Leah Frey knew she was changing cultures when she moved from St. Louis to Ottawa.
She didn’t know she would be surprised by some of the similarities.
At about 4 a.m Jan. 21, Frey realized her green 1992 Saturn SL, manual, with Missouri tags was missing. Frey was at a friend’s house on Rock Creek Road.
She contacted law enforcement, and they sent a sheriff’s officer out.
Frey and a group of friends organized a search party to look for the car that night.
She said there were about eight cars and 15 friends driving around to see if they could find the car.
Police found the car at 8 p.m. Jan. 22 on Indiana Road burnt completely, so the car was inoperable.
According to a police report, the vehicle was destroyed by the fire.
Frey couldn’t believe something like this would happen in a small town environment.
“If my car was taken in St. Louis, I wouldn’t have batted an eye,” Frey said. “It was a curve ball not expected. We were in the middle of nowhere.”
Lt. Jeff Curry said that the exact cause of the fire is unknown but it is believed to be arson.
“Cars are built out of excelerants,” Curry said. “It’s not like a house where you can find just one. It’s hard to determine exactly.”
Along with her car, Frey lost several other items including cds, t-shirts, a gps and her ipod.
“It’s hard getting rides from friends and things,” Frey said.
Her car was given to her from her dad’s friend in high school.
“We put about a thousand dollars on the car, but we basically acquired it for free,” Frey said. “I’d estimate the value to be about $2500 before burning.”
Working on saving money for a trip to Scotland, Frey was forced to take out another loan to work on getting a new car.
“I’m not going to let this bring me down that much,” Frey said. “I’m going on that trip.”
Currently Frey is working to find who exactly did this.
“I have been working with a detective named Bob Mose who is with the chiefs department here in Ottawa.,” said Frey.
Curry said that there have been no arrests, but the sheriffs department does have a few leads.
St. Louis, I wouldn’t have batted an eye,” Frey said. “It was a curveball not expected. We were in the middle of nowhere.”