Stolen semi and trailer recovered as investigation into theft of $500,000 worth of classic cars continues

UPDATE January 21, 2019 --
On Monday night, detectives with the Puget Sound Auto Theft Task located and recovered a semi-truck and trailer that was stolen from Edgewood on January 12th.

The task force says the semi-truck and trailer were found in Tukwila.

This is the semi-truck trailer that contained the three classic cars that were stolen and recovered on January 15th.

DES MOINES, Wash. -- The Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force, Des Moines Police and Auburn Police recovered the three classic cars today that were stolen earlier this week in Edgewood.

Sadly, all three cars have been damaged.  Detectives located the red 1953 Cadillac El Dorado in the Redondo area of Des Moines thanks to a tip from a citizen.

A short while later, they developed information that the black 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 two door hard top with red interior and a light blue 1954 Buick Century with white soft-top convertible were in a parking lot in Federal Way.

The Semi and Trailer that contained the vehicles is still missing.   Detectives are asking for the public's help in locating the white 2003 Freightliner sleeper with “U Map Trucking LLC” in blue lettering on the sides and Washington State license plates 73046RP.  The trailer is a white Boyd car hauler with Washington State license plate 03386AB.

"Our guys are still out working and hopefully we'll get the semi-truck recovered, but we do have the half million dollars' worth of vehicles recovered in two different cities," said Pierce County Sheriff's Det. Ed Troyer. "Best thing that will happen is we'll be able to find this semi-truck too and find the people that are responsible for it."



No arrest has been made and detectives are encouraging anyone with information on the suspects to message them on the Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force Facebook page or to submit a an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers of Tacoma-Pierce County at www.P3Tips.com or 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Original story:

EDGEWOOD, Wash. -- The search is on to find three classic cars stolen from an auction yard on Meridian Ave E in the dark of the night. The vehicles are valued at over a half of a million dollars.

Stolen black 1964 Ford Galaxy 500 two door hard top with red interior,

Sometime between 5:30 p.m. on Sunday January 12 and 8:15 a.m. on Monday January 13, 2020, a thief drove off in a white 2003 Freightliner sleeper with “U Map Trucking LLC” in blue lettering on the sides and Washington State license plates 73046RP.

The truck was pulling a white Boyd car hauler with Washington State license plate 03386AB.

Deputies searching for white 2003 Freightliner sleeper with “U Map Trucking LLC” in blue lettering on the sides and Washington State license plates 73046RP.

A red 1953 Cadillac El Dorado, a black 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 two door hard top with red interior and a light blue 1954 Buick Century with white soft-top convertible were inside the enclosed trailer.

Stolen light blue 1954 Buick Century with white soft-top convertible.

"We believe this was targeted. First of all, we don't have semi-trailers stolen randomly too often, especially ones that have a half million dollars worth of collectible cars in the back that weren't even visible," said Det. Ed Troyer with the Pierce County Sheriff's Department.

The Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force and the Edgewood Police Department are asking for the public's help to identify the suspect(s) responsible for the theft.

Stolen red 1953 Cadillac El Dorado

"It's rare to have an 18 wheeler trailer stolen. Not a lot of people know how to drive them so first you have to have somebody that knows how to drive the trailer and we believe they knew what was in the back of the trailer. There's a half million dollars worth of collectible cars in the back of that trailer and whoever targeted that trailer was targeting those cars, not the truck and trailer," said Det. Troyer.

Stolen black 1964 Ford Galaxy 500 two door hard top with red interior,

If you have any information on the location of the stolen vehicles or who is responsible for the theft, please call 911 or contact Edgewood Police.

You can also message the Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force on their Facebook page or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers of Tacoma-Pierce County for a cash reward of up to $1,000 if the information leads to an arrest in the case.

Call 1-800-222-TIPS or use the P3 Tips App that you can download to your cell phone for free.