DINWIDDIE COUNTY, Va. (WTVR) -- Thieves stealing broken down or junk cars for scrap metal is a growing problem.
In fact, one Dinwiddie County woman was angered and frightened when she returned home and found her old Lincoln Town Car had been stolen.
Jamie Van Cleef, who owns a service station about five miles away, recognized the car.
"I've seen that car sitting in the lady's yard for 15 years, sitting in the same spot, doesn't move," said Van Cleef.
Van Cleef spotted the car on a trailer Monday afternoon and assumed the woman had finally sold the 1985 classic.
But Tena Hudson said she was in a panic when she returned home and saw her car was gone Monday afternoon.
"God knows what would have happened if I pulled in here when they were getting it," said Hudson from her mother's home next door.
Hudson said for more than a decade, people have stopped by and offered to buy the car. But she has turned down all those offers.
"I just can't explain it, just knowing somebody came in my yard, on my property and took what belonged to me, I just couldn't even talk for a while," Hudson said.
Dinwiddie County sheriff's investigators said his type of crime has been happening across the state in recent years. A Prince George County grand jury indicted two men on similar crimes just last week.
The car could fetch about $250 at a scrap metal yard or about $50 to $100 more if the thieves were willing to cut it up and sell the pieces.
If the thieves are caught, they could face felony convictions.
