Couple returns to Albuquerque, thieves steal U-Haul full of their belongings

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Nothing says welcome back to Albuquerque like getting all of your belongings stolen from your hotel.

Michael Kelly and Rhonda Schuler had plans to start over in Albuquerque. They had been taking care of a sick family member in Yuma, Arizona, for the past five months, and were excited to get back to the Duke City.

"Oh, we love this city, yeah, we were so excited to be back,” said Michael Kelly.

But unfortunately, thieves had other plans. The couple was staying at the Residence Inn off I-25 as they started their search for a home this week, but on the second morning there, they found their U-Haul gone from the hotel parking lot.

"I’m bewildered by it. Just bewildered,” said Kelly. "They don’t understand what they do when they victimize people like that. Or if they do that makes them even worse."

Kelly says the hotel relies on security that patrols the area, but they couldn’t get a hold of the guard who was on duty at the time.

"We were just blown away,” said Kelly. “I mean everything we own was in that trailer."

Police showed up hours later to take fingerprints, but didn’t make any promises about recovering the trailer or anything inside of it. Kelly says it had a West Virginia license plate, and a Taos, New Mexico picture on the side of it.

The couple also started a GoFundMe page to try to replace a few things.