Car thief steals wheelchair accessible van from DeKalb County apartment complex

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - Ruth Batchelor was out walking with her daughter around their apartment complex Sunday afternoon when she made the startling discovery.

The family's wheelchair-accessible van was gone, missing from the parking lot of the Decatur Crossing Apartments on Grayson Place in DeKalb County.

Batchelor's 23-year-old daughter Jordyn has a traumatic brain injury and is minimally conscious following a wreck in 2016. She relies on the 2000 Ford Econoline to get around.

Batchelor told FOX she last saw the van parked in a handicap space at the complex Saturday evening.

"Everything that we do outside of this complex relies on the use of transportation, which for us has been the van," Batchelor said.

Batchelor now forced to make do without it, remains hopeful the stolen van will be recovered.

"We would love to have the vehicle back in one piece," she said. "Hoping it runs out of gas and they have to leave it where it is," she said.

Meanwhile, she's doing the best she can. Batchelor is rescheduling appointments when possible, renting a van when necessary. She is forced to put Jordyn's social activities on hold.

"Her quality of life relies on the use of the van to get out into the community. Without it, we can't go to places. She can't even go see her father without the use of the van. She needs it to go to the park, or to go to doctor's appointments or outpatient therapies," the mother said.

Anyone with information in the case can contact the DeKalb County Police Department. The family has started a GoFundMe to cover the cost of a new van and the necessary modifications.

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