Most of us worry about our house being broken into. The thought of having a stranger rifling through our belongings and taking our stuff is horrifying. But one woman experienced something even worse.
Meghan Panu spent two years designing and building the perfect home. The main difference between her dream house and most other homes? It was extremely tiny.
The tiny house was only 20-feet long, and cost about $20,000 to build, but last week someone didn't just steal some stuff from inside, they stole the entire home!
"You hear about stolen cars and trailers all the time but this is a stolen house. So it's shocking in so many ways and it sticks out," Panu said.
The tiny house was small enough for thieves to hook it up to the back of a truck and drive away with it.
The owner of the tiny house shared about the theft on Facebook and Instagram, and over the next few days she continued to receive reports of her home traveling west-bound across the state.
"It has been confirmed two men were driving the grey truck," one post said, after explaining it was seen on the I-70.
Panu was interviewed by several different news outlets, and because of this even more people became aware of her story. This meant that people from miles away knew to look out for her tiny house getting dragged behind a grey truck.
The house started in St. Louis, Missouri, and traveled towards California. It was missing for four days, but finally a sheriff from House Springs, Missouri, tweeted out a photo of the tiny home.
Detectives located this TinyHouse in House Springs, Mo. this morning, and are working to locate the owner (reported stolen from St. Louis City). I believe the owner was on several local news channels. @SLMPD @FOX2now @KMOV @ksdknews @KPLR11 @ChristineDByers @ktrs_news @MyMoInfo pic.twitter.com/W40qe2vKh7
— Sheriff Dave Marshak (@SheriffMarshak) December 19, 2018
"Detectives located this TinyHouse in House Springs, Mo. this morning, and are working to locate the owner (reported stolen from St. Louis City). I believe the owner was on several local news channels," Sheriff Dave Marshak tweeted.
Luckily, all of Panu's appearances on the news made the house known so cops across the state could identify it and get it back to its rightful owner.
More good news on the TinyHouse Recovered. Ives Towing in Hillsboro is giving the owner an early Christmas Present - There will be no charge for the towing/Recovery @ksdknews @KMOV @FOX2now @KPLR11 @ktrs_news @stltoday @ChristineDByers pic.twitter.com/aCqP0QgCWS
— Sheriff Dave Marshak (@SheriffMarshak) December 19, 2018
In an update posted shortly after, Marshak revealed that the company that was towing the home, Ives Towing, offered to bring it back to Panu free of charge.
Panu must be thrilled that her tiny house will be returned to her in time for the holidays, and hopefully she will be able to secure it a bit better so she won't have to worry about this ever happening again.
Source - KMOV
