Chapter 3 - THE CAR THAT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN THERE
Gulf Atlantic froze every accident-related payment while ownership and possible fraud were investigated.
Samuel’s life-insurance policy still covered part of the mortgage, but the funeral home required payment before the final service. I used our savings and postponed repairs to the nursery.
The practical choices felt obscene.
Which medical bills could wait?
How many flowers did a six-year-old need?
Could I afford to take unpaid maternity leave after losing Samuel’s income?
My attorney, Dana Pierce, helped me provide the insurer with the bank transfer and Samuel’s emails. She also contacted the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
The investigator Samuel had planned to meet was named Paul Reddick.
He agreed to speak with us at his Tampa office.
Reddick had been reviewing Bay Point Motors after three customers complained that recently purchased vehicles developed electrical failures, mold, and corrosion. Each vehicle had been sold with a clean Florida title.
Auction records showed they had originally been declared total losses after flooding during Hurricane Ian.
The titles had passed through a small dealership in Alabama before returning to Florida without the salvage notation.
“Title washing,” Dana said.
Reddick nodded. “The paper trail makes damaged vehicles look clean. The problem is proving who knew what and when.”
Samuel had provided him with six VINs.
The SUV from the causeway was number four.
“Why wasn’t it seized before the crash?” I asked.
“We were scheduled to inspect the dealership Monday morning. Mr. Carter asked us not to contact his brother-in-law beforehand because he feared records would disappear.”
“Did he say the SUV was being driven?”
“He said it was in a locked rear storage area.”
It had been there Friday afternoon.
On Saturday morning, Marcus moved it.
Bay Point’s service manager, Caleb Dunn, confirmed that Samuel brought our family car in for a routine brake inspection that day. Marcus told Caleb to keep it overnight even though the work was complete.
Then Marcus gave Samuel the flood-damaged SUV as a loaner.
“Did Marcus know it was unsafe?” I asked.
Caleb rubbed both hands over his face.
“He knew the steering warning had come on twice. I told him the wiring harness was corroded and the vehicle shouldn’t leave the lot.”
“Why did you let Samuel take it?”
“I didn’t know until afterward. Marcus moved it himself.”
The crash report showed the SUV crossed two lanes before breaking through a guardrail. The event recorder captured an electronic steering-assist failure seven seconds before impact.
Rain did not cause the failure.
It exposed damaged wiring that should have been replaced.
Caleb agreed to provide his repair notes, but only after Dana arranged for his attorney to be present. He had signed the dealership’s clean inspection certificate even though he never completed the required examination.
He was afraid of losing his job.
So he signed.
My family’s business had survived because one frightened person after another agreed not to be the first to say no.
As we left, Reddick handed me a copy of the false accident claim.
The signature identifying Samuel as the SUV’s buyer belonged to Harold.
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The witness signature belonged to Evelyn.
The document was dated two days before the crash.
