Even at 84-years-old, nothing slows down Robert Slusher.
Every morning and every afternoon the Odessa, Mo. grandfather stands in front of the school, working as the crossing guard.
"Everyone is used to seeing my little red Cavalier down there," he chuckled. "A lot of people I see don't really know for sure who I am except I'm the guy who does the crosswalk down there with the red car."
But Slusher is now without that red car. Last week a thief stole his vehicle while Slusher was inside cleaning City Hall.
"I didn't know what to think. I called [my wife] and said we better get someone to pick up the pizza because it's a long walk from here out to the Pizza Hut and my car is gone," he said.
Stuck without a car, his daughter-in-law took to social media to post about the stolen vehicle. Soon word spread.
"I wasn't even aware of the story until the phone call, that's the crazy part," said Jeremy Carr.
Last week Carr, who owns a small car lot, received a phone call from a friend asking if he had any inexpensive cars for Slusher as friends and family members were putting together a GoFundMe account to help buy him a new vehicle.
But Carr decided to give the man a car free of charge.
"All of the hard work. Him being a crossing guard, they took that away from him and now he can't get there and get around. That was the part that got me the most," he said. "Everyone should pitch in an make things a lot easier for everyone."
Slusher's red car was recovered last week. Thieves painted the outside black and his insurance company deemed it a "total loss."
Now, he has a car thanks to Carr. And a new friendship too.
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Ariel Rothfield can be reached at Ariel.Rothfield@KSHB.com.
