In last Saturday’s newsletter, we told you about Gail and Doug Bakke’s stolen RV. Gail wrote, “On October 9, 2024, we discovered our 2021 Dutchmen Kodiak (CA plate 1NL7981) stolen from Extra Space Storage in Cathedral City, CA. It was taken on July 29 at 8:55 p.m. by a couple in their 40s using a U-Haul truck. We were never notified by the facility.
The theft has devastated us, especially since my husband needs two surgeries soon, and the RV was vital for his recovery. We planned to keep it for years, and it held many sentimental items. It has a distinctive tire cover with a grizzly bear and a 4-bike rack.”
After a few emails back and forth, Gail sent RVtravel.com the following story with permission to post.
Here’s her story:
We were so excited for our much-needed 4-day getaway in our RV! As usual, we did our food shopping, packed our clothes, and organized the fishing gear. We were ready to go!
My husband, Doug, left work at 5 p.m. on a Wednesday evening (Oct 9th) and drove to the storage facility to pick up our 2021 Dutchmen Kodiak. We bought it brand-new and fully embraced the lifestyle and being a part of the RV community. We are empty nesters and had big plans for all the adventures ahead of us in our new rig. As it turns out, my husband has a very serious surgery coming up and our RV would be the perfect place to rest and recover. We were all set.
Then I got the phone call. “Do I have the right spot?” My husband drove to our storage site, #59, but it was empty. Our RV was GONE. He drove around the entire facility thinking (hoping) that they had just moved it. Nothing. No, he wasn’t going crazy.
I immediately jumped in my car to meet him. No one is prepared for the gamut of emotions that follow something like this. Shock. Confusion. Anger. Heartbreak. It just goes round and round while your blood pressure goes up and up. How? (I’ll get to that) and why?
Here are a few lessons learned
The storage facility lesson: Do they deliver what they promise?
The storage facility was one where RVs are stored in “extra space”. We felt secure with their advertised assurances of “on-site management”, video surveillance, and electronic gate access including key code entry and exit. The place looked like a fortress! We felt confident our RV would be protect.
Here’s what we did NOT know.
The gate is set up so anyone can pull up behind an authorized car that is entering and follow it in right in. The gate opens and closes at a snail’s pace so no tailgating is needed.
Third, this facility can “set” the gate exit so instead of using the keypad to get out, you can just pull up really close to the gate and it will automatically open. Perfect for nighttime burglars.
The next day after discovering the theft, I went back to the facility to find the “secure” gate wide open, the office closed and NO personnel on site. No one was minding the store! So, “secure” electronic gate access turns out to be not so secure at all. On-site management? Not there either. There was no one on-site for the next two days!
Every Monday, the facility keeps a log of the vehicles on site. They last recorded our RV there on Monday, July 29th. By the time we discovered it missing, it had been 2 1/2 months! They knew it was no longer on site but didn’t inquire with us as to why “we” had been gone for so long. Why keep a log if you don’t do anything with the information? The thieves were long gone by the time we found out.
The surveillance cameras only store footage for 45 days. Fortunately for us, they were able to go back and find stored footage of the theft and how it happened, but I still haven’t seen the footage and it’s taken them weeks to get it to the police.
Here is what I was told: The thieves used a U-Haul truck. They had entered the facility earlier that day, using the same methods described above, to scope out their target. They parked next to our vehicle for some time, then left, then returned later that evening to do the deed.
The cameras did get very clear pictures of the thieves themselves (a couple in their mid-40s) but no license plate was visible. The quality of the video when it comes to seeing a license plate is very poor. Even with a hitch lock on the vehicle, those apparently are easy to break and they used the chains to hook up and go. They left the facility by pulling up close to the gate and voilà, it magically opened and off they went!
As with all storage facilities, when it comes to the contract, read the fine print. In a nutshell, it basically says, “We are not liable for ANYTHING that you trust us with.” You sign away your right to go to trial and agree to arbitration for which they will only award you up to $5,000 in losses. That hardly scratches the surface when we’re talking about an RV and all its contents.
