It goes without saying that finding your car has been stolen is not a pleasant experience. But one Texas couple was not only reunited with their vehicle, but had it returned to them in better condition than the last time they saw it, after the thief apparently had some repairs done on it while it was away.

The family’s dad had to leave his 2004 Dodge Durango by the side of the road in Ohio after it broke down on his way to work in June, reports KHOU.com (warning, link has video that autoplays), because he couldn’t afford to buy a tow to move it elsewhere. While he was waiting, a thief got to it instead.

Cut to this past Sunday, when his wife was driving with another family member and spotted a silver Durango with familiar deer damage dents on the driver’s side leaving a gas station. The two called the police and followed the car for several miles, narrating their route to law enforcement along the way.

When she was finally reunited with the SUV with the police’s help, she found there had been a few unexpected changes, some more welcome than others: The thief had fixed the SUV’s drive shaft, installed three new wheels… and left a bunch of drugs in the center console.

“(The thief) did fix what was wrong with it and why it was left on the side of the road,” the woman said, with her husband adding that there were about 30 little baggies of drugs, which police confiscated.

“I was shocked,” she said. “Shock was all I could feel. You don’t expect to get something back that’s been gone for a month.”

Couple’s SUV stolen, repaired by thief [KHOU.com]

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