Stolen truck found, returned to 83-year-old Everett man

UPDATE, 9/20/21: After asking neighbors to keep an eye out for his stolen 1997 Ford F-250, 83-year-old Les Mann was informed over the weekend that his beloved truck had been found.

Les — who works as a commercial sales manager at Bill Pierre Ford — received a call from one of the dealership’s employees, who had heard from an eagle-eyed Dori Monson Show listener that the truck had been spotted parked on a street in Everett.

While the vehicle’s lock was damaged, the truck was largely intact.

“It felt like I’d been blessed by the good Lord,” Les told Dori on Monday. “It felt like I was getting a Christmas present — I was just overjoyed.”

Original article, published 9/17/21:

An 83-year-old Everett-area man is looking for his mint condition 1997 F-250 truck, after it was stolen earlier this week.

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Les Mann has worked as a commercial sales manager at Bill Pierre Ford along Lake City Way for nearly three decades. A camping enthusiast, he’s owned his Ford truck for 17 years, but woke up Tuesday morning to find that it had been taken from his driveway.

He describes the truck itself like a “member of the family.”

“I miss this truck — it’s had so many memories,” he told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson Show. “It’s just like having one of your friends die on you.”

It’s unclear how the thieves managed to make off with the vehicle, although Les believes it’s largely because “Ford and GM have the distinction of having some of the easiest cars to pick” when it comes to older models.

But even through all this, he’s still managed to stay positive.

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“It’s very hard to reconcile it, but if you think about it — which I’ve done for the last few days — it’s a truck; it’s not a person,” he noted. “The Lord knows what’s best for you, and if he meant for me to lose that truck, I’ll go along with what He wanted to happen in my life.”

For now, he’s asking that anyone in the area where he lives near Monroe Elementary School in Everett keeps an eye out for a two-tone gold and white Ford F-250 truck with aluminum wheels and a large chrome stripe down the side (pictured above).

“[It’s] the last of that year design — it’s the last of that model,” he added. “I’ve always loved it and it’s why I held onto it for so long.”

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from noon – 3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.