PORT ANGELES — Devan Miller thought he would never see his Volkswagen Vanagon again.
Five weeks after it was stolen from his driveway on Liljedahl Road on Nov. 24, Miller stumbled across what was left of the van while bird-watching with his friend west of Port Angeles on Jan. 2.
“I was totally surprised,” Miller said.
The van was so damaged that Miller said he almost didn’t recognize it.
Its entire top and side panels had been cut off, and the dashboard was completely ripped apart.
“A bizarre, hideous and illogical attempt at some kind of rebuilding of the carriage had been attempted, wood randomly nailed on, and the roof over the cab haphazardly built back on after being needlessly cut off,” Miller described in his own account on Facebook.
“It was just weird. It gave me the creeps, so I took off.”
Miller went back to his friends’ vehicle and phoned the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy investigated the van and took fingerprints, but no arrests have been made.
“I don’t have my hopes up about these guys getting caught,” Miller said in a telephone interview.
Birding with friend
Miller was birding with his friend, Bob Norton, during the Port Angeles Christmas Bird Count, which helps the Audubon Society track bird migrations.
They had observed and documented birds in several locations on the lower Elwha River.
Norton, a long-time bird-watcher, and Miller, 38, saw bald eagles, kingfishers, woodpeckers, red-tailed hawks, dippers and waterfowl near the mouth of the river and under the Elwha River bridge.
Later in the day, they moved to Lower Dam Road to find more birds.
While Norton counted birds that had assembled near feeders, Miller ventured into the forest, where he heard a winter wren chirping.
Miller walked deeper into the woods and came to a clearing under some power lines.
Couldn’t believe it
He said he couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the dilapidated van pushed into a grove of bushes.
“I was a little disturbed just by how terrible the appearance was,” Miller said.
Asked if he was angry, Miller said: “I don’t get upset easily.”
“In part, I was relieved that I found it,” he added.
Miller’s first instinct was to have the van towed to a wrecking yard, but his father persuaded him to think about it for a day.
Miller and his father yanked the van out of the bushes with a truck and tow rope. They hot-wired and jump-started the Volkswagen, which ran perfectly.
Memorable drive
Miller’s last time driving the van would be his most memorable.
His destination was Happy Motors, on Old Mill Road south of Port Angeles which he described on Facebook as “the place where mossy old VW bugs and buses go for reincarnation.”
“This last drive, the eight miles to Happy Motors, were the coldest miles I’ve ever driven, in the worst looking vehicle you can imagine,” Miller wrote.
“I just hoped that if I got pulled over, the police might forgive me for the lack of seat belts and license plates out of pity, since my VIN and license numbers have been Post-It-noted to their patrol cars’ dashboards all month.”
Students stared, laughed and even cheered as the van made its way to Happy Motors, where Miller’s friends work.
Since the engine and transmission were intact, Happy Motors is giving Miller a yet-to-be-determined credit for buying another Volkswagen.
Miller said he left his keys in the van on the cold night it was stolen.
He said the lessons of his story are “tune into nature” and lock your doors.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
