Houston man's livelihood destroyed after his food truck is stolen and torched

Carvis Turner got into the food truck business three years ago after drawing inspiration from his grandmother. Carvis Turner got into the food truck business three years ago after drawing inspiration from his grandmother. Photo: The Bird Food Truck Photo: The Bird Food Truck Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Houston man's livelihood destroyed after his food truck is stolen and torched 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

Carvis Turner's food truck was the most important thing in his life and now it's been destroyed.

After returning home from a vacation in New Orleans with his partner Brandy Autrey, the 27-year-old discovered his food truck, The Bird Food Truck, was stolen from his backyard Wednesday.

"I don't know how they took the truck and that next morning I went outside to do the trash and didn't see the truck. I thought someone towed the truck," Turner told Chron.com.

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Turner called numerous Houston tow truck companies to no avail. He eventually called the police who ended up finding the truck Thursday in Brays Bayou burned up. The only thing that had been stolen from the truck was a TV, Turner said.

Turner started his food truck business in 2014 while he was finishing his associate's degree in culinary arts. The inspiration to start the business came from cooking tamales with his grandmother, who once owned two restaurants, Turner said. The truck, which sold fried chicken, grilled chicken wraps, and waffle fried nachos at locations all around Houston, helped Turner earn enough money these past few years to buy a home.

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Turner is working with his insurance company to see what he can get for the destroyed Chevy Grumman truck. The Harris County Sheriff's Department confirmed that the truck was reported stolen early Thursday morning and are still investigating to find the person or persons responsible. Right now Turner is unsure if he'll purchase another truck.

"Cooking was one of those things that got me on track," Turner said. "The truck was everything. It's the only reason I was able to do the stuff I was able to do."