Stolen Rental Car Part Two

With the warning that I needed to be at the airport really early in order to try and get clearance to fly without any identification, we were dropped off at Lambert St. Louis International Airport three hours before our flight. We first stopped at the American counter, where you normally have to show your driver's license to get your boarding pass. It helped, I think, that I had a credit card with my name on it as it had been in the gas pump when the car was stolen. The desk agent printed out my boarding pass, as well as Jim's, and directed us to TSA downstairs. 

When we got to the TSA agent, I explained that my rental car had been stolen, along with my purse, ID, and all my luggage. He asked if I had a piece of mail on me. Really? I said I had nothing but my credit card. At that point he called for another TSA agent, and had us stand off to the side. A female agent came to get me, and told Jim he had to go on through the checkpoint as he normally would. She took me to a separate desk, where she proceeded to ask me a bunch of questions. Then she said she had to call someone else (Homeland Security?), and explained that they would ask me a series of questions. She said I would only have one try to answer them correctly. Okay, no pressure... I guess I did okay, but then she took my new phone, my credit card, and one of my shoes for a special test. I went through the security line, and got some extra patting down. All that was just fine with me, and I was able to board and go home. I do have global entry status, and I'm wondering if that helped. 

Our neighbor picked us up at the airport in Charlotte, and while driving home we noticed that both Jim and I had a bunch of "No Name" calls on our phones. When he got one that said Creve Coeur, he answered in case it was something to do with the car. It turned out to be a north county police officer who was looking for me. I took the call, and it ends up he had found my suitcase and my iPad. He had gone to the parking lot of an apartment complex to arrest a suspect in a different car theft. When he got out of his car, he saw a transponder laying in the lot. His first thought was that it had been pulled out of a rental car, so he started searching the area. Thats when he found my suitcase and the luggage tag nearby that they had torn off. He also found the iPad, which he opened up. He saw a message from someone asking if I got home okay. He just asked me to describe the iPad, which I could as it has a case on it.

He told me I needed to pick up my stuff by 7:00 that day as that is when his shift ended. If I didn't come and get it, it would be boxed up and taken to the central headquarters in Clayton, and it would be harder for me to retrieve. I explained that I was back in Charlotte, but would see if a friend could come and get it. I admit that I was surprised they didn't want to dust the items for fingerprints, but maybe I've watched too much crime t.v. My friend was able to go and collect my stuff, and we did a FaceTime call when he got back to his house and opened up the suitcase. It was obvious that they had gone through everything as my packing cubes were all emptied out. Some items (like the iPad and my pickleball paddle) had been in the backpack, but the paddle was now in the suitcase. My friend shipped the suitcase and iPad to me the next day.

When I received my stuff, the suitcase was all muddy but in good working condition. As I went through everything, I realized that the packing cube with my dirty laundry in it was missing. So I didn't get back some pickleball clothes, underwear, shorts and shirts. Also out of my makeup bag they took my mascara, nail clippers and tweezers. The backpack, which has not been found, contained ear buds, my purse, charging cords for all my devices, sports glasses and a pair of sandals. 

The thieves managed to use my debit card (even though they didn't have the PIN number) five times before the bank shut my card down. They used it immediately after the theft of the car, so before I was able to finally get to a phone to call and cancel the card. My bank's fraud department is taking care of the charges. I called the police department where the car had been stolen and told them the addresses where my air pods and phone were located, and also where the debit card had been used. I talked to a detective (not the responding cop), and he said the debit card locations would be very helpful. And I said yes, especially if they can match the description with my eyewitness. He said, "You had an eyewitness?" And I told him about the lady on the motorcycle. I said she couldn't hang around and wait for the police as they were trying to outrun the rain from the hurricane, but she gave us her card. He asked if I gave it to the cop, and I said we tried to but he said he didn't need it as he would review the surveillance tape. Which then made me ask the detective if they had seen the tape? He said there was no record of it, so I was sure it was long erased by then. While I had him on the phone, I told him I had left two messages with his department requesting the police report. I need it for insurance purposes. He said it would be 7-10 days before it would be available. He did take down the names and numbers of the two people who had been filling up the same time as me.

