Just after 10:30PM on June 26th, Christina heard her van start in her driveway and ran to see what was going on… as she ran down the front walkway she watched her only working vehicle drive up the street and out of sight. Immediately she called 911 and was told an officer would arrive shortly but it was not an emergency. Furiously she posted BOLO’s on FB trying to get the word out locally and get the van spotted. She called Pawtucket police again at 11:37pm asking if they needed any details to initiate a report, they declined and said someone would be out soon to take a full report. Around 1AM on June 27th, a police officer arrived and took the report and statement. As the shock began to wear off the family started to remember all the things that were inside the van. Faith Christina the oldest child in the family passed away on August 9th 2019, unexpectedly from SUDEP (Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy). Because grief waves come often and without notice, there were mementos of her all over the van. Her “Make a Wish Passport”, a special note about her love of animals, camp and her family, buttons she had made at Great Wolf Lodge with her family… there were even donated items for the foundation created in her memory inside the van. Friends of Faith Foundation tries to carry on Faith’s charitable endeavors in her absence, and Christina uses the van to pick up donations from individuals or drop off gifts/goods to recipients. Though the family has been social distancing, the van was their only source of transportation to get to and from “art therapy” grief counseling which the kids were utilizing to treat their PTSD from witnessing the traumatic life-saving measures and passing of their sister.
Sunday June 28th, Turn to 10 even ran a story about the family’s van and begged the public to call with any information that could lead to the return of the van or the treasures inside.
Early on Tuesday June 30th, Christina received a call from her insurance company about the van and potentially her involvement in an accident over the weekend. Her insurance happened to represent the victims of the accident also, so when they obtained the Providence police report and saw the owners of the van involved were customers, they reached out via phone. The conversation sparked 9 hours of navigating a very disjointed and confusing trail of clerical errors and dead ends which eventually lead to tracking down the van. It had been used in a hit and run accident within 90 minutes of it’s theft; and despite the report being taken less than an hour later, the van sat in a police impound lot from the time of the accident until Tuesday night. The family paid the impound and towing fees in order to retrieve the van but it was totaled in the accident. With no collision or theft coverage on their 2005 Dodge Caravan, Christina and her children will have no means to replace their vehicle.