Worker's van stolen from Ford Sterling Axle plant

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The parking at the Ford plant in Sterling Heights is supposed to be secure.

But someone stole a man's van while he was working inside. The family is then taken on a wild goose chase in Detroit to try and find it.

Here's how Sterling Heights police say the crime works. The criminals pull up to the employee parking lot of the plant with a driver and two passengers.  His passengers get out, the driver stays in his vehicle, while two others get out and steal vehicles straight from the lot. While at the same time, the employees are inside doing a hard day's work.

"He went out to go to lunch and couldn't find his truck," said Kelly Veilleux

At the Ford axle plant at Mound and 17 Mile, the employees park in lots like this which are monitored by security and cameras, but are not gated.

So the two victims thought at least the crime would be caught on tape - however when they went to security:

"The cameras that were actually facing his truck were panning, so there was no action seen by his truck at all," said Veilleux. "The next thing they see is the truck pulling out of the parking lot being followed by a two-tone pickup truck."

But the next night, an odd phone call at home.

"An anonymous call asking if he was missing his vehicle and was there a reward for it," Veilleux said. "There was no reward, the man did give an address."

An address in Detroit - and with that information she called police.

"Even though we had the address we had to wait until Monday to do anything, talk to the detective on the case," Veilleux said.

She called Detroit police as well, but couldn't get anyone to check. She and her husband even considered going down themselves - but not knowing who she was dealing with - she decided against it.

"Monday morning, my husband talked to the Sterling Heights detective, who drove out there," Veilleux said. "But it was not there."

Here's a look at the stolen van.

"There is one vehicle out there like this. if you think you see it. you see it," Veilleux said.

The van was loaded with $5,000 of tools for her husband's side job.

"His business tools, personal tools in there," Veilleux said. "Tons of supplies, equipment, it was a great loss."

Investigators say they are in the process of getting the video from the plant. So far no arrests have been made.