LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — Josh Grover says 17 years of memories are now gone with the blink of an eye, after his 1967 Mustang he restored with grandfather was stolen.
“This car, this is a car I always wanted to get, “ Grover said. ”And since I was a kid, I've been looking to get a 1967 Mustang.”
At just 18-years-old, Grover made his dreams came true with his grandfather by his side, buying a bright yellow 1967 Mustang.
“In college I was staying with my grandpa, so this was in Tallhasse, Florida. He is an antique car collector through and through," Grover said. "And I wanted to learn the skill of restoring [and] working on an old car. And grandpa and I, we spent bout five months looking for a 1967 mustang and we found one, and it cost me about $2,000 in 2005 to buy this car."
Grover, a major in the United States Air Force, recently moved to Fort Leavenworth in June from Las Vegas, Nevada.
Seventeen years after he bought the car, Grover said his dreams were crushed.
“Wow it took my breath way, it took my breath away just because I never imagined my car would get stolen,” he said.
The theft happened on North Seneca Street and North 6th Street in Leavenworth.
KSHB 41 News obtained the surveillance video from Grover, which he obtained from a nearby business.
“A white Malibu came down the street here and pulled in just right next to this parking lot. So my 1967 Mustang would be parked right here next to it,” Grover said. ”And it appears as though they stuck something over the window to unlock the door, got inside and then they spent the next 25 to 27 minutes hot wiring my car.”
Now with the car gone, Grover said his mind shifted to thinking about how he would tell his grandfather it was stolen.
“So calling him to tell him that car was gone, he told he’s got a big collection of cars and he’s like, do you want another Mustang?” Grover said. “And you can do it all over again, I wont be there to help you this time, but you can do it over again."
However, Grover said he wants nothing more than his old car back.
“You can buy a 1967 mustang in that condition somewhere else, but not that car," he said. "Not the one that I turned all those bolts, I swapped just about every part out you possibly could, it’s just disappointing to see it gone."
Down the road, Grover now hopes his prized possession full of precious memories will make it back to him.
“My grandpa is definitely much older than he was when I was living with him in college, so he’s 84," Grover said. “So if I were to find the car 20 years from now and it was rusted and gone to trash, I would still want that car, and I would restore it back again, because I want those memories back.”
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