Oregon resident Cristin Elliott has been reunited with her 1971 Chevy Nova after it was stolen 13 years ago.
According to a report from Oregon Live, Elliott’s Chevy Nova was stolen in September of 2010 from Southeast Orient Drive in Gresham, where it was parked in front of a friend’s home. Years later, in 2019, Elliott discovered her Nova in a craigslist ad, and instantly knew it was hers. Elliott’s Nova was located at a classic car dealer in Canby, but it would take another four years to regain ownership.
This Chevy Nova SS is part of the GM Heritage Center collection
As the story goes, the selling party, Jeremy Conroy, said that he found the Chevy Nova for sale on Facebook Marketplace, where it was listed for $10,000. The Conroy got in contact with the seller, Portland resident Andy Maes, and decided to put a deposit down. However, the Chevy Nova needed a new title.
In the process of generating a new title, the DMV apparently ran a check on the VIN, but it didn’t come back as stolen as the records were deleted in 2015 per the FBI’s National Crime Information Center policy, which clears stolen vehicle records if they are not recovered within four years. To complicate matters, Oregon police failed to resubmit to the state database following the record’s deletion from the FBI database.
Essentially, the paperwork behind the Chevy Nova wasn’t in order, and when Conroy got the new title from Maes, he was surprised to see it listed as “Totaled, Reconstructed.” Conroy attempted to contact Maes about the inconsistencies, but the latter failed to respond to follow-up calls. That’s when Conroy decided to list it on craigslist.
Detectives ended up taking possession of the vehicle following Elliott’s report, and criminal charges were filed against Maes. A series of legal wrangling lead to Maes’ arrest, but due to statute of limitations and delays, the charges were eventually dismissed. However, in April, Elliott and Conroy met in court, both expressing interest in the Chevy Nova. The judge eventually decided to give the car to Elliott.
When she got it back, Elliott’s Chevy Nova was equipped with new black seats, swapped in from the original red seats, while the interior chrome molding was missing. However, Elliott says she is just happy to have her car back, and that she’ll clean it up and get it running again – this time with a GPS tracker installed.
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Comments
I had a 1970 Nova same color 350 under the hood. Great car!!!
Car thieves should be treated like horse thieves were 150 years ago – hung from the nearest tree when caught.
Good outcome!! Again… just how stupid is the FBI to “require” stolen cars to be dropped from that list after ONLY 4 years!?!?! SMH Just feeds the criminal world with undocumented and likely untraceable vehicles.
Absolutely agree MeToo. When I was a police officer in California in the early 1980’s I pulled a beautifully restored 1964 Chevy Impala over for a moving violation. I noticed that the vin # didn’t look right and decided to run the last 6 digits on the engine block for “near misses”. The numbers came back to a reported stolen from 15 years prior. Using a mirror I checked the frame and verified it was the reported stolen. The car was returned to the rightful owner and the driver was arrested for possession of stolen property. The original owner reached out to me afterwards and was concerned that the car was in much better shape than when he owned it. I told him not to worry and to enjoy the car and consider the restoration as the price paid by the offender for rental of his car.
Anyone who has had a car stolen knows that horrible feeling. Had my ’55 BelAir stolen but recovered five months later. Took some effort to get it back in shape. Thief was not a smart guy. Police raided garage because of unpaid rent. Several Corvettes recovered, too. Ironically I bought a ’70 Nova to replace the ’55. Needed wheels fast and found it on lot at neighborhood Chevy Dealer.
Horrible rules!!
My brother had a car stolen. Police won’t mark it stolen because my brother gave it to the guy for storage. But the guy ghosted my brother and never turned the car back over to my brother after he requested it back.
Now I read this article. And I know how people wash titles thru Vermont.
I’m convinced that the law doesn’t care about stolen cars and the owners of them.
Cop gets his daily driver for free and therefore puts little value on yours.
Not true. Many officers, myself included, are car guys and get how upsetting it is to have your vehicle stolen. I worked hard checking every vin tag on vehicles I pulled over. I recovered dozens of stolen cars and trucks by using the tools and information I learned from the California Highway Patrol unit specifically trained in vehicle recovery. I spent a whole day in a wrecking yard leaning the location of frame vin numbers engine numbers and build sheets. I too think the law has made vehicle theft a minor crime that should be dealt with by insurance companies. Car thieves belong behind bars just like any other thief that preys upon the public.
Thank you for being so dedicated.