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View Full Version : Another Travis Victim



talwell
09-03-2013, 07:42 PM
I am also a victim of Travis. He stole a 1969 Camaro from me. Not only did he steal it from me by not paying for it - but he also sold it to another forum member for $11K. As well, all my parts that were on the car (subframe, suspension, wheels, rear, etc) have gone missing and he does not respond to any communication. Another forum member has told me that he was arrested as part of an investigation into selling stolen engines. I do not have any personal knowledge of this but this is what was told to me.

Has anyone else begun legal action against him? Can anyone confirm if he has truly been arrested?

talwell
09-05-2013, 06:52 PM
I have been following up with a lot of people in regards to this situation. All I can say is that I am shocked at the scope of this and the massive number of people that have been affected by this.

Unfortunately to those of you that do not already know, I am going to be the bearer of bad news. At the very least it will give all of us closure and help us move beyond this situation.

I have received very credible information in regards to Travis and for all of us it is not good. The information that I was given was that Travis was part of a network of auto thieves who were stealing cars and supplying Travis engines out of the Detroit area. The actual thieves were caught and they told the police of the role that Travis played in it. He was driving to Detroit and bringing the motors back to his shop and selling them. From what I was told, he was arrested in early May and that there is an active investigation in place now to determine where all the engines went that he sold. They did confiscate engines that he had in his possession at the time of his arrest. Another person has confirmed to me that the sheriffs department does have engines in their possession that were seized.

It is very unfortunate but to all of you that Travis either owes money, parts, engines, etc to I would not expect to ever receive it. I would begin to make alternative plans as there is nothing there for any of you to get. As well, I have been told that the police are working to track down all the engines that he did sell and deliver so if you have received an engine from Travis there is a chance that you may be contacted and asked to return the item to them for evidence.

If anyone has any questions please feel to send me a PM and I will give you the information that I have. Also, I am obtaining the contact information for the police handling the investigation should you decide you want to let them know that you were also ripped off by him.

69LSX
09-10-2013, 02:59 AM
E-mail sent.

Tango68SS
09-11-2013, 12:53 PM
WOW! This situation has me very perplexed, nervous, and worried (just like the rest of you)... so, like any good "detective" would, I wanted to check my engine/ tranny combo that I bought from Travis... Since I could not find the VIN number on the block (engine installed, car is on-the-road), I did the next best thing.. plug-in the OBDII... The computer gave me the "VIN number" of the engine from it's internal memory... I ran that number against the National Insurance Crime Bureau database to see if the "car" the computer and engine came out of were indeed stolen... Luck would have it, they were not... in fact the system told me that the vehicle was an insurance "totalled" vehicle and was destroyed (code for busted up for parts)...

Now I know what you are thinking... "Maybe the computer is out of something different from the engine?" Well, the VIN was from the vehicle that Travis said it was from ('07 TBSS)... it stands to reason that it was an insurance "wreck". I am good...

It needs to be stated that my dealings with Travis were back in Fall of 2011, when this was still a "hobby" of his. I feel for those of you that are in the current situation with him. I hope that he has NOT turned to nefarious dealings (i.e. "Frank") and is just "recovering" from some hard times...

Bottom line: If you are worried that your engine/tranny combo might be tied to a theft ring, please get the VIN from your block or PCM and run it through the NICB
https://www.nicb.org/theft_and_fraud_awareness/vincheck

I hope this info will help those of you that have "pull -out" engines (whether from Travis or anyone else). I know it has put my mind at ease,

TC

talwell
09-12-2013, 06:52 AM
I have spoken with the Indiana State Police regarding this matter and they did confirm what I had posted previously and this is also confirmed by Jody @ Lateral-G.

They are not interested in talking to anyone that has lost money to Travis - they told me these are all civil matter which would need to be handled by the courts. I don't fully agree with this as the size and amount of money that Travis has stolen is without a doubt criminal and there is a mountain of federal charges he could be hit with should they have decided to assist in this matter.

If there is any good news for some of you - it is the fact that they may not apply the resources to try and track down the motors that have been sold. If you have purchased and received a motor from him I would not be very worried about the situation as they told me they don't know what level of resources they will use to recover the sold stolen property.

For anyone that was looking to pay Travis a personal visit - I have been told that he stated that he is selling his house and moving. Could be many reasons for that from property seizure to foreclosure or he could just be afraid of those of us that would like to come visit him. Regardless, noone that I am communicating with has been able to contact Travis or has seen him in the last 3 weeks.

They told me that the only property they seized was anything with a serial number or vin number that could be identified. This included cars, motors, transmissions for the most part. That would mean that alot of the parts that some of you are missing may not have been seized.