ALBUQUERQUE, NM (CNN) - A young family of three lost their only vehicle when someone stole it and ran it into a sinkhole.
But now the the family is feeling bad for the thief, even though they're in a bit of a financial hole themselves.
Police had to use a back hoe to dig the car out of the sinkhole and after investigating, they revealed what was inside it.
“It contained drug paraphernalia and a few other items that were inside it,” Lt. J. Holt of the Rio Rancho Police said. It looks like somebody was living in the vehicle, he said.
Tanner Myer and Kylie Pollan own the car. They say they feel bad for the woman who allegedly stole it.
“I hope for her to have an opportunity to sober up and get clean,” Tanner Myer said.
Kylie Pollan said, “I hear she was living in it, so I mean, she obviously needed it a little more than us.”
That doesn’t mean the Albuquerque couple don’t need a car. It’s the only one they owned.
“We work really hard for what we had,” Kylie Pollan said. “This was our first big purchase for us, and it is a part of us. It helps us get to work, get food, take [our daughter] to the doctor. We had that car for a reason.”
They are focusing on what’s left and how to get out of the financial hole this has left them in. They say their insurance is good but won’t cover it all.
“The only thing bad is we have to purchase a new car, put a down payment," Kylie Pollan said. "But we didn’t think this was going to happen so we didn’t have a saving for this."
The car was taken in the middle of the night. The couple said they are just happy nobody got hurt.
Police say the unidentified woman who took off from the crash scene is still on the run. They also say she had a dog with her.
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