New Brunswick family optimistic for answers eight months after RV was stolen

It’s been nearly eight months since Angelina Flynn’s motorhome was stolen from her low traffic, quiet, rural backyard in Cornhill, N.B.

“I have to look at my kids faces every time we scroll through my pictures and look at the pictures of the dream that we had that we didn’t even get to go for one drive in, you know, and that’s I think what hurts the most,” said Flynn.

The family of six, including four young daughters, had the white and blue Gulfstream RV for just five days after purchasing it and bringing it home.

Flynn says the plan was to travel New Brunswick and the surrounding provinces and see some of the beautiful sites the Maritimes has to offer as a family.

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“We brought it into the province and did some mechanical work on it, my children cleaned it from top to bottom, dumped a whole bunch of love into it and then somebody took it from us. It was a dream that we all had and someone took it away,” she said.

Sitting just steps from their side door, the motorhome was stolen on May 27, 2024 while the family and their two dogs were sleeping inside.

Flynn says she woke up Monday morning and started getting everyone ready for the day ahead when she looked out her kitchen window and noticed their new vehicle was gone.

“Never would I think that somebody would steal a 33-foot motorhome while I was sleeping from my yard. I feel extremely violated. We didn’t leave our property all summer. We stayed here because we don’t want someone to rid us of all of our the hard work that we’ve put into our lives,” she said.

Angelina Flynn, whose motorhome was stolen eight months ago, is pictured. (CTV Atlantic/Alana Pickrell)

Flynn says Sunday night, they were playing cards in the RV where they accidently left the keys on the table in a rush to get everyone in, ready for bed in preparation for school and work the next day.

She doesn’t know if the thieves were able to find the keys and take the motorhome that way or if they used a different way to start it and drive it off their property.

“It’s something that I won’t be able to replace,” she said.

Since the motorhome was so new and they weren’t sure how much work needed to be done in order to make it road trip ready, they hadn’t put insurance on the vehicle yet.

While it was always their plan to insure the RV, it was taken before they had the opportunity to, leaving the theft to hit the family extra hard.

According to the New Brunswick RCMP Occurrence Map, over 1,800 vehicle thefts took place in the province in 2024.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada says it’s a problem that’s been on the rise for years now.

“If we look at the first half of 2024 compared to the first half of 2023, we’ve seen about a 13 per cent increase in the region, but that only tells a bit of the story,” said Graham Little, the IBC government relations Atlantic region director.

“If we look at the decade leading up to that, thefts, auto thefts would be up about 116 per cent in Atlantic Canada.”

He says it’s not only a crisis in Ontario and Quebec, but in Atlantic Canada as well where it’s clearly growing in the region.

“Everyone pays for vehicle theft, unfortunately, so what sometimes might be viewed as a bit of a victimless crime if you have an insurance policy, certainly isn’t and Canadians are paying that price and Atlantic Canadians are included in that,” said Little.

“I think in 2023, auto thefts cost Canadians about $1.5 billion and in 2024, I suspect it'll be that or higher.”

Little adds while the IBC puts out a list of the top 10 stolen vehicles, recreational vehicles of all types are at risk of theft.

“Vehicles are stolen for a variety of different reasons. Sometimes they’re stolen to commit other crimes, sometimes they’re stolen for the contents and maybe the vehicle can be recovered later and it’s in decent shape. Sometimes it’s stolen for export which generally funds a larger organized crime syndicate, but certainly motorhomes, vehicles, recreational vehicles of all types are certainly at risk of theft,” he said.

In terms of what people can do to help prevent vehicle theft, Little says utilizing a garage, anti-theft system, parking in brightly lit places and keeping everything locked up can be helpful.

“Everybody has a part to play, but I think having a co-ordinated effort across the country is certainly paramount to combating auto theft,” he said.

Flynn says they’ve been working with the RCMP since it happened and are currently offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to its recovery.

“You know, some people say that it’s gone but I’m an optimistic person and I will not give up. This is something that I really want to have back or have closure to,” she said.

Right now, she’s especially asking people who are out in the woods to keep an eye out since the trees are bare of their greenery and it would be easier to spot a motorhome tucked into the bush.

She says despite the heartache that this situation has brought her and her family, it has shown a huge show of community support over the last eight months with people sharing her social media posts, looking for the RV, and even RV companies reaching out to see if they’d be interested in a family trip.

At this point, she is just hopeful for some closure.

For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.