UPDATE: The truck has been located, and Cole Welker was set to be reunited Wednesday.
Below is the story as it was published Tuesday.
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A grief-stricken family is making a plea to the public. First, they lost a loved one. Now, thieves have taken the truck he left for his teenage son.
Of all the moving parts that make the truck go, the most important to Cole Welker isn't even under the hood. The part he treasures most is the passenger seat.
“I grew up riding in that truck,” said Cole.
He grew up riding in the seat next to his dad. First, he rode as the passenger, then as the driver.
“I just remember him teaching me how to drive it, just in the passenger seat with me all the time,” he said.
They would take the truck fishing, hunting, and camping. But on March 22, those trips would tragically come to an end when Steve Welker died of a massive heart attack. He was 42 years old. There was only one word for that day, according to Cole.
“Devastating.”
So, to grieve, Cole would go back to the place where his dad taught him so much: his truck.
“That's where I'd go to cry and just think about him,” he said.
He did that every day until he had to take the truck into the shop. It was getting repaired at Ziegler Automotive in Imperial over the weekend when thieves took it.
“I almost fell to the floor crying. My heart's broken,” said Cole.
So, he's asking for help in finding the truck that belonged to his dad for as long he can remember. His family, Ziegler Automotive, and CARSTAR are teaming up to offer a $3,500 reward to get it back. Cole says the truck is worth "more than money." Because, while there is value to all the moving parts, he just can't seem to put a price on the passenger seat.
Anyone with information in the case should call the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department.
