MARYSVILLE – Having a vehicle stolen would shake up anyone. But it can really get to you if you built it from the ground up.

Things were going well for Joe Hager when he moved to Marysville just two months ago from Carnation after getting a new job as a mechanic.

But then his 1989 Toyota 4X4 pickup was stolen in the middle of the night in the 5000 block of 80th Street N.E.

“At 7:40 (a.m.) I walked out the door, and it wasn’t there,” he said.

Hager said not only did he spend years building it, putting in about $20,000, but he also has great memories of four-wheeling in it with his fiance.

“I hate to say it but it tugs at the heart a little bit,” he said. “I worked hard on it, and I wanted that truck.”

Hager, now 28, started working on it when he was 21.

“It was a piece of crap,” he admitted.

He put together the truck in his parents’ garage.

“He was quite young when he took on this project,” said his mom, Stephanie.

He put in a new engine, transmission and off-road suspension, along with a custom-made center console.

“It’s a never-ending project,” Hager said. “Buddies would come over and wrench on it,” he said.

He and his fiance went camping at Liberty in Eastern Washington, and also at popular 4WD spots like Walker Valley and Evans Creek.

As for the night it was stolen, Hager said he used to be a light sleeper when he lived so long in Carnation because it was quiet. But he’s already gotten used to the noise of traffic in the city, along with the noisy sounds of the trains.

“I thought I might have heard something,” he said of that night, since his truck can be loud itself.

The thief drove over some bushes during the theft. Hager couldn’t guess how it was hot-wired.

He said a professional thief must have taken it, not someone he knows.

“They knew what they were doing,” his mom said.

“A lot of people are looking out for me,” he said, adding friends have posted information about the theft all over the internet in an attempt to find it.

Hager said he knows it’s not likely he will get it back.

“I just hope for the best. It’s like finding a needle in a haystack.”

Car theft statistics

Actually, car thefts have decreased in Marysville the past few years. And even when cars are stolen, a good percentage of them eventually are recovered.

According to Cmdr. Robb Lamoreux of the Marysville Police Department:

•In 2013, 354 were stolen and 218 recovered.

•In 2014, 314 were stolen and 244 recovered.

•In 2015, 297 were stolen and 157 recovered.

•So far this year, 195 were stolen and 132 recovered.