Prayers, Facebook friends and bright orange rims help find stolen car - Action News
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Nova Scotia

Prayers, Facebook friends and bright orange rims help find stolen car

Dave Wilson's 2006 Ford Five Hundred was stolen. His family posted about it on Facebook, where people sent in updates about the car's whereabouts as it travelled from Halifax to Cape Breton.

Family sent updates on whereabouts of Ford Five Hundred as it travelled from Halifax to Cape Breton

Their car was stolen. But a Facebook post brought it back

8 months ago
Duration 4:14
A Bedford, N.S., family has had their stolen car returned to them thanks to Facebook friends and bright orange rims. The car was taken from a parking lot in Bayers Lake on Feb.16. But after the family posted on social media, the tips came in fast. They spoke to the CBC's Anjuli Patil.

A Bedford, N.S., family says prayers, Facebook friendsand bright orange rims all played roles in tracking down their car when it was stolen more than a week ago.

Dave Wilson works in Bayers Lake. On Feb. 16, his car a 2006 Ford Five Hundred was stolen.

He called the police and his wife, NatalieFrederick-Wilson, posted about it on their family's Facebook page, Nova Scotia's Wandering Wilsons. The tips came in fast.

"Within 10 minutes of me posting it, someone had shared that the manager from the gas station in RiverJohn said thatcar just stole, a couple hours ago, $100 in gas. And he had the screenshot of our car with the person putting gas in it," Natalie told CBC News.

River John is nearly 150 kilometres away from Halifax.

Dave painted the rims of his winter tires in autumn 2021 because he didn't want to have plain black rims.

"I asked ouryoungest daughter, 'So what colour should I paint my wheels? I was thinking maybe I'd paint them red.' And she said,'No, paint them orange.'" So, ironically, it was Halloween night and I was painting my wheels orange," Dave recalled.

orange tire rims.
Wilson painted the rims orange in October 2021. (Nova Scotia's Wandering Wilsons/Facebook)

The decision ended up paying off because the orange wheels are what stood out. Messages came in about the car being spotted in places like Truro, Pictou, Elmsdale, Tatamagouche,Millbrookand Antigonish.

They would pray and then keep checking Facebook for updates, Natalie said.

Said Dave: "It was almost like Where's Waldo? Where's my car now? I kind of forgot about being mad that it was stolen and I was having fun."

Natalie said the post reached about 300,000 people.

The next day, they received a tip that the car was spotted in Whycocomagh in Cape Breton. They called the RCMP.

About 30 minutes later, they got a call back from an officer who found the car. Natalie said the officer asked for the code to the car and the door opened.

"[The officer]says, 'I gotta go,' but she forgot to hang the phone up. I can hear kind of tussling and then I hear her pressing the code into the car.

"I hear the door unlock and then she goes, 'Get out of the car, you're under arrest.' And the guy is still inside of the car. He's sleeping in the car, OK? And he gets up and he goes, 'Whoa, whoa, I didn't do anything wrong.'"

Pillows and blankets were left behind by the person who stole Dave Wilson's car.
Pillows and blankets were left behind by the person who stole the car. (Nova Scotia's Wandering Wilsons/Facebook)

The next morning, the family took Natalie's car to Cape Breton to get Dave's car. The muffler was damaged and some equipment that had been in the backseat was gone, butthe car was OK to drive home.

As for how the car was stolen, Dave believes he forgot to lock the door and the keys were inside.

Nova Scotia RCMPtold CBC News on Monday theyarrested a 31-year-old man from Membertouin relation to theincident, after they received a call on the morning of Feb. 17 sayingthe stolen vehicle may have been spotted.

The manhas been charged with possession of property obtained by crime. He was released from custody and is scheduled to appear in Wagmatcook provincial court on May 1.

As for tips to avoid a car theft, RCMP recommends taking steps such as avoidingleaving valuables in a vehicle, parking in well-lit areas, ensuring all doors are locked and windows are closed, and avoiding leaving a vehicle unattended with the engine running.

Notifications about the car's whereabouts started up again on Facebook as the family began driving back to Halifax. People spotted the family as they were driving back over the Canso Causeway.

"We want to thank the Nova Scotian community of people. We really want to thank them for how they have not just in this instance where they found our car we want to thank them for the way that they interact with us and for the way that they have welcomed us,"said Natalie, who moved to Nova Scotia from New York City years ago.Dave is originally from Quebec.

After the car was found, Dave posted to Facebook and said the recipe to finding the car was "a triple threat of prayer, Facebook friends and orange wheels. [The thief]didn't have a chance."