additional 800 miles has been logged on the TRX's odometer, he told WSVN.
Even though the thieves disabled the factory GPS tracker, the Ram still sent that key notification to the man. Armed with that, he started looking at cities about that far away, checking Facebook Marketplace again.
That's when he found his stolen truck listed for sale near Nashville, Tennessee. Digging further, he discovered the seller had ads for quite a few other vehicles, with the strong possibility they were all stolen.
Looking through those listings, he noticed that in several of them a house was in the background. Spending nine hours on Google Maps using Street View, combing through the area thoroughly, he finally found the location of that unique home.
With that valuable information, he reached out to the sheriff's office in Tennessee, hopped on a plane, and within hours was reunited with his Ram TRX, which was still in one piece. Now that's determination!
The guy apparently has been bit by the bug, because he's now helping other people who have had their cars stolen. What's more, the experience has prompted him to consider a career switch and get into the private investigation field. Considering what he was able to do on his own with no training, he might be the perfect fit.
This story demonstrates something we keep telling people: don't just wait for police to find your stolen car. Be smart about it, but looking for it yourself is a good idea. Law enforcement are swamped in certain areas with stolen vehicle reports, so you're just another number. The police are never going to care about your case like you do.
Also, this case shows the value of having a tracker other than the factory GPS unit. Thieves know to disable that, but if you have a second one hidden away, they might miss it. That makes recovering your stolen car much easier.
Image via WSVN
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