I think my roommate stole my car keys!

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>Sorry for any grammar confusion, I'm on my phone at orientation (staying overnight in dorms with a one-day roommate). Basically, I had my car keys at the very bottom of my bag and kept them with me ALL day today. Except for when I returned to the dorms and showered, that is. I checked my bag this very afternoon and my keys were still there, and I checked on a whim tonight fully expecting them to be there, only to find them ripped from the car ID tag (the yellow tag with the car's serial number and everything). This is the only time all day I have left my bag unattended.</p>

<p>At first I doubted my suspicions so I just asked her if she'd seen them and immediately her disposition went from sunny to really cold. She just replied with a really curt "umm, no" and turned to face the wall like she was going to sleep, even though it was only 10:30pm and she hadn't brushed her teeth (but was about to before I asked?) I was quiet for a few minutes and then changed the subject, and suddenly mentioned the car keys again. Same response, she dodged the question and this time she asked if I could turn the lights out because she was tired...</p>

<p>These are my only pair and I don't know what to do. I'm concerned about my debit card as well now because she could've easily taken a picture of it (in my wallet). I don't want to seem endlessly paranoid, but the tag my keys were attached to were laminated and ripped clean off. If the whole thing was gone then I might not have noticed, but having half of them there and the other not is plain odd. </p>

<p>What do I do? What do I say? I am almost positive she has something to do with their disappearance at this point but can't prove it. I'm checking this immediately in the morning...please help :( </p>

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<p>Where’s your car parked? You should alert a security guard now before it disappears. If you’re worried about your debit card, call the company tomorrow, explain the situation, and ask for a new one.</p>

<p>Catching your roommate would be satisfying, but right now it’s important that you don’t lose your car and/or your money.</p>

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<p>Hi, thanks so much for your reply! My car is actually at home, I just left my keys at the bottom of my bag like I usually do (a stupid idea). The serial number is still on the tag she ripped off so I’m hoping a replacement won’t be too expensive (unfortunately still upwards of $500…sigh). She’s been so cagey ever since I brought it up. :confused: She went from chatty to monosyllabic responses to <em>everything</em>. </p>

<p>I will be calling the bank tomorrow and asking them to cancel my card. </p>

<p>Is there a way for me to convince her to return it? Nicely or not so nicely? She super reluctantly agreed to help me look for them tomorrow, and I’ll tell her that I’m taking a morning shower tomorrow so that she has a chance to discreetly return them. I hope that’s enough. </p>

<p>Thanks so much for the advice!! </p>

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<p>File a police report. If whoever the guilty party is sees you talking to a police officer* about a theft, the stolen goods may be more likely to discreetly reappear.</p>

<p>*Be sure that it is the real police, since some colleges have non-police campus security departments that are sometimes confused with police by students.</p>

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<p>I leave tomorrow afternoon, and we have another campus tour early in the morning, so that gives me a very short window of time. But I’ll definitely do that–I’m thinking in the morning I’ll mention to her that I’m filing a stolen items report (I casually said I might have lost it when I first talked to her about this to make things less tense but I’ll have to be more straight with her about this now). </p>

<p>I’m just worried that with the short window of time she might not get any time to return it even if she did decide to…</p>

<p>Do you think I should confront her again tomorrow morning? Should I flat-out say, hey, I think you’ve seen my keys, where are they now? Or be a bit more subtle. I think I almost got her to crack tonight, because I called my uncle who works nearby to relay the message to my parents and I emphasized the weirdness of the situation. And when I hung up and looked in her direction she looked a little petrified. </p>

<p>I’m going to stay up because I can’t sleep like this anyways. So I’ll be online, if anyone wants to pitch in with some input. Gah…</p>

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<p>Police officers are supposed to be available all night; if you are staying up all night anyway, see if you can get a police officer to visit and take a police report on the theft.</p>

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<p>Does she know that the car isn’t there? So she can’t steal it and the keys are useless to her? I wouldn’t say that, but I would make sure it’s clear that the car is very far away in conversation.</p>

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<p>Good morning. I hope you got some sleep. </p>

<p>Call the police and file a theft report.</p>

<p>So only the car keys are missing? No cash? Not your house keys? Possibly your debit card.</p>

<p>So with the price of stated replacement being so high I assume you have an electronic key which is actually good.</p>

<p>Take the number , police report, car info ( the title if you have it) and go to a dealer that sells your model. They can get you a new key and reprogram it so the old key no longer works. Your insurance company might pay depending on your plan and deductible.</p>

<p>Sorry for you. What a pain.</p>

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<p>This is such a weird situation. Why would someone take keys to a car that isn’t even available? I can’t imagine her intent was to steal your car, as she surely knows she couldn’t get away with it. It makes no sense.
It’s very unlikely she’ll admit taking the keys even if she did it, at this point. So sorry. Is there any reason you can think of that she would be trying to make trouble for you? This seems like just a mean prank.</p>

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<p>You need to immediately talk to the residence life director in your dorm…IMMEDIATELY. And file a report with the campus police as well.</p>

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<p>I agree with Thumper. Immediately. No, there is no sure way of getting anyone to return what the person stole. You have no proof so you really have no firm grounds to accuse. I’m sorry this happened to you. But now you know what you have to deal. With. Yes, you need to replace an bank, credit cards, and you probably should get the lock changed on your car. You should make sure there is a big fuss about the report that your roommate sees. Right now you’ve essentially done nothing. When the college, the police and the big guns come on the scene, it makes it very clear what the ramifications and consequences of stealing from you could be. YOu haven’t done squat right now. </p>

