Stolen Motorhome

[apgarrett]

I have been waiting to post about this for a couple of reasons. First, I just haven't been ready to really talk about it. Second, I have been head down trying to get a new motorhome ready for a family trip for 12 days to Colorado. I'm sorry this will be a long post, but it is partially cathartic.

We just finished the trip (which was the best yet). I now think it is important to share my experience so others might be able to avoid it.

I received an email from my storage facility after the Memorial day weekend. It simply said that some things had been stolen and that all owners should check their campers.

I drove in immediately expecting to have my underneath storage ransacked, but what I didn't see made my heart stopped. Time stopped in that moment for me. My parking spot for my 2019 Georgetown GT3 33B3 was empty. I mindlessly drove around the lot for a few minutes looking for where they moved moved it. I knew in my heart it was gone.

I reported it to the police immediately and contacted insurance to file a claim. Then drove home and tried to counsel my wife and 7 year old daughter as they cried on the floor literally. They weren't crying because we lost a material thing. They are not petty people. They were crying because we lost a piece of our family - the 'Champer' as my 4 year old boy named it. It was our refuge from Covid. Our family's launching point for adventure. It had made the last crazy 24 months bearable.

We began itemizing a list of possessions immediately. After almost 5 years of camping, it was quite sizable. My insurance company came through though when the chips were down. We weren't able to buy new, or replace everything, but we were able to get the 2020 36a that I've been posting about since joining this forum a little over a month ago.

The person who stole our motorhome was able to steal 4 other campers from the lot. It had a automatic gate, so once he was inside it was easy to just drive them off. He worked from 2am to 6am over the holiday. They still haven't caught him, and he has stolen from that awful storage facility again since then. He likely hotwired the motorhomes and used dealer keys to get inside from what we have been able to determine.

I don't want to ever go through this again, and I don't want anyone else to have to either. As part of my security, I have set up blink cameras on the outside that I put on when I'm storing it. I have a SimplySafe security system inside with a door sensor and motion detection (I've tested it and it was called from dispatch when I tripped it). I have them both linked to Wifi where I now store it. I also installed a GPS tracker and an ignition disable relay that I can control remotely (it would take hours to defeat and hot wire now even if you knew how I wired it in). To power it all, I installed 200 watts of solar on the roof and everything runs 7 days a week without issue. I also bought a new door lock which is still on the way which has more combinations of keys available. I will buff out any code on the lock that identifies which keys open it just to be safe. I'm shocked that there aren't individually serialized keys for motorhomes - a hard lesson.

I'm no longer a soft target and I've put the stickers on it to advertise that. However, even with all of this I don't feel safe and I'm not sure I ever will. Two nights ago at 3am, my camera caught a man in a black hoodie and mask prowling around my motorhome. My heart stopped again. I sent the video to the detective of my case and he hinted that it might be the same son of a b*#@!. The detective thinks he continues to work this area looking for campers he can steal and they can't catch him. Last night I rolled to my motorhome at 3am hoping to catch the guy myself (no lectures please, I was prepared, smart, and would have called the police. I don't think I'm Batman).

I'm doing everything I can to protect this for my family. They were devastated. I was devastated. I'm telling you this to ask you to be prepared. I put 2 years of hard work and modification into the camper. I'm grateful that he couldn't steal my families memories even if he stole their sense of safety. I'm also grateful to be a part of this community. I never really got involved with the Forest River forum.

Please, come up with a security plan for the road and for storage. Make it your first priority and really think about how you can protect your family. If one person had a GPS tracker or some type of camera/alarm, it likely would have kept a lot of people from going through what I did.

[Stan&Sharon]

Wow. I'm sorry for your loss. I can't imagine how bad your whole family must be feeling.

Recently I've been seeing reports of stolen trucks that have keyless entry (like mine). In one example on youtube, the RV family was in a restaurant having a meal (camper was not attached) and noticed a truck that looked just like theirs leaving! I've learned someone seated near can pick up their key fob and their partner just needs to walk around the parking to see which doors they could unlock by watching for headlight flashes. Their truck was found however, it was stripped of many parts and busted up pretty bad.

This week I ordered a faraday cage for my truck key.
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/...AC_SL1080_.jpg

Hopefully you'll not have any more troubles. It's my wish for us all.

[scloyd]

I received an email from my storage facility after the Memorial day weekend. It simply said that some things had been stolen and that all owners should check their campers.
The person who stole our motorhome was able to steal 4 other campers from the lot.

A phone call instead of an email would of been more appropriate. Sorry you and your family had to go through this. Hopefully they'll catch the SOB.

[wiscampsin]

Sorry to hear what you and your family had to go through.

[craigav]

Here is a police video of a stolen motorhome, I wouldn't want it back if it was mine. Seems to be built well though.

https://fox8.com/news/watch-new-vide...-neighborhood/

~CA

[Riverman]

Please give us some more details on your security system.... especially what kind of GPS tracker that you use. I need a good one for my trailer. Thanks

[2edgesword]

Fortunately I can store my trailer at home. I have 24 video of the driveway that alerts me if anyone approaches the trailer.

[Marcm157]

I am very sorry for what happened to you and your family. I spent 27 years in law enforcement and have seen the heartbreak, anger, frustration and feelings of violation first hand way too many times.

It sounds like you have taken all steps possible to prevent a reoccurrence.

[apgarrett]

Thanks everyone. It’s been a tough time. And I’m going to be up tonight watching the cameras.

I really don’t want to share too much detail on what and I how I did what I did to my motorhome. I know that certain elements frequent these sites to learn.

