ARVADA -- Moving is challenging enough but the Andersons have their hands full with a four-week-old baby and two dogs. They are moving from Texas to Oregon and stopped at a relative's house in Arvada to break up the drive.
"He grabbed the dog and the diaper bag, walked back out and the car was gone," said Cheliesa Anderson.
It was Sunday morning around 5 a.m. and they wanted to get an early start. Anderson packed up the car, then her husband moved it closer to the house. It was not running but the car has a push button start and the fob was left inside.
Right as they were getting ready to leave, someone took off in the car. Their Dachshund puppy named Ciri was inside and the thieves took the dog too.
"We really just want the dog back," said Anderson.
Later that day, she went to the Walmart at 58th and Independence, where she spotted a car that looked similar to the black Ford Fusion that was stolen.
"I thought I was just going crazy, but when they turned I saw it because the bottom part of our bumper is gone. So there's two plastic things that hang down that you can see visibly and Texas plates," said Anderson.
Arvada police are now reviewing surveillance video from Walmart but were unable to release any images at this time.
The Andersons' moving nightmare gets even worse. After the car was stolen they decided to stay for a few more days. The thieves returned Tuesday morning and tried to steal their other car.
"They broke into this car and tried to steal this car because my key to this car was on the key in the other car," said Anderson.
The battery was dead so they were unable to steal it, but the thieves did take nearly everything inside, including her mother's ashes.
"A lot of the stuff in there was expensive and irreplaceable, like my mom's ashes and her jewelry, her pearls and stuff like that," said Anderson.
The family is continuing their journey to Oregon but hopes their dog and some of their belongings will be found. A relative started a GoFundMe page to help them raise money to replace some of the items that were stolen and pay for a rental car.
