Photo : Toyota

One of the most nightmarish situations many of us can imagine is getting our car stolen. It could end up in another state, another country or chopped up for parts, never to be seen again. But Danielle Reno is one woman who took the situation into her own hands and miraculously got her 2011 Toyota 4Runner back in one piece.


It all started on the evening of July 9 near Kansas City, Missouri. Reno posted the details on her company’s Facebook page.


Reno, according to KSLA, says she was picking up her daughter at a convenience store that night when her Toyota was stolen. “I got out of the car for two seconds and grabbed my daughter, turned around, and my car was gone,” she told the outlet. “‘Did I park somewhere else? No. I know I parked here.’ And then I’m like, ‘Somebody stole my car.’ It was all downhill from there.”

She had left her phone, debit and credit cars in the Toyota. She describes the suspect as “a white, heavy set female (260 to 280 pounds) with shoulder-length curly brown hair.” The suspect was accompanied by “a white male in his 30s, brown hair, mustache and a huge tattoo on his left shoulder and a female in her 30s driving an extended cab, maroon or black old Ford F-150.”

A follow-up Facebook post on Reno’s personal page then reveals some world-class stalking.

Reno notes that after she filed a police report, she was able to track one of her cards to a nearby Taco Bell late at night, and then to a gas station early the next morning. She froze the cards, but then was able to track her phone to a different location in Kansas City. Unfortunately, witnesses there apparently refused to talk to the police.


Reno then unfroze her cards “to see how stupid this girl was.”

And it worked. Reno’s card was used an hour later at a gas station convenience store for gas, cigarettes and beer. Reno went there next and though the manager working there wouldn’t show her the surveillance footage, he confirmed that he had seen the suspect Reno was pursuing. A attendant who was also there said she overheard the suspect saying something about going to Applebee’s.


Reno sent her sister to a nearby Applebee’s while she went to scope out another. Nothing.

So they went to the one in Gladstone, Missouri and posted up, ordering food. “We just had a gut feeling,” Reno writes.


And, as Reno tells it, two seconds later THE SUSPECT WALKED IN! I’m sorry, I don’t mean to shout but I got very excited at this part of the story.

“I recognized her from the surveillance videos. I was shaking!” Reno exalts. “I grabbed my spare key and went outside and found my car.” She gets in it and steals it back and then also films this video (while driving, please don’t do that) before calling the cops.

My inner wrath demon is SCREAMING.

“I got this bitch’s beer in my car,” Reno crows breathlessly. “Her cigarettes and whatever kind of drug pipe that is. She’s about to get her ass arrested because we fucking found her.”


In another, longer, follow-up video, Reno informs us that the inside of her car was trashed. And, spoiler alert, you get to see the suspects arrested at the discount liquor and smoke shop. The suspected woman also had Reno’s shoes in her hands for some inexplicable reason? And also apparently her wallet and the 4Runner’s keys, so it looks like she was trying to use Reno’s cards again at the shop.

Sadly, Reno told KSLA that her car so trashed that “she won’t drive it.” Indeed, the video shows the inside filled with trash and other crap, which is disgusting. Also Reno’s phone is taken apart and her friend’s laptop was ripped open as well. I would feel so violated.


The outlet reports the suspects were arrested by Clay County Sheriff’s Office deputies.

Reno posted a third follow-up video and says that there are likely “bodily fluids” in her car and the insurance company will probably rule it totaled. That’s the last update.

I’m so glad Reno got her car back, but I can’t exactly recommend stalking the thieves and trying to find them yourself. It could be dangerous and it’s great that Reno and her sister weren’t hurt.


On the other hand, what idiot thieves! Don’t they know phones and cards can be tracked? Why hang onto them? Why stay in the local area?

Anyway, this was an exhilarating journey and I thank you for joining me on it. My wrath monster will be satisfied for at least another week.


via The Drive