On the 24th I came home to a message on my machine from Investigator XX XX, with the Sacramento Fraud division, trying to contact either me or my son. I got the impression he was with either the Sacramento PD or SO, though I didn't ask. Niether did I call the general info number for either organization to find out if he was part of them.

Anyway...When I spoke to him it turned out it was concerning a friend of my son. I haven't seen this person since shortly after she was medically discharged from Air Force basic training and came to retrieve her vehicle from my house where she left it while in basic. My son last saw her about a month after that. That was a few months ago. The investigator told me the vehicle was reported stolen, by whom he did not say, and that she ( my son's friend ) had apparently stopped making payments on the vehicle. So I'm assuming it was the finance company that reported it stolen. I got a Xmas card from her and the return address was in Florida.

My question is: If she did stop making payments but kept the vehicle does that constitute auto theft? And does it make it worse that she has taken the vehicle to another part of the country? What kind of trouble has she got herself into?

from someone that doesnt know anything (me) ---i suspect that the bank sent out a repo team and within a certain amount of time they werent able to locate it so the bank reports it as stolen, which it techniqually is.

or the bank found out she is in FL with the car and reported it stolen.


if she gets pulled over in FL shes prolly gonna get arrested, if she calls the bank and cuts a deal they might drop the auto theft report.

The "Sacramento Fraud Division" is not enough of a title to be dispersing information to.  I encounter private investigators, and repo men who use similar such titles, but upon further investigation, find they are just civilians.
If you have the opportunity to speak with them ask them what 'Law Enforcement' agency they work for, and their full name.  If they give you a phone number, don't trust it and call the agency directory to try to reach them.
If they are not law enforcement, then I would not share any information with them.
I would be surprised if Sacramento PD would take a auto-theft report if she merely stopped making payments.  Sac. PD is very busy, and they usually mail you report forms to fill out for non-violent crimes.
My son has had the same car stolen twice from downtown "J" St.  It took him 2 days for a Sac. PD officer to take the report.  They did absolutely no follow-up and we found his car on our own about 6 blocks away.  The second time was the same story, only it was 2 blocks away.  They did not even attempt to gather any evidence when it was recovered.
In California, if you finance a car, it is a civil agreement.  Therefore if the buyer stops making payments, it is not a criminal issue.  However she could have reported it stolen so she could get out of the civil agreement.  That would be insurance fraud if it was not truly stolen.
The laws differ for rental vehicles but it doesn't sound like that's what it is.
I find it very unlikely that a Sac PD Fraud Investigator is involved in this girl's stolen car unless there was more to it (Like Jimmy Hoffa in the trunk).
Pathfinders Light the Way!

Wardog says...its a civil thing, I constantly get calls from a local used car dealership on vehicles that have delinquent payments...not my problem... also I always identify myself with title and agency...sounds like this guy is trying to pass himself off as a cop...

also Semper Primus!!! Always First, Patherfinder Motto....I had the "Y" Yankee ASI when I was in so long ago!!!