Annie was found!
On Monday, Nate decided to call the U Police Dept. just to check in with them. It's a good thing he did, because they had found her! The SLC Police had actually recovered her
four days earlier. We were really upset that nobody had called and told us. So on Tuesday, Nate and I went to the SLC Police Dept downtown and paid an arm and a leg to release the car from the impound. We were mad that we had to pay the impound fees when we didn't even know she was there for four days! But we're going to get a letter from the U detective and hopefully get some of our money back.
Anyway, so then we drove out to the impound lot, which was probably one of the worst places I've ever been. The people there were very kind, but overall, it just felt yucky and creepy and there were gates and fences and alarms everywhere. It kind of made me sick to think of Annie sitting in there (I know she can't feel or think or whatever, but
still....). So Nate went out to the lot (they only let one of us go, I had to wait in the office), and he tried to start her, but couldn't.
Overall, she was in okay shape. They stole our CD player (which didn't work anyway) and all of the plastic covering was torn off of the steering column. The ignition was busted, too. They had taken some loose change and an old cell phone, but had left all of our registration paperwork and our snow scraper (ha!). They had opened (and apparently eaten) an OLD granola bar that Nate said has been in there for years (clean the car, honey!), so we joked that we hoped they would get sick from it. The exterior/tires/windows were untouched, thank goodness. BUT sadly, there was
one thing that almost made me burst out in tears: in the backseat was a pair of men's underwear. EEWWW. Eew, eew, eew. Poor Annie! What is wrong with people??!!
Nate tried to start it with a screwdriver, but couldn't, so we had to leave our baby behind and drive home. I was SO upset. I know she's just a car! It's not like they had stolen and violated our
child, but she's been with me for 14 years! Luckily when we got home, things started looking up. Nate spent a few hours on the phone with our insurance and Ken Garff Honda body shop. They were AMAZING to work with. I want to hug and kiss them all. So Ken Garff Honda sent out a tow truck to pick her up (we would have had to pay
more money if we didn't get her picked up within 24 hours). They towed her to their body shop downtown. We stopped by later that afternoon to give them the keys and sign some stuff, and the lady who worked there was a complete saint. She promised us that they will fix Annie up, and that due to the "circumstances" she was found under, they are going to scrub her down and steam clean the interior for us. I wanted to cry (happy tears this time). There are kind, good people in the world after all!
The U detective said she was also going to head over to the body shop to "collect the evidence" (thank you....). I hope they can find whoever did this. A few days ago, the sweet Koreans who live below us had their Honda stolen, too! So lame.
We aren't sure how long they will take to fix her up, but we are so glad to have her back in the family! We love you, Annie!