<p>The reason the car keys should be replaced with a whole other key, is not because the likelihood is high that your roommate will go and steal your car, but if she knows someone who buys car keys and info like your home address, that is worth money. Your car gets stolen a month or so down the road, not by her but by some pro car thief and highly unlikely it would be traced to her, and she got a cut of the action. </p>

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<p>What I think is more likely is that it’s some kind of weird passive-aggressive thing. You took the bed she wanted or forgot to invite her to join you at lunch so she decided to punish you by making your car keys disappear.* I like the idea of giving her an out. Tell her you’re worried someone entered your room and stole your keys and that you’re going to report it to the police if you can’t find the keys after one last good search. Perhaps if she helps you search she can “find” the keys. If nothing turns up report the theft to the police. You may not get the keys back but at least you’ll have the theft on record.</p>

<p>*I had a whacked out roommate like this once. She’d steal small but necessary items (medication, school ID, etc.) from our roommate when she felt the roommate had been mean to her. The threat of police involvement scared her into stopping and the items mysteriously reappeared although she never admitted to the thefts.</p>

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<p>Good morning…I just woke up and she’s still (supposedly) asleep but I’m going to check my bags really fast just in case because I heard her get up several times last night, and not to use the bathroom. </p>

<p>I’m also floored as to why she’d take them. I said I was OOS so she should know that my car is also OOS and not in the parking lot. And is rendered useless for the time being. We’ve exchanged pleasantries but that’s pretty much it–orientation lasted almost all day yesterday and we were in different groups. I don’t think I’ve done anything to make her want to pull this, though. </p>

<p>So I should go to the RA and file a police report, right? What if they try to dismiss my claims (because at this point I’m positive it didn’t fall out of my bag. If it means anything, I was organizing my stuff because we were leaving tomorrow and pulled a TON of stuff out of my bag, making it easy to subtly poke around when I was in the shower.) </p>

<p>Just checked the bag. No keys still :frowning: This (state) school was just my first year school as I have a guaranteed transfer offer elsewhere for next year, but I had such a blast at orientation that I thought, huh, MAYBE I could consider sticking around. Haha, not anymore. Experiences like this make my inevitable move on much easier. </p>

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<p>And I believe your car manufacturer can reset the “code” for your car key. This will render other keys you got originally useless, but you might want to do that. </p>

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<p>While keys might accidentally fall out of your bag, they would not accidentally be torn off the tag thing.</p>

<p>Report it to the RA NOW and tell her/him that you want to report it to the security police at least. Be clear about when you saw the keys and when you left the bag alone, and don’t be apologetic by dithering about how they MIGHT have gotten lost when you know they didn’t. </p>

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<p>Time for her to “misplace” all her right shoes??</p>

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<p>Hi - any updates regarding the situation?</p>

<p>This seems like a nightmare and I’m really sorry you had to go through this. Like other people have said in this thread - notify someone and make sure you get the incident down in writing, whether it be in a police report or something through some sort of student affairs office at your school. If the keys were at the bottom of your bag and they were ripped from their key chain, it is obvious that they were taken consciously and actively - one doesn’t simply misplace something that is buried under a bunch of stuff and have it ripped from something it is physically attached to. </p>

<p>I’m more for the whole intimidation/straight forward tactic - but I can see the reasons for your hesitation. </p>

<p>I wish you the best of luck and I hope that your roommate steps on a lego barefoot. </p>

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<p>Why would not keep the car keys with the car?
Is it possible the tag was torn by you rummaging through your bag?
If I was your roommate, I would likely react just as your roommate did.
People dont like to be accused of theft.</p>

<p>Did you cancel your debit card?
Since you still have it, it seems odd to want to cancel it,
However, checking activity on your acct will give you more evidence that someone was into your stuff.</p>

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<p>Hi guys, sorry for the late reply. I was at orientation all day today too and didn’t get back until now. I’m home (at my cousin’s, at least) and…well…I did not get the keys back :frowning: </p>

<p>I woke up a little earlier than her and went to get ready in the bathroom, and the second I got out she rushed in so I didn’t get a chance to say much to her other than “you know, it’s so weird, the last time I saw these keys were in here…I’m worried these doors might not lock properly!” and she shrugged and kept the water running until I absolutely had to leave in order to not be late. </p>

<p>I filed a report with the front desk in the afternoon and said that I believed my keys to have been stolen in dorm X, possibly/likely my room, and then gave them my room number, but never said anything about my roommate being the culprit. Then they asked if it was possible that I had lost it, but I KNOW I hadn’t. But there was a line forming behind me to turn in room keys, so I stupidly and hurriedly said that it was possible. I hadn’t read any of these new contributions on the thread since last night…I should have, and insisted that it was theft, because I think they just brushed it under the rug. </p>

<p>But through all this, I actually never accused my roommate of ANYTHING, so her reactions were unwarranted. I only asked her if she’d seen my keys, and every time, she responded oddly (lying on top of the covers and facing the wall, for one). And then when I turned to leave, she suddenly became chipper again. </p>

<p>So she went home, and I went home, and the keys were gone. Maybe I should be glad she had the decency to leave me some sort of vehicular identification to hand the dealership when they reprogram my entire car, but I’m not. Why would she want a set of car keys in another state? I will keep an eye on my debit card activity for the next couple of weeks. And yes, I hope she steps on a sea of legos. Preferably ones that spell ‘YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID’. </p>

<p>The front desk said they’d contact me with any relevant information, so I’m just hoping for that. I will be investing in a safe in the near future. Thank you, everyone. </p>

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<p>Do you didn’t file a police report?</p>