Reward for Stolen 1999 27' Airstream Safari

[rjreed]

Reward being offered for stolen 1999 27' Safari

Our 27" Airstream was stolen in the Atlanta, GA area on March 10, 2004.
The Serial Number: 1STGPYL24XJ512307
Georgia License Tag: 2828DA (Dekalb County)
Dealer Sticker: JD Sanders Inc. (Gainesville, FL)
Includes: Rear bumper hitch with spare tire carrier, Siemens roof mounted solar panel, Electric tongue jack.

Reward offered for information leading to the recovery of trailer.

[smily]

What happened???????/

Where was it?
Were you using it or was it stored?
Any chance it has been mistakingly Repossessed?

That sucks!

Smily

[59toaster]

I run I 75 between Marietta and Cartersville every day. I'll keep an eye out. Printing out the description as I type to keep in the car.

Saw a coach about that size yesterday morning but it was headed towards Atlanta.

I'll come down 41 today and eyeball the camper places like 3way on 41 and see if they have any coaches that size. The scumballs may have sold it real quick to a unsuspecting dealer.

Good luck on finding it.

[rjreed]

Our Airstream was stolen from a secured storage facility in the Doraville/Norcross area. Thank you for your conerns!

[flyfisher]

Ralph -

I can imagine how you must feel. I hope those scumballs get caught, and you get your trailer back.

I'm sure there are lots of trailers stolen all the time, but I don't hear much about them. However, the last one I heard was a friend of mine who had his trailer stolen out of his driveway -- and of all places, he lived in the Atlanta area also (near Tucker).

John

[59toaster]

Originally posted by rjreed
Our Airstream was stolen from a secured storage facility in the Doraville/Norcross area. Thank you for your conerns!

How the heck did they get it out of there? Sounds like you have a case against the storage place for it's theft. Something like that does not just leave unnoticed.

[rjreed]

Our Airstream was stolen from a private (not public) storage facility. The thieves cut the fence in order to cut the drive chain on the electric gate mechanism. The trailer was totally locked up, including the tongue padlock. There was no way to operate the electric tongue jack without access to inside of trailer. We have no idea who we are dealing with...professionals or whoever. It looks like they dragged the trailer out with the tongue jack dragging on ground. Probably cut it off after it was bent over. Just a guess. There was another vehicle parked directly in front with very little maneuvering room. Frankly we're having a difficult time visualizing how they could have hauled it out from where it was parked. This is obviously an extreme example of what determined thieves can do! They took everything......wheel covers, chocks, leveling boards..........

[Tinsel Loaf]

That is unbelievable, and such a beautiful unit. We are really sorry to hear about it. If you catch the scum that stole it please turn them over to us on this forum. We will rally together and bring Airstream justice upon them.

[Porky Pig]

RJ ...

Very sorry to hear about your Safari. I have a hunch it could be used for a dwelling out in the woods or hills somewhere ... or it is in Mexico. I hope I'm wrong.

The other night .. Petunia was up at about 2 AM when she heard a loud truck (probably diesel) running outside in front of our home (where the AS is parked).

When she went outside to take a look ... our motion sensors turned on the lights and the truck drove away. Made me suspicious and paranoid.

So now I leave a light or two on at night inside the trailer to make it look like someone is inside ... but I'm still paranoid.

Best of luck on recovering your Safari.

[KIMILI]

RJ -
we're really sorry for your loss. Hopefully it will be only temporarily.

If it dares to come our way you can bet we'll have the authorities on those thieves in no time.

What scumbags to steal such a wonderful trailer!

...They must've had a buyer already to go through so much trouble to get it...

Did you try contacting the AS dealers? - they're not that many. Send them a fax with the details. I'm sure they'll help if someone tries to sell it to them. It doesn't hurt.

[Over59]

Doesn't sound like there wasn't any way to stop them. Locks are for honest folk who get moments of stupidity and for kids. These guys have done this before and likly will again. Must have been heart breaking, but there was no stoping them.
Is there a national reg of Trailers like cars? Someone may try to register it somewhere. Does that carfax outfit do trailers.

[campcollector]

I have seen this before and unfortunatly your rig will probably end up deep in the forest as a meth lab.

But I will keep an eye peeled, doubt they would take it to Oregon.

[Hidalgo]

Sorry to hear about your loss, the fact remains that this crime has a lot to do with the lack of ignorance these thieves had. Truth be told our A/S gems are now debunking the Japanese vehicles as the hot ticket item. Will keep an eye out for the cutie in L.A.