Although there is a clear case (on video) of negligence on the part of this facility, the legal road forward is daunting and expensive. That’s what they’re counting on. What boggles my mind is a company whose only stated purpose is to safely protect your property but in reality, when something is stolen they will tell you, “That’s not our problem”!
The lesson I learned here is to really do the research on where you will store your RV. I have found a storage company nearby that only stores vehicles. They have someone living in an RV on site overseeing the security of the entire lot 24/7. There are security cameras in plain sight everywhere. Their gate is very secure (no follow-in shenanigans) and they require a gate remote (no keypad) given to each customer to open the gate going in AND out.
Find a facility that requires you to notify them when you are leaving and when you will return. This covers both you and the storage facility. Nothing is ever completely secure, but I definitely feel more secure with a smaller “all eyes on” approach to watching over my property.
The insurance lesson: Take inventory!
We were, of course, fully covered with comprehensive and liability insurance, but when you buy brand-new all you can hope for is to get the payoff amount. Insurance companies will play hardball (asking for a picture of everything you want to be replaced inside the vehicle) and lowball, offering the lowest price they can to replace the RV. It’s a long and eye-opening experience on top of all the emotions of being a victim of theft.
My advice: Take an inventory of what you have in your vehicle — just in case. I like to refer to my husband as “MacGyver.” Naturally, with that kind of personality we had every tool and fix-it gadget you can imagine in the lower storage compartment of our RV. Add to that all the indoor/outdoor living necessities, DISH satellite tailgater, gas BBQ, gas fire pit, and a lot of camping gear; it becomes a very long list worth thousands of dollars!
If you’re not able to make your list in one go, then keep adding to it while you are out IN your RV. Every day since this happened, I see something that triggers me and I’ll think, “Oh yeah, my cookie cooling racks were in the RV oven.” Save yourself the mind-numbing task of doing this while you’re dealing with the initial theft and MAKE THE LIST!
Bonus GOOD lesson learned
I bought GAP insurance when I purchased the vehicle. The best decision I’ve ever made. When the insurance companies won’t cover or give you the value you were hoping for, the GAP insurance you wisely purchased will cover the difference. This alone was priceless. Never buy a new vehicle without it!
The protect-your-vehicle lesson: Get a GPS tracker!
Fun fact: Most RV thefts in the U.S. occur at RV storage facilities. Most are never recovered.
This is something we had never heard of before. Since our theft, we were shocked to find just how many RV/motorhome thefts occur every year!
*Editor’s note: Here’s another story we posted earlier this year similar to Gail and Doug’s.
Final thoughts
In hindsight, and from reading through many blogs on the subject, anyone who owns an RV should absolutely install a GPS tracker that will immediately notify you if your rig moves. And I’m not talking about an AirTag. It’s worth the investment to up your security game with live GPS with instant notifications to your phone. Doing this could also lower your insurance if they know you have it installed. That kind of peace of mind is also priceless.
My husband, determined not to let these thieves ruin all our plans, is already on the hunt for our next RV. I am still skittish on the topic but in doing our due diligence in finding the best place to secure our next RV plus the extra GPS security measures, I too believe it’s worth taking the chance. Our dreams are worth it. As my husband says, “I’m going to Fort Knox the crap out of the next one.” I believe he will!
Though we will never get the answers to why this happened to us, we were just the unlucky target that day, I do hope and dream that soon this nightmare will be behind us and with our hard-earned lessons we will be back out on the road and looking forward to all the adventures and new memories to be made in our next RV.
Have you seen Gail and Doug’s RV?
Again, here is a photo of Gail and Doug’s RV, a 2021 Dutchmen Kodiak (CA plate 1NL7981). Please contact the Cathedral City police with any info or send RVtravel.com an email at editor(at)rvtravel.com. Thank you!
PHOTO CREDIT: The photo at the top of this article is NOT of Gail and Doug’s trailer. It is a frame from a video by ChrisSgaraglino.
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##RVT1181
We need Don Corleone and Lucca to insure there will be physical pain when you steal. You would not even need a gate or fence.
