PROVO -- A day after having their car stolen at gunpoint, a woman and her daughter received some good news -- their vehicle was recovered by police.
The man responsible for the robbery, however, remains at large. And investigators are stumped as to why the man stole a car in a secluded Provo neighborhood and later abandoned it in a residential area in Orem.The woman and her 16-year-old daughter had parked their white Ford Expedition and were distributing church-related fliers in their neighborhood, 3900 N. Quail Run Drive, at about 9 p.m. Monday.
"A male suspect approached the girl, carrying a handgun," said Provo police spokesman Keith Teuscher. "They found the girl's mother. He threatened them with the gun and took the car."
Neither the woman nor her daughter were harmed during the incident, Teuscher said.
Tuesday afternoon, an Orem woman reported the vehicle was parked in front of her home, 950 E. 1250 North. When officers arrived on the scene, they found the keys inside. Nothing had been taken from the car, Teuscher said. He added that the incident was unusual.
"This occurrence is rare in our area. We just don't know why he was in that particular neighborhood. There are no businesses there. It's just a quiet neighborhood. And why he left the car in a secluded area, we don't know," Teuscher said.
The victims described the carjacker as heavy-set, about 5 feet 11 inches or 6 feet tall, between the ages of 18 and 22.
Anyone with information about this case is urged to call Sgt. Brad Leatham at 852-6225.