Finding a car (not in the usual sense)

As I mentioned here a few days ago, my parents got caught in the flooding in NYC during Ida (car stalled on the highway ahead, they had nowhere to go as the water rose). The 2017 VW Alltrack is undoubtedly totaled, as the water was up to the door handles at one point. Anyway, the problem right now is that no one can seem to locate the car. The towing company with the contract for that highway doesn't have it in their yard (I haven't been there, just talked to them on the phone), and my parents' insurance company can't track it down. The police that got them out have the keys at the precinct, but the car is nowhere to be found. Anyone have any suggestions about who to reach out to next? The car's dead, but they would like to have access to it to retrieve personal belongings.

try googling the VIN and see if it shows up anywhere?

Considering how epically fudged up that entire series of days was, I'd bet that tow companies were all over the place, in and out of other company's territories and all sorts of mayhem. 

I'd ask the cops that have the keys for a list of the companies that were on call that day and just start calling all of 'em.

Can the insurance claim be changed from "wet car" to "stolen car"? 

The insurance outcome should be the same. 

Google search of the VIN turns up nothing. Will see about contacting the police - I think they have contact info from the patrol officer that assisted them. I would think shifting from a flood claim to a stolen/missing claim wouldn't be too hard, but I know nothing about the process.

I work for a large sheriff's office and we have a computer program that we use to track towed vehicles within our agency.  I imagine your local agency has something similar.

If that fails to generate any leads ask for a list of their wrecker services.  Our city uses approximately 10 different ones that are on a rotation.  Go down the list and call them with the vin.  Trust me they want to get paid their tow fee and storage.

If that fails the local agency can check with NCIC to see if the VIN has a towing hit.  We report all tows including repossessions to them.

Good luck!

My father told me he had contact with the NYPD officer who assisted them, and he's going to look into it, so I suspect he will check the available databases. Given the scope of the situation - hundreds of cars flooded just in the city - I suspect this may take some time.

I drove down the Major Deegan on Saturday and saw one flatbed and 20+ flood cars still scattered about, so even though it's gone, it's probably taking a while to get everything logged into the system. 

It was a clusterberkeley, there were a couple cars still out as of yesterday on a few roads.  Where were they stuck? I have a meeting later I'll see if I can get a better number to call. 

In reply to Wally (Forum Supporter) :

They were on the Henry Hudson Parkway northbound in Riverdale, just north of the bridge. Thanks.

Does the cop holding the keys also run a body shop on the side?

Update: My father heard from one of the NYPD officers he dealt with at the precinct. He personally called the owners of both towing companies that could have been involved, and the car is nowhere to be found. The VIN hasn't shown up in any databases or lists. Everyone is rather baffled.

So call the insurance company and tell them that they need to find it?

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Not a cop but I enjoy crazy auto body shop owner stories.  

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_Buttafuoco

Contact DMV? Eventually a towing company will will need to in order to junk it.

I forgot to get back to you Saturday. No one I called had a clue but said there are still cars scattered around on side streets so it may have been forgotten.  What color was it? I can look on my way home tomorrow, I go up that way.  

Worst case it is on a side street and will eventually be ticketed and tagged as abandoned but it will take forever to get that notice. 

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

Does the cop holding the keys also run a body shop on the side?

A good cop doesn't own a body shop,  he plays poker with 5-6 shop owners that are terrible gamblers.  

In reply to Wally (Forum Supporter) :

It's white over black, Golf Alltrack wagon, with the giant pano sunroof. I'm going to PM you with more specifics so you're not running around wasting your time. Thanks.

Hmm if I was of questionable reputation and ran a chop shop, I could probably take advantage of the chaos and have my pick of cars to part out for 100% profit. 
 

The car was actually stolen, they just used a tow truck and did it in plain sight. 

Update: I'm told the police just called my father and advised him the car has been located. No details yet. I'll post when I know more.

"Good afternoon, Sir.
I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that we've found your car..."

For anyone who craves closure on this one, I finally got the whole story. The cop who helped out my parents actually went to the car, cleaned it out and pulled the plates, and brought the stuff to their house on his own time. I happened to be there while he related the sequence of events. The car was apparently towed to a street near one of the authorized tow company yards, but not actually into the yard. No idea which company towed it, but the suspicion is that it was a non-authorized company. There it sat, day after day, until an NYPD cruiser with a plate reader went by and recorded it; the aforementioned cop found that hit, and tracked it down from there. I suspect this was hardly a unique situation, given the number of cars flooded that night, but the level of service provided by NYPD, and specifically the one officer in particular, was outstanding. Insurance has already made a pretty good offer, so hopefully this will be closed out soon.

In reply to 02Pilot :

I'm glad it worked out, and that the office took care of your parents.  

In reply to 02Pilot :

It's really nice to hear the effort that officer put forth.