Yes, a good hitch lock, lock the chains together around the frame so they’re not easy to use, and a GPS tracker, not an Air Tag. If my camper is stationary for five minutes I get a text and a map showing it’s location when it moves again. Make it harder to steal than the one next to it.
Not sure how things go in CA, but here in south Florida, cars, trucks, boats, and RVs are stolen and packed into shipping containers and on their way to some banana republic long before anyone realizes it’s gone. Air tags and GPS tracking might help some, but not much against these highly organized foreign crime cartels.
So sorry about losing your RV. I hope the scum bags that stole it are caught and put away for a long, long time. By the way, is there a particular GPS tracker you could recommend?
I use Trak4, and highly recommend it. Small, rechargeable battery-powered (battery life depends on user settings, I recharge every 6 months or so), GPS or cell-tower location, user can set geo-fences to alert upon movement, alerts can be text or email, can use multiple trackers on one account, reasonably priced. With Trak4, good insurance, and a big ol’ chain and padlock, I sleep soundly!
I’m sorry your camper was stolen.
Of course, the insurance company wants pictures or receipts of all your items. This rule also applies to your home! I know this because a friend went through hell after their house burned down. Resorting to asking friends for photos of their house. They said they had a KitchenAid mixer, insurance said prove it. You had expensive suits, prove it….If you own anything special, a more expensive version, you’d better document it.
A PITA, but take pictures of everything. Save receipts. Problem is, if your house burns down, there goes all your proof (unless you store all the info in your fireproof gun safe).
Every single picture and file should be duplicated in the Cloud using Google Drive or OneDrive, which are free up to a point. These are the most secure systems on Earth, knock on wood.
Having our home burn to the ground one afternoon in July 1989, I can attest to what you posted here. The insurance Co. will want a list of every item lost – down to safety pins!! Try to remember that when under duress! While we were well insured you still have to prove it. Another tho’t – we only had 4 months to replace the home and personal property! In ND that makes for even more problems with winter cold and storms. Their adjuster advised us one week before expiration day – we scrambled to buy furniture and personal stuff and still had no place to put it as the house was still under construction! And Tommy is right, I recommend a safety deposit box or at least off site record storage
My storage facility is the same. Need a key card for entry but very easy to just follow someone else in. Exit is the same, need a keycard but again, you can follow someone else.
A gate remote is just like a garage door opener. Someone using the facility can easily purchase a new one and program it to open the gate and now the security is compromised. A key card that can be electronically removed from the system is much safer
If you have a cellular hotspot in the RV that stays there, it has its own phone number. Make a note of that number in your phone Contacts. Mount the hotspot in a cabinet or somewhere not in plain site. If your RV is stolen the police can use the cellular hotspot phone number to get very close to its location and to track its travel path, just like they can track criminals by their cell phone.
So sorry for your misfortune. After watching a YouTube video from their doorcam showing their cargo trailer being stolen from their driveway, which took the thieves about 5 minutes while the owners were away on vacation, I decided to follow the advice they offered. To protect my rig from theft I bought a hitch pin lock and a wheel-chock lock, but these two locks are really just for show since they can be cut off in minutes with a grinder. The real protection comes from the expensive, heat-treated Abus security chain and the pricey Medeco lock that secures it once the chain is wrapped around the axle and passed thru both wheels. Forget a grinder, a torch would struggle to cut either one.
Continued: The reason I know how hard it is to cut these locks is, I had a key break off in one years ago. I gave up on trying to remove it and it took me over 45 minutes using an oxy-acetylene torch to finally cut thru the metal. IMO most thieves will leave your rig alone and go in search of an easier target. Spend the money upfront and sleep peacefully 🙂
It’s truly terrible what people will do to others, and I hope you find your Kodiak.
I’d like to leave some advice here, and not everyone will like it, but think about it…
I’m talking accessories, like that tire cover you were talking about; but more. Add racing stripes, stupid bumper stickers, put stained glass privacy film on the windows, give it a nifty paint job. Make it so unique that it would take a thief days to undo all your additions not to mention make it stand out in public. Your RV was very nice, but it looks like any other RV out there when it’s buttoned up; thieves count on that. A good GPS and a splashy paint job are the perfect combo!
