Scaffolding, planks, cement mixer and livelihood, all stolen in theft of trailer in Rochester Hills

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (FOX 2) - It wasn't just work tools or supplies that was stolen from Merced Lira. He lost his livelihood as well.

Owner of Lira Brothers and a mason for new houses in metro Detroit, the construction worker had left his work trailer overnight at a Rochester Hills' home on Friday. When he returned, his trailer was gone.

"All our scaffolding, planks, braces, out riggers, cement mixer, all of our livelihood," Lira said. "When I got here, it was not here no more."

All of Lira's supplies was kept in a black 14-foot-long, high-side, open-top dump trailer. For a mason who relies on the supplies he's acquired over the years, and in the middle of a busy home building season, the theft has deprived him of being able to work.

"I was lost, I didn't know what to think," he said.

In his hunt to find what happened to his trailer, he scoped out neighbors who may have had surveillance. Upon discovering a homeowner who had a camera equipped to the house, he asked to take a look.

On the surveillance, he spied a black pickup truck driving off with the trailer hitched.

"I was amazed seeing my trailer drive down the road with somebody else," Lira said. "I was mind-blown. All my livelihood and somebody else taking it."

The supplies within counts for thousands of dollars.

While police have been contacted and an investigation is under way, with a few "good leads," he hopes if anyone knows something, they get in touch with law enforcement.