Park and fly turns drive and dash

A vacation in the sunny south has ended on a sour note for a P.E.I. couple.

Greg and Kathy Caseley of Kelvin Grove arrived back in Canada after a holiday in Florida on Wednesday to discover that their Silver Ford 250 truck was not where they left it.

“I told Kathy, ‘look, the truck’s gone’,” says Caseley, during a telephone interview.

The vehicle, which had been left in the long-term parking lot of the Holiday Inn & Suites in Pointe-Claire, Que., had been stolen. When the police arrived and did a stolen vehicle report, they didn’t offer the couple much hope.

“They said it’s probably gone. They also told us there were a lot of car thefts happening in that city.”

To add insult to injury, the couple planned to go skiing in Quebec when they returned to Montreal, so all their equipment was in the truck.

“We lost all of our clothing as well as our boots and skis – everything.”

Caseley is asking anyone who might have seen the truck, which has “Caseley’s Tent and Party Rentals” printed on the of it, with license plate number 66-5VX, to get in touch with him at 902888-9232 (VIN number is 1FT7W2BT3HEF27996)

Before Caseley left his truck in the parking lot, he went into the hotel and asked the person who was checking them in if he had a boot they could put on the vehicle so it couldn’t be driven away.

“They said no.”

Then he asked whether the hotel parking lot was safe.

“He said, ‘yes, it’s safe to park your truck,’” says Caseley who later learned from the police that the hotel has been targeted with other vehicles having been stolen.

“I wish they had been more forthright and said, ‘you’re parking in this parking lot and there’s a danger of theft. We had it happen in the past’.”

To make matters worse, they charged him for parking.

“I feel like someone has kicked me in my stomach — violated. You think that living in Canada people are kind. We’ve been to Montreal many times, and this is the first time this has ever happened.”