Ask HN: Seen my stolen truck in the Bay Area? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Seen my stolen truck in the Bay Area?

8 pointsgs76 comments

Sorry to post something like this on here, but we're getting desperate. My wife's truck was stolen out of our apartment complex garage in Santa Clara on Sunday. We think it's been dumped somewhere in the Bay Area by now. We're offering a $500 cash reward to anyone who finds it. I know it's a longshot, but like I said, we're desperate.

Here are the details:

2003 Ford F-250, tan color (looks like gold), 4 door with extended bed used for hauling (photo here: http://hire.gs/f250.jpg), 5th wheel hitch installed in bed

License Plate: 7D88687 (California)

Last 5 digits of VIN: 16985

If you see this truck parked anywhere, please call or text 818-233-0707.

Thank you for your help!

Gabe

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I hope you'll find your truck. My brother's friend had his car stolen. For a little more than a year, he still had the fob (key) on him and whenever he saw a vehicle similar to his, he would just press the button. His friends used to make fun of him. It's not as big as New York, but at 5 million people in the city, the car being one of the most popular models and the fact it could be anywhere, the odds are very slim.

One day, he got out of a mall, looked at a car similar to his but of a different color. He pressed the button and the car unlocked. He called the cops, they arrested the guy and more than a dozen people involved in a car stealing/smuggling network. And he got his car back. He was happy.

You never know. Hope you'll find it.

I was expecting the punchline to be

"Turned out the key only has 9999 combinations, so he found the 1/10000 car that shared his same combo, and the guy got made the cops were called on him"

As did I, especially when it was a different colour. I guess that's Occam's razor vs. a criminal getting the car painted.

All the more reason to choose the latter: painting the car you steal should be the more obvious choice. Reprogramming a new key, too. He's learned that lesson the hard way.

I just received a call that the truck has been recovered in central California. We're super relieved. Thank you all for your support!

Clickable link to photo: http://hire.gs/f250.jpg

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