Cruel Crime: War vet moving from military to civilian life ... and everything gets stolen



FIFE, Wash. -- An American war veteran is desperate, after someone stole his moving truck from a motel in Fife -- and with it many of the things he values most.

"All my awards and stuff like that ... it's all gone," Jonathan Mann said Friday.

The veteran has his dog -- and he got his Jeep back. But that's about all.

After serving as a combat engineer in Afghanistan, Mann was excited to move from Joint Base Lewis-McChord back home to Springfield, Mo. He packed up his life into a moving truck and stayed overnight Tuesday at a Motel 6 in Fife.

When he came back out, the moving truck was gone.

"Everything I own -- clothes, furniture. I had a brand new king-size mattress I didn't even sleep on yet. That was in there."

And then there were the more personal items.

"Family heirlooms and photos, personal information, my tax information, files."

Mann said, "It sort of wrecks all my plans and everything. Like before the military, I was a mechanic and that was what I was going to do while I was finishing my school ... and now I don't have tools or anything to work on in my profession."

The thieves also took his Jeep that was on a trailer, but police found it down by the Port of Tacoma. The windows had been broken and everything inside was taken.

The thieves jammed a screwdriver into the ignition in an attempt to get in and try to start the vehicle, but they just screwed up the ignition to the point where Mann cannot even start it with his key.

He is a veteran trying to return to civilian life and he's become the victim of a cruel crime.

His father is now heading up from Missouri to take him home. There's a Go Fund Me page set up to help out this veteran. If you wish to go to it to donate, click here.

If you have any information on the location of the Penske truck, please contact the Tacoma Police Department 253-591-2022 or 253-798-4712. The license plate on the truck was: Indiana 2097574 and the truck ID is: USDOT 327574 GVW12300.

Here is the picture of the stolen truck: