KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One couple from Washington state is looking for answers and their stuff after a quick visit to the Kansas City metro in October.
Chad and Aubrey Weuste came through Kansas City as part of a roughly 4,200 mile, two-week road trip from their home in Washington to a family wedding in South Dakota, and family visit in Illinois.
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“We were cutting through Des Moines, Iowa and I really wanted to go and visit the world famous Kansas City Bar-B-Que,” Chad said.
That brought them to Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que for the food and to a hotel along Rainbow Boulevard in Kansas City, Kansas to spend the night.
Inside their pick-up truck and trailer in the parking lot was a traveling trunk from 1912, “that [Chad’s grandfather] came through Ellis Island with…a grandfather clock that was passed down, and my father passed away in 2015, so a lot of his cabinet-making tools,” Chad said.
Now, all they have left are still images because someone broke into the truck overnight, hotwired the pick-up, and drove it all right out of the parking lot. Security camera video shows how quickly it all happened.
“It took them six minutes to break into the truck from the time they pulled up to them pulling off,” Aubrey said.
FOX4 tried multiple times to get in touch with the hotel’s ownership but those attempts haven’t been successful.
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KCKPD tells FOX4 the truck was eventually found in Kansas City, Missouri, but that it’s not likely the case will be solved soon.
The Weuste’s say they did everything they could to keep their truck safe: locking all the doors on the truck and trailer, and parking in a well-lit part of the lot, within view of their hotel window.
“It was a long trip home then when we had to rent a vehicle and return home without those items and we were just cherishing that ride home so far,” Chad said.
Soon after they returned home, Chad got a message on social media from someone who said they found paperwork with his name on it. Chad thinks it likely blew away when the thieves dumped whatever they didn’t think they could use or sell.
But, Chad and Aubrey say if their heirlooms are still intact in local pawn shops, their fathers’ names, Keith Weuste and Bud Bergdahl, could be inside some of the items.
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“My dad was notorious,” said Chad. “He wrote his name on everything that he had. In fact, on the back of the grandfather clock, I’m sure he etched his name in there somewhere.”
If you have any information about the case or find items you think could belong to the Weuste’s, you can reach the KCK Police Department Report Desk at (913) 573-8680 or Non-Emergency Dispatch at (913) 596-3000.
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