In reviewing our documents, I found that the credit card I used to pay for the car rental covers damage as well as theft of rental cars. I have rental car coverage on my automobile policy, but I decided to file the claim through the credit card company instead. Virginia Surety handles these claims, and they need a copy of the police report and rental agreement to process the claim. I also filled out on online claim form with Budget to cover all my bases with them. They, too need a copy of the police report.

Little did I know how problematic it would be to get a police report or a rental agreement. Stay tuned...

Stolen Rental Car

Toyota Camry

My flight back to Charlotte from St. Louis was scheduled in the early afternoon of September 28th. I left my friend's house at 9:45, and drove my Toyota Camry rental car to a Phillip 66 gas station that was located near the rental return area across from Lambert St. Louis International Airport. I pulled up to the front pump, exited the car and inserted my credit card into the pump, which was on the driver's side of the car. There was a man at the pump next to me, and a man and a woman on motorcycles at the pump behind me. It was 10:30 on a Saturday morning.

I had just unscrewed the gas cap and was looking to see if the car had a place to store it while filling up, and the lady with the motorcycle started yelling. I looked at her to see what was wrong, and she said, "Your car! Your car!" I turned back around and saw my car moving. My first thought was that I had forgotten to put it in park. But then the car sped up and pealed around the back of the station. The woman yelled that the guy who took my car had gotten out of a black car, which I saw going out the opposite exit of the gas station. The black car had no markings or license plate on it. Apparently the thief got out of the black car, crouched down low and climbed into the passenger door, then scrambled over the center console to get to the driver's seat. I had not unlocked the passenger door that day, and apparently the car did not have the safety feature of only unlocking the driver's door when the button is pushed on the key fob. My own car automatically does that, so it didn't occur to me to check the other door when I got out.

To say that I was stunned is a vast understatement. I just could not comprehend what had just happened. My phone was in the car, and I keep my driver's license, insurance card and debit card in the phone case. And of course my suitcase and backpack were in the vehicle since I was on my way to the airport.

I dashed into the station and asked the clerk to call the police because my car had just been stolen. He said he didn't know the phone number. Really? It's 911, I told him. Then he said he had to call his manager to get the number. If he wasn't in on this whole deal, I'd be greatly surprised. While waiting for him, the man at the next pump came in. I'll refer to him as John, though I know his real name. He gave me his phone so that I could call Budget to let them know about the car. I explained to the lady who answered the phone that my car had just been stolen. She asked me for the license number. Again, really? I said the car is gone, I don't know the license number. Then she wanted my reservation number. Hello, my phone is gone along with the car so I can't look that up! I suggested she just look up my rental agreement with my name. By then the police had shown up, and I said to the woman, "You have a transponder on that car, can't you tell the police where it is right now?" She told me that I needed to just calm down. Hmmm...I handed her over to the policeman so he could give her his information.

John let me use his phone to call my husband, who was off on a motorcycle trip with his friend somewhere in the middle of Missouri. His plan was to fly home on the following Wednesday. I knew Jim wouldn't answer a call from an unknown number, so I left a message. Fortuitously, he and his friend had just stopped for a break so he actually listened to the voicemail right away. He said they would head back to St. Louis immediately.

In the meantime, John tried to give the policeman the business card from the eyewitness (woman on the motorcycle saw it all), and he said he didn't need it as he would review the surveillance tape. He never interviewed me to see what happened or what I had in the car, or John to see what he knew. He did say that four cars a week (!) get stolen from that gas station as well as the QT down the street. He was very matter of fact about it. He said they were going to go down the road, throw my stuff out the window, and use the car for other mischief.

