A Mountain Bike Race and a Stolen Dirt Bike

Okay, I have to start this story about a week ago. Jack's dirt bike got stolen off our driveway. There were lots of nicer bikes on the driveway but somehow, his got picked. So we filed a police report and then Merril posted a picture of his stolen bike on every Facebook Marketplace and dirt bike group that he's in. We got a couple leads but turned out to be nothing. Fast forward to now:

Jack and Merril are in Moab at a mountain bike race! They took dirt bikes too so they could ride around in Moab, the day before the race.

Jack raced but was maybe tired from riding the day before.

He still did well and we are proud of him. 

Merril called me after he'd left for Moab and said he had a tip from Facebook that Jack's bike might be in a garage in Coronado Ridge, the next neighborhood over from ours. I told Merril I would breeze past the house and hope to catch a glimpse of it. I drove past a couple times when I left for an errand or to pick up kids. On the way to dinner with the littles, I drove past the house again and the garage was open. There it was! It totally looked like Jack's bike but I wanted to send a picture to Jack and Merril and have them confirm before I called the police. I walked up the driveway and the kid was standing in the garage. I was trying to be casual and take pictures without arousing suspicion. It didn't work. The kid said, "You're kinda freaking me out lady." I said, "Okay BYEEEEEE!"

I drove off and sent the pictures to Merril and Jack. They immediately called back and said to call the police. The police came a few minutes later and confronted the boy (maybe 16 or 17?). He said he bought it at a yard sale in Sky Mountain and didn't know it was stolen. The police wanted me to get the bike out of there a.s.a.p. I called Natalie Bennett and asked if I could store a motorcycle in her garage for a few hours until Merril and Jack drove back from Moab. She said, "Yep!" and gave me the garage code. 

And just like that, Jack's stolen dirt bike was recovered! The kid had painted a few panels but whatever, it's home. We decided to press charges because we don't want people stealing things but who knows if it was the actual kid. We'll let the police do their work. Just happy it's home!