They stole it in Yellowknife. Police caught up with it in Enterprise.

Eva Paul and Chris Gillander aren’t sure, but they think the key may have fallen to the ground while items were being unloaded from the car.

Later, when they looked, the Dodge Hornet simply wasn’t on the driveway any more.

“It was a pretty scary experience to have your vehicle wander off without you,” said Paul on Wednesday after RCMP confirmed officers had found it. The car was taken on Monday and recovered the next day.

It isn’t the first vehicle to go missing in Yellowknife but, generally, cars taken in the territorial capital – which is connected to the rest of Canada by a 350-km single-lane highway – end up somewhere nearby.

This one was found 450 km down Highway 3 and Highway 1 in Enterprise, where police apprehended two people inside.

The two have been released on conditions while the investigation continues, police said.

“My assumption was that someone had taken it for a joyride,” said Gillander.

“About 10 years ago, my dad had his truck stolen in a similar manner. He left the keys in it and someone took it for a joyride. I think it ended up being parked behind Sir John Franklin High School.

“So I assumed they’d just take it down the back alley, take whatever they could out of it, and then leave it there. I didn’t realize it would actually go south like that.”

Tracking app

Police were able to find the car in large part because Paul has an app that tracks its location.

For much of the car’s illicit journey, that app was useless because the NWT’s highways are mostly outside cell service, meaning the app had no information about the car’s whereabouts.

But cell service returns in the vicinity of Enterprise, and Paul was able to quickly tip off police.

“Fortunately, the owner of the vehicle was able to use tracking technology to discover that the vehicle had subsequently left the city,” police stated.

“With assistance from the owner, officers from the Hay River detachment were able to locate the vehicle in the hamlet of Enterprise, where it then fled from police. A short time later, the vehicle was located abandoned elsewhere in the community.

“Officers recovered a replica firearm from inside the vehicle. Two suspects were subsequently located and arrested in the area.”

Paul said the RCMP response had been “really quick, and I really appreciated working with them.”

She’s also grateful she noticed the car’s absence when she did, rather than giving the thieves an overnight head start.

“Had I not noticed when I did, there was a good chance they might have been out of territory. If they had left in the middle of the night, it could have been out of territory before we woke up in the morning,” she said.

Getting the car home

Gillander and Paul aren’t sure of the car’s condition.

On the basis that the thieves may have been trying to sell the car in the south, Gillander hopes that means it was kept undamaged. Paul said the initial report she’d been given suggested there was no obvious visible damage.

However, she has also learned that RCMP “have no obligation to return your vehicle” in a situation like this.

“If I’m pressing charges, which I hope to do, they have to tow the vehicle to Hay River to be fingerprinted,” she said she was told.

“It is now my responsibility, when they’re done with that, to reclaim my vehicle. It would be up to me to get it back from Hay River, so I will be making arrangements once I know if they got the key fob back.”

Paul also isn’t sure if drugs were involved, and so is planning to have the vehicle professionally cleaned in Hay River before anyone tries to bring it home.

“Keep track of your keys. Check your doors at night,” she urged others, having heard from nearby residents that other vehicles were rummaged through that same day.

“Minimize the opportunities for people who are looking to take your possessions.”