What I will say is search car gps trackers then call them and talk about installation. The trick to this that the bad guys can’t beat is that these things have wires and hidden compartments all over the place. Be artistic and make it look like it belongs. I like honey pots too. Things I put in to make it looks easy to defeat.

You are trying to buy time which means you need more than a passive system. That’s why I went with simply safe. It’s low power draw and if anyone comes in, it’s impossible to not set off which generates a call and dispatch.

Short of jamming cellular calls they are screwed.

[JFlightRisk]

We're sorry to hear of your ordeal with the bad guys. and thank you for sharing the story. It can be therapeutic sometimes, and may be helpful to those who store their rigs off site.

I truly hope they get caught very soon.

[2021JayFlight28BHS]

Originally Posted by apgarrett

Thanks everyone. It’s been a tough time. And I’m going to be up tonight watching the cameras.

I really don’t want to share too much detail on what and I how I did what I did to my motorhome. I know that certain elements frequent these sites to learn.

What I will say is search car gps trackers then call them and talk about installation. The trick to this that the bad guys can’t beat is that these things have wires and hidden compartments all over the place. Be artistic and make it look like it belongs. I like honey pots too. Things I put in to make it looks easy to defeat.

You are trying to buy time which means you need more than a passive system. That’s why I went with simply safe. It’s low power draw and if anyone comes in, it’s impossible to not set off which generates a call and dispatch.

Short of jamming cellular calls they are screwed.

Truly sorry for the situation that caused all of this, had some stuff stolen out of my truck as a kid, and I can remember how violated that made me feel, especially when you bought and paid for them with your own money. No comparison to your situation in dollars but I have always kept that feeling, and that’s been 30 years ago.

Anyways, did you compare Simply safe to Ring? Any advantages? I have Ring everything on my house (like I said you carry that feeling for the rest of your life). I thought about using Ring for the trailer too, it has battery backup, and will work on the installed cell SIM card if not connected to Wifi…. I am fortunate and can store my trailer in my back yard, but we still have 40/20’s as we call them (40 year olds strung out on drugs/ riding stolen 20” kid bikes) or foot traffic in our area that pass thru every once in a while, so I’ve been thinking about adding something to the trailer doors and storage areas that would notify me and set off a siren. Any advantages of Simply safe over Ring?

Thinking about a GPS tracking device too. But not sure where to start on that…. Let the research begin.

[curver900]

sadly you can't stop it and you can only "gather evidence" for the police who may or may not find them... and if they do the odds of them being held accountable now days is zero...

The ignition cut off is one of the best solutions.. BUT and a big BUT is they likely become mad and decide to trash the place... again the odds of anything happening to them are even less...

welcome to the abyss ...

[Oklahoma Dan]

I have been through this as well so know what this feeling of having your RV violated can be like. Once it happens your home away from home just doesn't feel the same anymore. Perhaps indoor storage if you can find it is the best way to resolve this in certain areas of need. Storage is more expensive but have found no more problems in over 2 years. Also what about utilizing The Club on your steering wheel? Just my 2 cents worth.

[apgarrett]

Originally Posted by 2021JayFlight28BHS

Any advantages of Simply safe over Ring?

Thinking about a GPS tracking device too. But not sure where to start on that…. Let the research begin.

Thank you man for your words. To your first question:

Ring is great. I use it at home. The SIM card option is good for us in the rv community. I didn’t need that.

What made me go SimpliSafe was the expansion capability. Imagine putting door sensors on all your under storage doors. They open? Alarm triggered. Oh and adding a 105 db aux alarm siren that you can bury anywhere in your camper. It has built in battery back up and calls out using cellular. Monthly fee isn’t bad either.

I didn’t go with them for cameras though so I can’t speak to that. I went blink. And those are amazing and cheap. I pulled a good face even with a mask and clothing detail at 3 am. My detective was amazed with it. Said it was one of the first good camera leads he had.

The second question. Search GPS car trackers. I called the top three. They each have pros and cons. I really think the decision here is how good of an installer you are.

But I also think we need to not all use the same technique and technology. Make these jerks learn everything. And let them know we have 8 hours on a Sunday to install it. You have maybe 2-4 hours of darkness to get out stuff.

No soft targets.

[Marine71-76]

Very sorry to hear about your MH being stolen. And the measures you took to protect it.

Totally understand the violation. We had our previous 5ver broken into 3 times! The 1st time, DW was called, went to the unit, spoke to the police & then broke down. Besides the stuff stolen, they left blood in the unit & this pissed her off more than anything.

As far as an enclosed storage. We have thought about them. However recently one caught on fire and was heavily damaged plus several units destroyed. There were reports of explosions - propane and gasoline/diesel.

[Bernheimer]

While we do have another way to GPS track our RV, for $29 we also hid a new Apple AirTag in our RV - easy way to see where it is. Good luck finding that thing on our 36' Class A!

[apgarrett]

Originally Posted by Bernheimer

While we do have another way to GPS track our RV, for $29 we also hid a new Apple AirTag in our RV - easy way to see where it is. Good luck finding that thing on our 36' Class A!

So a thing to know about that solution is that it will notify someone that the air tag is there. Apple didn’t want people tracking without consent so they programmed it to notify phones if it is following them. It will also help them locate it.

[Riverman]

What's the range of an AirTag? How do they report a missing RV?

[Bernheimer]

They would not “Report” a missing RV but on an iPhone they become another device on the “Find My” app. You can see where it is at all times.

[Bernheimer]

It’s so cheap and easy and most of these crimes aren’t that sophisticated so for me, at $29, it’s worth it even if it can be defeated by people that k ow what they are doing.