On December 21, Tina Desmarais and her family were ready to go on vacation. Around midnight, preparations for loading the car were well underway. ID cards and passports were aboard his Ford Bronco as departure was scheduled a few hours later. The Sherbrookoise was far from suspecting what awaited her.
“I received an alert very early in the morning that there was someone who had used my debit and credit cards. I don’t know why, I went to click on my FordPass application with which I can start my car and see its location. It spins and spins and it says I’m not connected,” she explains.
It was around 5 a.m. that she noticed that there was no longer any trace of her vehicle in her yard. “I had lost passports and identity cards. We were leaving in the morning and I didn’t want to forget anything.”
The police went to her residence about five hours later, she explains. “I understand it wasn’t an emergency, it’s not a human [qui était en danger].»
The trip of Tina Desmarais and her son fell through. This followed all the steps to be taken in the event of vehicle and identity document theft.
However, a glimmer of hope is rekindled on Boxing Day.
“On the morning of December 26, I received a text saying that I was connected to my FordPass,” she says.
Thanks to the tracking service, she found that her car was now in Trois-Rivières.
No question for the lady of wasting another second. Not without fear, Tina Desmarais went to the location to retrieve her vehicle.
“I didn’t feel safe. It was at the end of an alley. I got in my car and took her down the highway to a restaurant parking lot. I called the Trois-Rivières police officers and they came. They towed my vehicle. They kept it for a fingerprint examination.”
Car thieves are often young, inexperienced people who are hired by larger criminal organizations. (Tommy Brochu/Archives La Tribune)
All of his belongings, except his wallet and passport, were present.
Once police analyzes were completed, she was able to recover her car on December 31. Tina Desmarais wanted to change her digital key to avoid another mishap. Due to the holiday season, it was not possible to do so as car dealerships were closed.
It was therefore in spite of herself that the celebrations were short-lived.
“I was watching my parking. I wasn’t sleeping. I was checking my FordPass. I heard noises and went outside. I was going crazy.”
— Tina Desmarais
On January 2, the unfortunate scenario repeated itself.
“I went to sit in the living room to watch a movie. I received an alert from my phone telling me that I was disconnected from my FordPass. I quickly get off and walk through the snow in my sandals. And my char had been gone for five minutes,” she explains discouraged.
Several police officers went to the site to find traces of the vehicle, to no avail.
She invites the population not to leave valuable objects in their car. “Don’t leave your cards [dans votre voiture] not even for 15 minutes.”
Tina Desmarais welcomes the support of the population who shared her post on social networks more than 1000 times to find her vehicle.
The Sherbrooke Police Service (SPS) confirms that the case has been entrusted to criminal investigations.
At the time of writing, Tina Desmarais had not found her car.
The spokesperson for the SPS, Benoit Pellerin, invites the population to be vigilant. He explains that motion sensor lights are one of the most effective ways to keep thieves away.
Car thieves are often young, inexperienced people who are hired by larger criminal organizations, he explains. From then on, they are hypervigilant and lights can scare them away.
Although there are still car thefts, the trend is downward in Sherbrooke, maintains agent Pellerin.
