KC Dog Trappers volunteer truck stolen while inside KC Pet Project
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A volunteer with KC Dog Trappers had her truck stolen while she was finishing up a rescue.
On April 17, KC Dog Trappers volunteer Crystal Carney was coming back from rescuing a dog. She ran inside KC Pet Project to fill out some paperwork.
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At the same time, Jalen Cheadle was returning to work from lunch.
“I seen a car just speeding into the parking lot. It was kind of unusual. It’s not that large of a parking lot,” Cheadle said.
He says he saw two people, a man and a woman. One got out of the car and checked out the truck and then got inside the unlocked vehicle.
“Soon as I noticed that he was in the front seat of her car, I ran inside and tried to grab her,” Cheadle said.
“I thought [Cheadle] was joking,” Carney said.
Carney came outside realizing it wasn’t a joke and that her truck had been stolen.
“To have my vehicle ripped away from me, and that’s my everyday vehicle, that’s what I rely on, like I feel helpless.”
She says they called 911 and posted about the theft on social media. She heard about a few sightings, including where someone spotted the truck west down Bannister, headed towards 71 Highway.
“By the time we got on 71 South, my truck was flying by me on 71 northbound around 7:30 p.m. that day.”
Her keys, wallet and equipment she uses in rescue operations like a microchip scanner and large dog trap were in the truck.
Other dog rescuers are coming to help Carney. They say they’re not letting this stop them from their mission.
“It’s heartbreaking. I mean I call Crystal a lot on different dogs if I need help or questions. It’s upsetting to all of us in the animal volunteer community,” animal rescuer Aimee Mountjoy said.
Now Carney is playing the waiting game, hoping to get her truck back.
“That truck is my livelihood, and I need that to be able to do my organization on the side for my adventure group and for dog trapping and to get to and from work,” Carney said.
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Carney says her cards were also used at a nearby gas station. Carney’s truck is a 2016 Dodge Ram with the large trap in the back and a retired army sticker and a Midwest Wilderness Adventures sticker on the back window.
If you have any information, you are asked to contact police.
