WESTMINSTER, Colo. — A family's lifeline was stolen right in front of their home on Tuesday morning. Someone took off in their 2004 Toyota Highlander with something even more valuable inside — an electric wheelchair.
"She goes 'let me just go get the car; I'll be right back,' " said Candace Trujillo.
Trujillo's mom drives her to work every morning because she's unable to drive herself. She has brittle bone disease and uses a wheelchair to get around.
"I was born with 26 fractures," Trujillo said.
Doctors didn't expect her to live past age 2. She's now 28 years old and works five days a week.
The morning started off just like any other. Trujillo woke up at 3 a.m. to start getting ready for her job in customer service. She usually leaves the house around 5 a.m. Her mom will pull the car up, load the wheelchair and then help her into the car. On this cold morning, she left the car running and it was gone 10 minutes later.
"It also had my wheelchair on there, which are my legs. I can't go anywhere without those," said Trujillo.
The $35,000 power wheelchair was recovered three hours after the vehicle was stolen. It was abandoned approximately 15 minutes from their home.
"It's just been going on and on in my head all day, I just don't understand why," said Trujillo.
The car is still missing, and without it, Trujillo has no idea how she's going to get to work.
"It's really awful. I don't even know how to describe it," she said. "I'm at a loss of words because the car is everything to us right now. We don't have one."