DC Woman's Missing Towed Car Found Several Weeks Later

Several weeks after a D.C. woman’s car disappeared after being towed, she got it back Tuesday and learned she wasn’t the only one whose car disappeared from that street that day.

Tiffany Mulvihill admits she didn’t see emergency parking signs when she parked on a street in Northwest Sept. 28. Neither did Chris Montgomery.

When they realized their cars were gone, they assumed they’d been towed by the city, so they called the number on the no parking sign.

“The police department, they had no record of it being towed or ticketed,” Montgomery said.

Last month, the city acknowledged they did ticket Mulvihill’s car and they did tow five other cars from that street that day, but a Department of Public Works spokesperson said they had no record of towing Mulvihill’s car.

She and Montgomery reported their cars stolen.

Police called them Saturday to say they’d found their cars along with others that had been reported stolen. They had all been impounded from the streets where they had parked, some as long as seven weeks ago.

When Mulvihill and Montgomery went to Collision Towing to pick up their cars Tuesday, they found the rear windows smashed.

The owner of Collision Towing refused to answer questions, but he told the car owners he did report the cars had been impounded to the city as he’s required to and the city made the mistake.

“In the end, no one is still taking responsibility,” Mulvihill said.

An official with the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs said they have launched an investigation into Collision Towing.

“Clearly, somebody messed up,” Montgomery said. “My car’s been missing, considered stolen.”

“I would say that the city has a real problem,” Mulvihill said.

Contact Us