Olive Teague is an artist, entertainer, and RV enthusiast. She performs and teaches as a mermaid character, going by the professional name Olive the Alchemist. Recently, her camper, which is also her home, was stolen from a Seattle neighborhood and went missing for several months. Police finally recovered the vehicle after someone listed it for sale about 100 miles away. Officers arrested the man who put the stolen RV up.
It seems that squatters occupied the camper for months. The cabin was full of clothes and trash, and the interior was filthy. Olive claims she spent $5,000 getting the camper back into shape. However, one thing remains a terrible headache: starting the RV.
The thief (or thieves) hotwired the camper. In doing so, they heavily damaged the ignition lock cylinder and a major mechanical element melted inside the steering column. Neither Olive nor the police knew how to get the stolen RV running. Eventually, the attending officer suggested that he knew someone who could do it.
Much to Olive’s surprise, police brought back the man who listed the RV for sale. Dressed in his Aberdeen County Jail jumpsuit, the jailed man taught Olive’s friend how to finagle the rigged ignition using a screwdriver. “And he was, like, a really good teacher,” she recounts in a TikTok video.
Unfortunately, the ignition has proved difficult to repair or replace. A couple of weeks ago, Olive posted that she’s had a hard time finding a service center that can repair the damaged cylinder or replace the entire steering column.
Three days ago, she posted a new video showing how she gets her RV running with the screwdriver, so it looks like she’s still without a solution.
From my experience, she should be able to find a shop that can locate and install a used steering column. A key that matches the used assembly should come with it. It doesn’t take a lift to replace these, so I’m unsure why the size of the camper would be an issue at a shop that handles large vans or trucks. Then, she’d have a key to the ignition and another for the doors. Of course, depending on the year and rarity of the stolen RV, finding a used column could be a challenge.