[85MH325]

Originally posted by campcollector
I have seen this before and unfortunatly your rig will probably end up deep in the forest as a meth lab.

But I will keep an eye peeled, doubt they would take it to Oregon.

CC... an interesting thought, but why a locked and penned in A/S when there are a million SOBs sitting on streets and in driveways ripe for the taking and that won't attract an ounce of attention? That was a LOT of work to get to their A/S, and many mobile labs are one-or-two time operations before they're so contaminated that the cooks dump 'em. Meth cooks are lazy by definition. Clever and crafty perhaps, but lazy. I don't see one going to that kind of effort to grab someplace to cook.

We have a nation-wide... in fact, international group here. We need to put our collective heads together and figure out where someone would take an A/S and to what purpose? If it's a strip-and-salvage operation for parts, we'll hear about a new parts source popping up. (most) Dealers won't buy used parts, it'd likely be internet or eBay sales... keep your eyes peeled there. Airstream dealers have had a tough time over the years because there are so few units on the road... a local independent shop wouldn't have any customers for used Airstream parts!

To be used on the road, they have to be re-registered. That's tough to do without a title. The VIN is stamped into the tongue, so it's tough to alter. It may be that, like luxo-wagon cars, these are beginning to go overseas... but they're too big to go into a standard Conex box shipping container, and they've got to get to a port somehow, and have to be stored before getting onto a ship.

These things aren't just disappearing. Either they're going onto private property as cabins or being stripped out, or shipped overseas or something, but they're going somewhere. Anybody got ideas about where to look in your area?

This, folks, is what community is about. We have definately formed a community here. Perhaps it's time to start an Airstream Community Watch group with a 'stolen' registry.

What do you think?

Roger

[smily]

Getting a title and registration for a stolen vehicle is a lot simpler than you think.

In todays world, your identity is not safe much less an inanimate object.

Probably one of the most stolen objects are personal watercraft, (Sea Doos and Jet Skis). These do require registration in most states but not all.

And heres a real easy lift, Golf Carts, no registration or title required in most states. Thieves go to golf course, pay the fees, play about 10 holes and dissappear. They can make it out of state long before the Golf Cart attendant can even realize he is a cart or two short.

Both of these vehicles fit in an enclosed trailer.

Other items include, high end boat trailers, boat motors, whole boats that are stolen from storage lots and long gone before the owner checks on it once a month.

I have always said that I will never live in a neighborhood that requires off site storage because the storage lots are mere flea markets for thieves.

Just think about it, it is probably some one who has access more often than not. Hmmm, store my boat or RV where other boats and RV are stored, I think not! Who would be interested in my stuff more than some one who has comaprable stuff.

I am quite the pessimist when it comes to these issues.

I hope you catch these crooks but time is of the essence.

Smily

[85MH325]

Originally posted by smily
Getting a title and registration for a stolen vehicle is a lot simpler than you think.

In todays world, your identity is not safe much less an inanimate object.

Probably one of the most stolen objects are personal watercraft, (Sea Doos and Jet Skis). These do require registration in most states but not all.

And heres a real easy lift, Golf Carts, no registration or title required in most states. Thieves go to golf course, pay the fees, play about 10 holes and dissappear. They can make it out of state long before the Golf Cart attendant can even realize he is a cart or two short.

Both of these vehicles fit in an enclosed trailer.

Other items include, high end boat trailers, boat motors, whole boats that are stolen from storage lots and long gone before the owner checks on it once a month.

Smily

Ken,

Title fraud can be done, and does occur. Particularly with the assistance of someone working in government; but it's NOT easy to do. It's certainly not an easy task for a solo thief. That most generally happens when an auto-theft ring is involved in wholesale thefts.

It's true that the smaller stuff is easily stolen, easily concealed, and seldom checked by law enforcement. Snowmobiles fall under that same umbrella.

However, recognize that a 27' Airstream travel trailer is not so easily concealed nor hard to spot on the road. Airstreams are not yet so plentiful as to be anonymous. It can't take off diagonally across a lake or farm field. It has to be towed on the roads, and stored somewhere before it's disposed of. Not all crooks have a barn or garage large enough to store the thing. In this case, I'd guess that these crooks may be fairly sophisticated A tow truck could have winched the trailer out of it's space (although winching takes a lot of skill and a fair amount of space), dragging the tongue, and then used the sling to lift the tongue and tow it away, damaged or not.

Anyway, there's no guarantee that it, or for that matter ANY stolen Airstream will be found, but the odds are significantly increased when a legion of folks are actively looking for them.

