A couple is appealing for the Richmond public’s help, after a U-Haul truck containing their life possessions was stolen from a hotel parking lot over the weekend.
Debbie and Terry Russell had their 20-foot truck stolen from behind the Travelodge on St. Edward’s Drive – close to Bridgeport and No. 4 roads – sometime around 3 a.m. on Saturday.
Around $40,000 worth of possessions – including old family pictures, years of photographic work, furniture, important papers, clothes – were in the truck.
Also being stored in the stolen truck were Terry’s drum sets, from his time as a drummer in Vancouver punk band Slow, which was active in the ‘80s and had a reunion tour in late 2017.
The couple moved to LA for a year to start a new band, before heading back to Canada recently. They had planned to put their possessions into storage on Saturday.
The Toyota RAV4 on a trailer attached to the truck was also stolen, but was later recovered by police close to the hotel.
“After living in California for a year and being broke and wanting to rebuild our lives, we came back to Canada with all our life's possessions in a rental U-Haul,” Debbie wrote on her Facebook page.
“We stayed at the Travelodge, only to find out the next day, it was stolen, not towed, from the parking lot sometime during the night. The hotel pretty much was of no help and only let us stay a few extra hours.
“Please, call the police if you see (the truck). We need all the help we can get at this point. Please find it in your hearts to help us locate our missing possessions.”
Richmond RCMP confirmed they are looking for the U-Haul truck with the Arizona plate AG 19191.
“We feel badly for this family, as this is not the way someone should be starting their New Year,” said Cpl. Gabor Egri.
Anyone that may have witnessed the theft or has seen the truck is asked to phone Richmond RCMP or the police in their area.
A GoFundMe campaign kicked off by a friend of the couple had raised $9,075 of its $25,000 target by 11 a.m. Monday.