The cop then asked where I wanted him to take me because "ma'am, it isn't safe for you here." He wanted to take me back to Budget and when I asked why he said so I could rent another car. I reminded him that I was on the way to return the car so I could fly home. And he said you aren't going home today with no ID. The cop gave me his name, badge number, and case number, and then he and the other two cops took off.

I was at a loss as to what to do or where to go. I don't have any phone numbers memorized (except my husband's) since they are stored in my phone, and I couldn't even come up with anyone's address. My new friend John (who is a professional driver) said he would take me where I needed to go. I didn't know the address of where my husband would ultimately show up, but I could direct John on how to get there.

John was a rock for me, and somewhat restored my faith in humanity. His wife made some calls to see how I could go about flying with no ID. She found some helpful information. When we got to our friend's, I had no way to pay him for all of his help and kindness. But I got his address so I could mail him a thank you gift.

Once inside our friend's house I used their phone to cancel my debit card and talk to the airline. My ticket allowed for no changes, and while they were sympathetic they would not budge on giving me a credit for the flight. Once Jim got there we went to the Apple store to replace my phone. While the employee was able to get me set up with my Verizon service, we could not transfer anything over to my new phone because I couldn't sign into my iCloud account. Where is my password stored? On the stolen phone. Luckily I had my phone passcode protected, so the thieves couldn't get into it and it no longer had any cell service on it once I transferred to the new phone. And with the new phone, the police could get in contact with me if need be.

We had to cancel Jim's flight for Wednesday, and again lost that money. We booked both of us to fly home the next day. That night I slept in a shirt I borrowed from Jim as all I had were the clothes on my back. Sunday at the airport I found out it is possible to fly without an ID. More in my next post...

You Can Go Home Again - But You Might Not Want to

Last month we went back to St. Louis to visit friends and family. We also made sure to hit some of our favorite food and tourist attractions. For the first part of the trip, Jim and I were together for the food and attractions. Our first stop after picking up the rental car was Imo's Pizza, and we hit the one near our old house since it was too early to check in to our hotel. After eating, we stopped by Jim's old business, SWT Design, to say hello to some folks. Then we drove by the house that had been our home for 32 years. It was so nice to see that the new owners are taking good care of the 1902 beauty.

Imo's & Favazza's

That night we had dinner with Jim's former business partner and his wife at Favazza's, which is our favorite Italian restaurant in St. Louis. The next day we visited the Missouri Botanical Garden, Merb's Candies, Dad's  Cookie Company, and Ted Drewe's. We were saddened to hear that Ted had died the previous month. He was quite an institution in the area! We had dinner with another couple that night.

MoBot, Merb's, Dad's, & Drewe's

The rest of our time together passed quickly, with stops at the Missouri History Museum to see the World's Fair exhibit, looking at new SWT projects in the area, and finding a nice spot for a sunset. It was also great to see my sisters family for just the second time since she passed in 2020. We, of course, managed to get in a little pickleball as well.

Missouri History Museum, Creve Coeur Lake, MO Pickleball Club

Jim then met up with his motorcycle riding buddy, and they took off south for a few days ride. I drove out to my friend Diane's to stay with her for a bit. She has a new house out in the O'Fallon area, and it was fun to see her place. We spent time eating, walking, going to parks, and checking out the Rawlings baseball museum in Westport.

fun adventures

The fun times were somewhat marred by Hurricane Helene, which somehow managed to swing up and around to North Carolina. With all the rain, Duke Energy had to release water from the Lake Norman dam, which then flooded our lake and subsequently the lake below us. Our community was without power for about 30 hours, so of course food spoilage was a big concern. Our area was very lucky compared to what went on in the mountain region of North Carolina, however. It will take years to recover there.

My flight to come home was on September 28th, while Jim was scheduled to come back on October 2nd. But something happened to my rental car on the 28th that messed up all those plans. And it is why I may not want to go home again. I'll write about that in my next post.