Software engineer Ewan Valentine from Solihull had his Honda Civic stolen. Incredibly, he bought it back himself 3 weeks later from a dealer.
Ewan Valentine bought a used Honda Civic. Little did he know that the car was, and is, actually his own.
The incredible purchase took place just 3 weeks after the theft in Solihull. The true context of the case was only discovered by chance.
Software engineer Ewan Valentine was missing his car. His black Honda Civic had been stolen from his driveway in the West Midlands one night in February this year.
He only discovered the theft in the morning. The neighbors had not seen anything either. There were therefore no witnesses who could help him or the police in the search for the car.
The police actually just explained that these types of cars often disappear from the country.
There was no trace of the thieves. The area lacked surveillance cameras, which made the investigation even more difficult.
Found his own car for sale
Ewan was happy with his Japanese sports car. He started looking for a similar model on the used market.
After just three weeks, he found an interesting ad. A local car dealer was selling a Honda Civic. It looked a lot like his old car. Incredibly so, in fact.
So he went out to look at the car. It had the same special exhaust system. The paint and other details were also similar.
Ewan test drove the car. Something about it felt familiar. He couldn't shake the thought.
However, the odometer showed a different mileage. This initially made him doubt. He tried to put the thought out of his head.
Fir needles revealed the truth
But the feeling lingered. Could it really be his own car? He decided to examine the car more closely.
He remembered one detail. A few weeks before the theft, he had a Christmas tree card. So he checked the trunk thoroughly.
There he found small fir needles hidden in the trunk. This strengthened his suspicion considerably.
He found other things too. A bag of noodles from Tesco (a supermarket chain, ed.) was still there. He recognized it immediately.
The GPS system provided the final piece of evidence. His parents' address was entered as the destination. Now he was safe.
He had bought back his own stolen car. He confronted the seller. The dealer seemed completely incomprehensible about the situation.
At the same time, the police received new leads. The information could help in the hunt for the car thieves. In this way, the case, which the police thought was already lost, took an unexpected turn.
– After three weeks, I found a car that was frighteningly similar to my own.
– I found a car after three weeks at a company. It looked eerily similar to my old car, it had the same custom exhaust system, paint and details.
It was a bit strange, but because it had a mileage, I put the thought out of my head, explains Ewan Valentine to The Sun.
– I feel a bit like an idiot for getting the car back that way. It wasn't exactly heroic, like I was taking it back from the bad guys.
He stressed that he does not suspect the car dealer. He believes they acted in good faith.
– I have nothing bad to say about the dealer, it is reputable and I am sure they were unaware that the car was stolen.
However, the story does not say anything about why neither the dealer nor Ewan Valentine himself checked the car's chassis number in the first place.
