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Ashley Gee got a notification from her cellphone around 2 a.m. saying her Kia Sportage was on the move. She had parked her vehicle in front of a friend’s residence on the South Side and she wasn’t driving it.
Her car was stolen.
The following hours, she tracked her vehicle moving on the West Side, making stops throughout the city, going to Indiana before returning to the South Side, she said.
“I called the police, eventually showing an officer my cellphone,” Gee, 32, said. “But he told me it was little they could do until the vehicle stops and stays stationary.”
It eventually stayed stationary, but in Lake Michigan.
Gee went to the scene only to find out her Kia was a complete loss from water damage, she said.
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Afternoon Briefing
Friday morning police confirmed her Kia was recovered from Lake Michigan’s waters in the area of 57th Street. A second stolen Kia was nearby, stuck in the sand.
Gee, a mother of two boys, 7 and 8, bought the car about six months ago. When she heard about the uptick in thefts of Kia vehicles she did what she could afford, and decided to get a tracking system from her mobile carrier.
“I watched the thieves while they were looking for other cars. They were on a joyride looking for other cars to steal,” Gee said.
“I need my vehicle to take my sons around. I don’t know what I am going to do now,” she said.