Monroe, Washington motorist Ansel Carroll had his 1988 Honda Civic stolen in August, but through no fault of his own he may end up losing both his car and more than $1000 to a towing company. When Carroll had reported his car stolen, he left police numbers where he could be reached. Police found the car within a week, but they never called.

Monroe Police outsource stolen car notifications to a company called SnoPac, which only called an out-of-date number for Carroll, ignoring the valid numbers that had been provided. Sky Valley Towing held the car for weeks before sending a notification letter, allowing the "storage fees" to mount. They now have now run up to $1500, far exceeding the expected return when the car is auctioned on Saturday.

"What kind of system is this?" Carroll asked KOMO-TV News. "I'm the one that got the car stolen, not the towing company, which is getting all the money."