ALLEN PARK, Mich. (WXYZ) — A local business owner said her family is taking a major revenue hit after thieves swiped her trailer packed with custom embroidered apparel and tees.
“I do a lot of embroidery sweatshirts. I do printed tees. I still do some tumblers. They’re kind of phasing out," Trudy Miller told 7 News Detroit.
Miller, who owns Creations by Trudy, said her trailer was loaded full of those personalized handmade items on Friday when she headed to a vendor show. The business brings in extra income.
“It’s really nice to be able to sell something that I made that I created and have somebody compliment it or be excited for it or gift it to somebody else. That’s why I genuinely love what I do," she explained.
“It’s so much fun for our family. He pays the bills. I do all the extras. I do the groceries, any extras. The school clothes," Miller said.
She said she was projected to make $3,000, on Sunday. However, come Sunday morning, someone disrupted that stream of revenue for the family of five.
Miller said her trailer was parked around the corner from her home, but when she came outside it was gone.
“I was so sick. Sick to my stomach," she recalled.
Miller filed a police report with Allen Park police and said she also contacted nearby Melvindale police.
“My trailer was shown on the FLOCK camera at 1:23 a.m. right at Allen and Outer Drive with a partial license plate of the car that took it," she explained.
The mother of three said police managed to track her trailer and the vehicle hauling it to a home in Detroit.
The bad news is it was empty, other than some hangers and a couple of business cards.
She said she paid $250 to retrieve it from the impound lot.
Miller said she had $16,000 worth of merchandise inside and that "the trailer itself was $6,500."
“I'm really hoping with all these shares and views on Facebook that somebody will be like, I found a stack of your shirts hanging behind a store over there or something, but I haven't received any information yet," she explained.
Despite the vehicle being recovered at a home in Detroit, she said she was told no arrests have been made since there's no proof of who stole it.
To the culprit, she said, "I'm really disheartened. I really am. I really hope you never do this to anybody else. I really hope you had some lick of a sense where I could still get it. But, I highly doubt it."