The blame goes solely to the thieves, not to the facility or yourselves. Don’t diminish their guilt by suggesting others could have/should have done more.
Gates, cameras, attendants and locks sometimes deter the untrustworthy but they don’t cure ‘em. Heck, even banks get robbed and they have more cameras, gates, guns and guards.
As sad as this sounds, you’re actually blessed it was stolen while vacant in storage. Some folks get their rig stolen when they’re hundreds of miles from home or worse, with their pets in it.
I wonder just how effective a lockable parking clamp (like the ones that municipalities use on illegally parked vehicles) would be in stopping an RV from being stolen? They’re available on Amazon for around $90. Use that, plus a hitch safety pin lock, and I would think that just MIGHT slow thieves down long enough to make them feel it isn’t worth their while.
Yes, I think a wheel clamp is a great solution!
Did you have a hitch lock on the trailer? I use a hitch lock and a coupler lock. Would be hard and time consuming to try to defeat both.
In addition to wheel locks, I put down my manual stabilizers and locked them in place with a padlock at each leg.
Philip – what a great idea!
These stolen RV stories are mind-numbing. I am soooo grateful. We live in an RV park and I feel so fortunate. I’ve never heard of any RV being stolen from one of our four RV parking areas. There are homes adjoining the RV parking areas and that surely makes them a bit more safe. But what these people have gone through legally is shocking to say the least.
To Julie & Doug: I’m so pissed off on what happened to you. I really hope the police or someone reading this will recognize your RV. If someone sees that bear tire cover reversed or painted over, that would be a dead give-away!
Would it be worth checking out various RV classifieds to see it show up for sale?
Craig ‘s List
Hi. Doug is definitely keeping an eye out for it all over the internet, Craigslist etc. it’s been 3 months since it was stolen so God only knows what condition it is in by now. 🙁
You almost have to wonder if the U-Haul wasn’t also stolen.
Anyone with a travel trailer should get a Proven Industries hitch lock. A torch is needed to cut it off. The lock mechanism is a Medco 7 or 8 pin lock mechanism. Almost impossible to pick. They are expensive, however worth every dollar.
Disturbing. Thank you for sharing the lessons.
Here is what I’m going to do for my motorhome which sits in my driveway for a couple months each year when I’m not on the road.
Use my phone to go over the rig inch by inch taking photos of every single item, and also short videos. Automatically uploaded to Google Photos. 20+ years of receipts are on Amazon and stored on Google Drive.
Add an interior motion detector linked to my home YoLink system (leak and freeze detectors), set to alarm on any motion overnight.
Set up a battery disconnect so it is very difficult to start.
I installed a Mul-T-Lock Grade 2 deadbolt on the door years ago.
Re: Stolen RV. I purchased Stargard.
Wondering, Do Travel trailers get stolen more than Class C’s and Class A’s due to being towable?
That’s a horrible thing to happen thank you for reminding us to take care of our RV when stored in a facility. We have a small class C that I now plan to take steps to make it more difficult to steal than the other ones nearby, obvious physical obstacles and disabling the ability to start the engine if that doesn’t stop the scumbags
Not an RV. RV is a recreational vehicle. This is what you pull with a vehicle and not a vehicle itself Just had to say it 😆. I’m very sorry for your loss and hope that the culprit is found.
Thanks, Jon. Just for kicks I looked up “recreational vehicle” on Wikipedia: “A recreational vehicle, often abbreviated as RV, is a motor vehicle or trailer that includes living quarters designed for accommodation. Types of RVs include motorhomes, campervans, coaches, caravans (also known as travel trailers and campers), fifth-wheel trailers, popup campers, and truck campers.” Sorry. Just had to say it.😉🤣 Have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Thank you, RV Travel and Gail! I am very sorry that your storage company is nothing but a bunch of lying crooks. I certainly hope that you will decry their name far and wide. If they don’t go out of business thereby, perhaps they will actually move closer to actually protecting things stored with them. Meanwhile, I wish you well as you search for suitable replacements for all that was stolen. Have a great day and safe travels!
Good chance it’s in Mexico.