A man from tracked down his £45k Land Rover Defender after it was stolen from a local garage while in for repair.
After booking his car in Kris McDonald received a call from a mechanic who delivered the shocking news that his vehicle had gone.
Kris, a filmmaker and photographer, who reported the crime to Merseyside Police, claims he was told by investigating officers it was likely he would "never see the car ever again", reports the Liverpool Echo.
However, the 34-year-old took matters into his own hands and tracked down his prized possession – with a little investigating of his own.
Deciding to produce a short film about his experience in the wake of the car's disappearance, Kris posted a logbook of the events on to his YouTube channel and how he managed to track down the Defender himself, with the help of CCTV, his friends and from people online.
“I felt I was very close to the car and it was in this area, but there’s only so much you can do as a member of the public, " he said.
Kris started his investigation by viewing CCTV from the area near where his car was stolen and tried to trace its movements.
He said: "My car was at a local body shop and he had it for about a week. He phoned me up and said ‘I’ve got some bad news for you, your car has been stolen’.
“Initially I was like ‘what does that mean?’ He was like ‘I’ve phoned the police so if you want to come down, I’ll tell you what happened.’
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“The first kind of conversation with police was a bit blasé at that point, but they gave us the usual crime reference number and then they arranged with the body shop to send the scene of crimes out.
“The guy in the body shop was distraught and tried to explain how it happened.
“Opposite the body shop there was a commercial building that had CCTV so they showed us the footage.
“We were able to trace through CCTV which way the car had gone and where it was heading.
“I just went driving round and headed into the direction it was driven in through CCTV, just basically knocking on doors just explaining the situation and people were so helpful.
“We knew exactly what time all of this was happening. Eventually we found out it had been driven to Aintree."
Kris reported his findings to police but was determined to carry on with his detective work and find the car himself.
He added: “We managed to watch another clip of CCTV where there is a bit of an exchange.
"My Defender pulls up and another car pulls up.
“People get out and have some sort of conversation and you can see the person driving the car, but I couldn’t get a copy of the footage. This was all in the space of two hours.”
The filmmaker remembers driving through Aintree after the theft desperate to spot the stolen Defender.
He said: “I was kind of circling Aintree, the area I knew where my car was and I came across the other car that pulled up alongside my Defender in the CCTV during the exchange.
“I started following it and I phoned 999 to tell them I was behind this car. There were like three or four people in this car, but they didn't send an officer.
“They ended up spotting I was following them and they made off down a one way street, not like I was chasing them, I was just following them.
“I felt I was very close to the car and it was in this area, but there’s only so much you can do as a member of the public."
Luckily, after his investigation, Kris received a call to say someone had spotted the abandoned vehicle.
He said: “I received a call late one night to say my Defender had been dumped on the roadside, so I immediately went to pick it up.
“I knew how lucky I was to get the car back but when I picked it up, it was in a sorry state.
“It was a strange couple of days and I know how lucky I am to get this car back.”
The incident happened in September 2018, although Kris only released his short film in February 2021.
A spokesperson for Merseyside Police said: “We can confirm we received a report that a Land Rover Discovery had been stolen from a garage in Liverpool on Tuesday, 25 September 2018.
“Crime scene investigators attended the scene, and the incident was then sent to the Crime Demand Unit, who allocated the incident to officers in the Investigations team.
“A detective then contacted the victim, however the victim declined to assist enquiries stating the car had been recovered.
“All available lines of enquiry were pursued however the matter was filed pending further evidence coming to light due to the victim’s decision not to assist.”
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