UPDATE: Oct. 9
Tashia Thompson is calling it a “Thanksgiving miracle.”
Just 15 minutes away from arriving to their home in Kelowna on Monday after having their truck with 1,300 pounds of moose meat stolen from their hotel parking lot in Hinton, Alta. they received a phone call.
“From Gill, hero Gill from Edson,” said Thompson. “He was out hunting and saw a truck stuck in the muskeg and checked it out. It was full of meat and thought it was weird. He called the number on the logos on the side of the truck and told us he found our truck and a bunch of boxes with meat in the back.”
So far, Thompson believes the thieves only made away with the truck canopy, they are unsure if any other belongings that were in the truck were also stolen. With the cold temperatures of where their truck was found, Thompson said the meat was just softening and she hopes it can all be saved. Her husband plans on leaving tomorrow to go recover everything.
“Oh my god it is just fricking amazing,” she said. “Gill said he lives 10 minutes away from where the truck was found and offered to also take the meat to his freezer for us to store it until we get there.”
Thompson said video surveillance at the hotel where they were staying at showed a person walking up to their Ford F350 truck at 6:25 a.m. on Sunday with a screwdriver and popping the lock then taking off with their vehicle. Her iPad, which was in her briefcase inside the truck, was tracked and recovered later that day by RCMP.
“My guess is they have stolen electronics before and maybe got burned by the track your iPhone thing and tossed it,” said Thompson.
The truck, she believes, was found on the other side of the highway farther north. Thompson said she hopes the RCMP can lift fingerprints from the iPad or truck to lead to an arrest.
Thanks to “hero Gill,” her faith in people has now been restored.
“You know I was really doubting karma, I didn’t like her anymore. Now I am definitely back on the karma train. This is just so amazing. I am so happy.”
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It will be a Thanksgiving they will remember, but not for good reason.
A Kelowna family was left stranded and reeling after their truck was stolen with a year’s full of moose meat in the cargo area.
Tashia Thompson was in Pouce Coup, B.C. picking up 1,300 pounds of moose meat for her family and two others, when their truck was stolen overnight where they were staying at the Best Western Express in Hinton, Alta.
The packaged moose meat was in boxes in the bed of the truck that had a canopy on it.
“We are a family of seven, family of five and a family of four. This was the fruits of the annual northern hunt. We can replace the truck but may not be able to replace the food. It not found by tomorrow it will start thaw and rot and waste. It is super sad,” said Thompson.
The family also was left without a ride home. The area they are in does not have any vehicles for rent and now have to face a 13 hour bus trip home.
“It would be a miracle if it is found,” said Thompson of their truck and the meat.
She believes the moose meat is worth up to $16,000, but added it is hard to say because you cannot sell wild game in Canada.
“We don’t have to buy meat as we hunt, so this saves my family about $4,000 per year.”
The stolen truck is burgundy Ford F350 with Valley Lift Truck logo on both sides of the back passenger windows and a canopy. The licence plate number is KN5672. If seen please report to your local RCMP detachment.
