DENVER — Years of hard work, gone in an instant — a Denver couple says the truck they worked years to afford, along with the belongings inside it, were stolen in the middle in night.
"So it was the morning of April 12. We both walked out here together to leave for work and as soon as we walked out here, we saw that my boyfriend's truck was gone," said Katie Lewis.
Lewis' boyfriend, Brent Fulford, said the car, a 2004 GMC Sierra, had been locked overnight at the couple's home in Denver's Berkeley neighborhood.
"It was locked and I had my keys in my hand when I came outside," he said. "The truck was about $12,000 when I bought it just a year ago, something that I was looking for a long time."
Now, Fulford is driving a compact rental car, anticipating he'll have take out a loan to purchase another large vehicle.
In addition to having his car stolen, Fulford said all of his belongings inside the car were taken — which include work tools and dirt bike gear.
The couple has filed a police report but is now trying to do their own detective work to get the car back.
"Somebody is sitting in our vehicle enjoying it and didn't have to put years of hard work into getting it," Lewis said.
The couple shared surveillance video from a neighbor's home. In the video, the couple said they spotted their stolen GMC canvassing the neighborhood.
Lewis believes the thief was looking for other victims.
Denver's crime map shows auto theft in the Berkeley neighborhood is up this April compared to last year. According to the data, an average of one car is being stolen every three days.
The couple believes the thief is now selling their belongings on Facebook Marketplace.
"We contacted him and we tried to plan a meet up just to maybe get some more information but we were a little bit nervous to confront him ... because we don't know what this person's about or if he is carrying a weapon on him," Lewis said.
While the couple waits and hopes for some type of resolution, they want to warn others.
"...try to prevent another person from going through what we are right now," Lewis said.
Denver7 will update this story once additional information becomes available from Denver Police.