A couple of weeks ago I saw a post on the VW WESTFALIA Facebook group about possibly spotting a stolen van on the Los Angeles CBS Nightly News. Rusty made this post along with a screenshot asking if anyone was a aware of a maroon hightop Vanagon that might be missing.

The news piece had aerial shots around this compound and Rusty was able to grab a few screenshots.

Group member Andrew thought the van looked familiar and found that it was indeed a van that we had listed as stolen 5 months earlier back in December 2021.

Rusty got in contact with Dan, the van's owner using the contact information we had listed in our VanAlert post.

It was really cool to see all of this unfold live on Facebook. Four people that had never met all had a hand in spotting this stolen van and getting it back to it's rightful owner.

Rusty posted a few photos of the van once him and the owner Dan got on site. The van was definitely being prepped for paint in order to get it to look completely different.

Thieves really did a number on this poor ole girl. Very sad to see.

I may have just left it there after seeing the dash torn apart. Nahhh... I would bring her home and begin the long process of getting her back on the road better than ever.

Dan really has his work cut out for him but as he mentioned he's up for the challenge. He's already begun taking inventory on what is missing and what parts he'll need to start piecing his beloved Vanagon back together again.

Big shout out to Rusty and Andrew for making this reunion happen!