MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee couple is speaking out after tracking their stolen car to a Milwaukee scrapyard, where it had already been destroyed. They fear it may be part of a growing crime trend in the city.
Teon and Gina Hughlett reported their car stolen on Friday after Teon left it stranded on 8th Street near Green Bay Avenue following a tire blowout. By the time he returned with a spare a few hours later, the car was gone.
Teon said he called every tow yard and city tow lot he could find, but no one had any record of the vehicle.
"I called all the tow yards, city tow lots to verify where my car is, and no one had any trace, paper trail of where my car was at," Teon said.
The key to finding it came from something Teon had left inside.
"I looked on my 'Find My' app for my AirPods," Teon said. “Luckily, I had these in there, and they were fully charged, so it helped me discover my car," Teon said.
The AirPods led Teon and Gina to a Milwaukee scrapyard — less than a mile from where the car had been abandoned — where they found it stacked in a pile of other vehicles, already crushed.
Watch: Milwaukee couple tracks down stolen car crushed at scrapyard using AirPods
"It was totalled, squashed, windows gone. It was smashed," Teon said.
"They took the windows, they took the body work," Gina said.
"I really wanted to just melt down and cry because I worked hard to get this car, and I didn't have it that long," Teon said.
The Milwaukee Police Department confirmed it is investigating the theft. TMJ4 was there Monday as Gina and Teon met with police officers gathering information to track down who is responsible.
"It wasn't even there for 24 hours before they took it. Before the tow yard took it. No notice, no tickets, no nothing. They just took it," Gina said.
Gina and Teon say they were provided with pictures showing the tow truck that brought the car to the scrapyard. Police determined Monday that the scrapyard followed proper procedure because the person who arrived with the stolen vehicle presented what they claimed was a bill of sale and an ID — the two requirements to scrap a car in Wisconsin.
"A bill of sale, that's not real ownership. I can go print that off in the bedroom, at the computer, just anywhere," Gina said.
Gina says police also informed her that the scrapyard conducted the mandatory search to check whether the vehicle had been reported stolen before accepting it — but at the time, the theft had not yet been reported.
The scrapyard manager declined TMJ4’s interview request, but reiterated that the business is not at fault.
"If you ain't showing real ownership of the vehicle, that shouldn't be legal in Wisconsin," Gina said.
While searching the vehicle, Teon and the police found an ID inside belonging to the person investigators believe may be responsible for the theft and the significant damage done to the car without Teon's consent — a felony crime in Wisconsin.
"They were telling me they're gonna go get the guy. They're going to get him, and they feel like this was wrongfully done as well," Teon said.
Gina and Teon say they are not hopeful they will ever be reimbursed for their loss. But they do hope their experience encourages others who have recently had cars stolen to look beyond city and private tow lots.
"Anybody in Milwaukee could be going through this same situation and not knowing what to do about it. So I decided I'm going to do this for my wife," Gina said.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
