An Oklahoma mom’s car was stolen twice this week, but the vehicle brand makes it hardly a shock
This week in Midwest City, Oklahoma, thieves keep taking a local mom’s car. Despite locking and parking it inside a gated residential complex, her vehicle was stolen not once but twice within 48 hours. What’s more, there’s only a single key, which she still has.
“The Tuesday after Labor Day, I woke up in the morning to take my son to school and my vehicle is gone,” Jessica Gray told KFOR/Oklahoma’s News Channel 4.
That same day, about 12 hours later, they found the car abandoned at a local park.
“So, after that, good to go, I brought my vehicle back home,” Gray told the outlet. “Then one night, it was fine. The next night my car was gone again.”
While anyone could reasonably feel shocked at the turn of events, the make of the vehicle might not actually surprise many of us: it’s a Kia.
In recent years, authorities reported a “tenfold” number of Hyundai and Kia car thefts.
This all happened after viral social media posts revealed that certain brands are quite simple to steal.
Essentially, thieves can break into older Kia and Hyundai models that have a traditional turn-key ignition (not a push-start) and easily rig them to start if they lack the more advanced security features (like electronic immobilizers) that newer models have today.
Last month, CNN shared that “whole vehicle theft,” wherein someone yoinks the entire car, rose about 1000% for the two brands between 2020 and 2023.
While the automakers released software updates early last year to quell the thefts, crime remains active across the country. This is in large part due to not all owners eligible for the software update going and getting it. By the end of 2023, only about 30% of eligible vehicles received the update.
After thieves took Gray’s car a second time, as of this writing, local police still hadn’t located it yet.
“I rely on my transportation to get my son to school, to pick him up every morning,” Gray said. “So, it really has put a big damper because if I don’t recover my vehicle this time, it’s going to be a little bit before I can get another vehicle.”
Obviously, folks with eligible Hyundai and Kia vehicles should get the available security update. Otherwise, authorities strongly recommended installing a steering wheel lock or other more manual theft deterrent.