Roger

[smily]

It will be great if this unit is returned. I am crossing my fingers.

But lets face it, how many times has anybody on this forum been asked by the Police or other authority for their registration or any other proof of ownership on their Airstream?

I think if a cop did stop and ask, he would not be able to tell if the unit was 1970 model or a 2000 model, (a little exaggeration).

Most of the population is oblivious to models of Airstreams.
Most dont even know that they are still manufactured.

As much as I hate to admit it, I have actually moved tags around on Airstreams for temporary use. Is this legal, I dont think so.
But I know that if I handed my registration to the cops upon request, he would see the Tag number, (which is on the trailer) and he would see that the registration says "Airstream", Done!
My registration does not say, Overlander, Safari, Excella, etc......
it does have the VIN number. I cannot see a cop looking all over for the VIN number on my unit. Matter of fact, I have never seen a cop verify the VIN number on my cars when I got a ticket, and (I assure you I have received more tickets than most, not too proud of that but proves my point). As a government contractor, I travel to many military installtions and have to get vehicle passes. I have been doing this for thirteen years and have checked into at least a hundred pass offices. Not once did they verify my VIN number. They did look at my tags, how do they know if it is a stolen vehicle? They dont!

Now a car is typically colored and that does narrow down the description considerably, but all Airstream trailers are stock aluminum, (except Argosies of course and a few oddballs).

I dont wish to shadow this thread but ny point is that if someone wanted that Airstream bad enough, (great effort has been displayed), they can get the vehicle right past the cops. Sad but true. I have always said that "the more obvious you are the less people suspect".

I bet this trailer rolled right past the cops in broad daylight. I bet the cops even said" Check that out, my grandparents used to have one of those"

Good luck,
Smily

[85MH325]

While I worked for San Diego PD twenty years ago, we even issued a moving permit and directed traffic for a house mover who stole a house from Pacific Beach! A stick-built duplex! I took the theft report ten days later! The APB was hilarious!

Further that's EXACTLY my point. Cops look for things out of the ordinary. Who'd have the moxie to steal a duplex, and then move it? Somebody did!

I towed my tri-axle home from Ohio to Iowa with no plates, and no temp tag (although I had plenty of paperwork, insurance, and a bill of sale with me...). It wasn't legal either, and I got passed by three highway patrol cars in three states and none of them even saw I didn't have plates. What young copper is interested in a bunch of old folks pulling a 34' trailer? I laughed all the way home!

This issue here is that we have a WHOLE BUNCH of folks who DO know a Bambi from a tri-axle. We ARE interested. WE can look out for each other. WE, the interested members of this forum, who know Airstreams CAN report stuff that looks odd because WE recognize it when we see it. WE need to be looking in our daily travels, and reporting anything that doesn't look right to us, and WHY it doesn't look right. 85% of the time, there will be a logical explanation for what we see, but if 15% of the time we turn the cops on to criminal activity... it's worth doing!

Although a paraphrase of Edmund Burke's original observation:
"For evil to triumph it is enough only that good men do nothing".

And THAT's my point here, Ken. We have it in our power to make a difference FOR EACH OTHER. Rather than be victims, Let's DO something!

Roger

[nickcrowhurst]

Roger, you are absolutely right. I did 25 years as a British Bobby, carrying out thousands of crime investigations, and am now happily retired. You and I know that the members of this forum are a highly powerful investigating team. What chance has a local officer in comparison to our thousands of knowledgeable eyes and ears?? We just need to print out the picture at the top of this thread,keep it in our glovebox, and examine every Airstream on the road, in the campsite, in the woods, in the salvage yards, at the dealers for the next few years. Contrary to what is seen on TV, successful crime investigations are usually based on 99% perspiration and determination, and 1% inspiration. If anyone can get these toe-rags, we can. Perhaps we can have a standard label for threads which ask everyone to look for a stolen trailer. In the past, I have been accustomed to APW, "All Ports Warning". Nick.

[nickcrowhurst]

An important point when attempting to trace a stolen item is any obvious identifying feature which makes it stand out from other similar models. In this case, the photo shows a spare wheel mounted on the rear fender. This is a rare feature, in my experience, as this is the last place to put weight on an Airstream. If the tire is still in place, this could be a useful identifier of a moving trailer. If it has been removed, there may be some unusual bolt holes in the fender area. Where was the spare wheel mount attached? A solar panel on the roof is another useful pointer. Are there any other special features of the trailer which would make it identifiable to anyone other than the owners? Nick.