When Victor Ruiz noticed on March 14, 2006, that his 2003 Chevy Tahoe was missing from outside his workplace on Madrona Avenue SE, his first instinct was to call his house. The South Salem resident thought a family member might have picked it up without telling him, as had happened before.

Ruiz told his supervisor at Norpac Foods that his vehicle had been stolen, then reported it to police. His work shift had just ended, so he got a ride with a co-worker to his home on Wild Cherry Court SE. There, he told police his SUV had been taken between 7:30 and 11 p.m. There was no evidence, Ruiz said, and no witnesses.

Ruiz had to rent a car because, as he saw it, no car meant no transportation to work. And not showing up to work wasn't an option because he could lose his job. His car insurance ended up covering part of the rental costs, but Ruiz still had to pay about $10 per day.

His son's car, a 1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse, had been stolen from his house not long before, and when police found it in northeast Salem -- the same night it went missing -- the car was ablaze. The wheels and tires also had been removed.

It was a different story with Ruiz' Chevy. Linn County Sheriff's Office recovered it in Mill City a week after it was stolen, and it wasn't damaged. The vehicle had been parked at the residence of Randolph Krieger, who had the car keys. Krieger was arrested.

Ruiz traded in his vehicle for a Nissan Armada, which he thought would be more secure. If taken, police could trace it through sensors installed inside.

Christopher Sullivan and his fiancee, Amanda Davidson, had their two young daughters and more than $200 worth of groceries with them when they realized that their 1994 Honda Accord had been stolen.

They had been shopping at WinCo Foods on Lancaster Road in southeast Salem for about 45 minutes on Sept. 4 when their car was snagged from the parking lot.

The Silverton couple called police, who arrived more than an hour later. Meanwhile, Sullivan and Davidson scrambled to find a family member who had car seats and could give them a ride home.

From there, the challenges continued. Sullivan needed a car to commute an hour to work in Albany every day, but the insurance company wouldn't pay for -- or write off -- the car until it had been missing for 30 days.

Sullivan also learned that his make of Honda was among the cars most stolen in Salem, so he didn't think the odds were good that he'd get it back.

If he did, he figured the car likely would be stripped. And his only other car, a 1990 Acura Integra, was not reliable; it would shut off for no reason.

Even after Sullivan's car was recovered -- it was found nine days later in Troutdale -- and an arrest was made, the troubles weren't over. Sullivan had to get a letter from his bank to prove that he owned the car and then pay $150, money he had to borrow from family, to get his car back from a tow yard.

The Honda was in bad shape, Sullivan said. The stereo system, speakers and car seats -- which cost about $2,000 to replace -- were missing, the engine was shot, the rims were beat up, the tires were bald and the floorboards and carpet were torn up. Hidden throughout the car were meth, razor blades and a cutting block, all of which the Silverton police eventually collected as evidence.

In the end, the insurance company designated the vehicle as totaled, and Sullivan received enough money to pay it off and cover a down payment for another car, a 2002 Honda Accord. Looking back, the whole incident was a headache for everyone involved, Sullivan said.

Knudsen said he never expected to have a car stolen, but he always figured that if it ever did happen, it more likely would occur in Portland than West Salem.

"I was visiting my son and ex-wife," recalled Knudsen, 45, of Portland. "We were having dinner, and I came out two hours later and my car was gone; it was parked not 45 or 50 feet from her (unit)."

"I was so bummed. I had that thing for seven years, and it was kind of like a buddy to me," said Knudsen, an avid outdoorsman who owns and operates a sporting goods store in southeast Portland. "I'd gone into the woods and on some great trips with that thing. It's one thing if it breaks down ... but to have it stolen and beaten up by punks, it was just disheartening."

Knudsen and police think his car was taken by joy-riders who used a general key that works like a master key on that make of car. The Pathfinder was found in Salem a couple of weeks later when a Salem resident returned from a vacation and discovered a strange vehicle parked in front of his home. It ran, but it was totaled.

"They smashed the left front fender, but more than anything else, the damage came from when they sprayed a fire extinguisher all over the interior," Knudsen said. "They do that for fingerprints: it makes it impossible to lift prints after that."

One fortunate sidebar was the recovery of about $2,000 worth of fishing gear belonging to Knudsen and his son that was in a storage box on top of the vehicle.

"We thought we were going to lose that gear," he said. "The key to the box was in the car, but the morons never thought to open it up -- not exactly the brightest individuals."

Knudsen bought a newer Pathfinder (2001) which he said is a lot less likely to be stolen than the older vehicles because of theft-prevention modifications made since the mid-1990s. Nevertheless, he also installed an expensive alarm system.

This is cache, read story here