Gaby and Luis U-HAUL Theft

I am starting this Go Fund Me for my sister Gaby & her family, who this past weekend lost everything. After living away from Southern California for the past 11 years, they decided to move from Reno back home to be closer to family. This past weekend was supposed to be a joyous occasion, a new start for my sister & her family, and a birthday surprise for our Mom who’s birthday was on Sunday. Instead, they woke up Saturday morning to find they had been robbed of every possession and keepsake they have ever had.

On Friday, after working a full day, my brother-in-law Luis came home and decided why wait to start their new lives and drove down to U-HAUL to rent a truck. He was hoping for anything, but as luck would have it they had a big truck available for a 1-way rental. He came home, and he and my sister began packing up their entire house into that truck. They finished at 10 pm and hit the road. Exhausted from working a full day and loading a 20ft truck, at 1 am, they decided to stop outside Sacramento to rest for a few hours at a hotel.

They were nervous to stop with a full truck, but it was too risky to continue the journey as exhausted as they were. Luis had a feeling in his stomach that made him feel uneasy. He checked on the truck twice between 1 am and 4 am and it was parked just as he left it safe and sound. Finally chalking up his gut feeling to paranoia, he gave in to his exhaustion and fell into a deep sleep. He woke up at 6:30 am ready to hit the road. He put on his sandals and headed down to the truck to retrieve his tennis shoes; he had taken them off because his feet hurt from being on them all day. When he rounded the corner to where he had parked the truck, his stomach dropped, the truck was gone. He blinked several times, hoping his sleepy eyes were deceiving him. He scanned the parking lot, he second guessed where he parked it, he roamed the property, but to no avail the truck was gone. White as a sheet, he returned to the hotel room to break the news to my sister, who immediately broke into tears. And wouldn’t you know it, it was at that same exact time my sister sent her a text, asking her where they were so that she could have breakfast waiting for them -my sister not knowing they had stopped to rest. Gaby called her immediately, sobbing into the phone. The cry of despair was so guttural my sister thought something had happened to Luis. Her heart dropped as she heard her say through sobs, “They stole the truck.”

A Police report was filed, and they were advised not to wait for any news. The police said trucks are rarely found with any contents. But where would they go? The U-Haul truck was their only mode of transportation. To make matters worse, they now found themselves stranded outside the city with their 7-year-old daughter, 500 miles of road to travel, and no car to make the trip. The police officer, feeling sorry for them, kindly drove them to the airport. My sister flew them down to So Cal. When they arrived, they looked as bad as they felt. Eyes swollen from crying and bodies hunched over in defeat. The only items to their name were the clothes on their back and an overnight bag they packed with 1 change of clothes.

The truck was found abandoned a few hours later with only a couple of boxes thrown around, broken dishes, and mounts of trash dumped into the truck by the thieves. We also found out it was 1 of 17 trucks stolen over the weekend.

When I say their entire lives were taken, I’m not talking about all the materials things they worked hard for over the years: furniture, bedding, toys, clothes etc.… I mean all of the items they can never replace. Like years of Mother’s Day cards made at school, hand print Christmas ornaments made by the kids, Luis’s late grandfather’s jacket (that still smelled of his cologne), and years and years of pictures.

A little about my sister & my brother-in-law. They are the life of the party. Always have been. They are beyond gracious and generous. If you have ever been a guest of theirs, you know their hospitality is unmatched. They always go above and beyond to make your stay memorable. My sister has an uncanny ability to make anyone feel special and seen. It’s her gift. She makes friends everywhere she goes. Even at her lowest lows she has never hesitated to be generous. If she read an unfortunate story on GFM she’d donate her last $10 dollars because she felt they needed it more. That’s who my sister is and that’s who she’s always been.

My sister now has to start from the ground up. She has to replace every basic need (towels, clothes, shoes, toiletries, etc.. And with the kids going to back to school, she not only has the burden of back-to-school shopping, she has the responsibility of replacing complete wardrobes and shoes for 3 kids.

I am asking you to please help my sister build up her life again by donating here or Venmo’ing her direct @Gabby-Sanchez-20

Thank you and God Bless