March 3, 2022 4:10 a.m.
Property of multiple moving company scam victims has been found at a warehouse in Sutherlin.
A release from the Eugene Police Department said on Tuesday, members of the EPD Property/Financial Crimes Unit, the Crime Analysis Unit and an EPD K9 unit served a search warrant at an undisclosed location with the assistance of the Sutherlin Police Department. An EPD detective authored the search warrant after receiving a case where a Eugene resident hired a moving company to move the family’s possessions to their new residence on the east coast and then never received their property.
The release said another victim, who had hired the same company, also had the same experience and set out to track down their property. They eventually determined that it was likely in the warehouse. This victim staked the warehouse out and waited for someone to arrive, at which point they were able to locate their property and took numerous photos of other stacks of property belonging to other victims, including the Eugene victim.
The EPD PCU detective coordinated with the Eugene victim who flew back from the east coast to make preparations for the recovery of their belongings. Upon serving the search warrant, detectives located the Eugene victim’s property and assisted her with filling a 26-foot U-Haul with the family’s possessions. Detectives and the Crime Analysis Unit worked throughout the day to identify 4 additional victims and then worked with the victims to get U-Hauls rented. Detectives loaded all of the victim’s property into additional U-Hauls so it could be safety stored until the victims arrive to take possession of them.
In all, detectives loaded and nearly filled 3 26-foot U-Hauls. One of the victims had moved from Arizona to Veneta. In this case, their property made it all the way to Sutherlin, where it was dropped off in the warehouse. Detectives were able to deliver the property to this victim’s residence in Veneta. She had been without her property for nearly 5 months.
The release said no arrests are expected as with other frequent scams, the involved companies and individuals are likely to be out of state or possibly out of the country.
