Joelena Piket is looking forward to getting back to work now that her stolen excavator has been found.
Unfortunately, the $40,000 piece of equipment is in need of $15,000 in repairs before it can used, since the roof has been removed and the gears are stripped.
The excavator went missing from the Comox Valley on March 9. Nanaimo RCMP found it May 5 on a rural property south of Nanaimo.
Piket, owner-operator of Rise and Shine Landscaping based in Black Creek, told police she was at the end of her rope over the theft and was contemplating selling her house to keep her business going.
“I was that desperate,’” she said.
Piket said she had reported the missing excavator to the Comox Valley RCMP and posted on numerous social-media sites. After several tips form the postings led nowhere, she received a tip that the excavator was in Nanaimo and contacted the Nanaimo RCMP.
“Our officers knew how much the excavator meant to the survival of her business,” said Nanaimo RCMP Const. Gary O’Brien. “They turned over a lot of stones looking for it and eventually their hard work paid off.
“Needless to say, it was great work on the part of our Street Crimes Unit.”
Piket’s friends have set up a GoFundMe page for her because she has been unable to work for almost two months.
