Leaving a car running on a cold winter day is a habit for many local residents. Lilya said she doesn't usually leave her car running, but it was very cold, and she just had one item to pick up.

"A million things go through your mind," Lilya said, "at first I was worried that the car had slipped into gear and rolled somewhere, then I thought someone was playing a joke on me." It didn't take Lilya long to realize that her car was gone. She called 911 from Zup's, filed the police report, and went home to wait.

Lilya's car, a 1996 GMC Jimmy, was reported missing at noon on Friday, Jan. 17. An eyewitness had seen two teenage girls leaving in the car at a high speed. The girls were reportedly below legal driving age.

Breitung and Nett Lake police departments were unable to locate the vehicle, but a tip from Cass County led to the car's return.

The vehicle had been filled up with gas at a Cass County station, and the driver left without payment. The vehicle was later stopped by a game warden, but both suspects fled on foot and had not been located as of Tuesday.

Lilya was able to recover her car, undamaged, from Walker, about a three hour drive from Tower. It is now safely at home.

But the story has another twist. Before stopping at Zup's, Lilya had picked up her mail, which included a box of new checks. She received a call around 2:30 p.m. on Friday from a salesman, travelling on Cass County Highway 8. "He asked if I had gotten some new checks," Lilya said, "and at first I though he was a policeman." It turns out the salesman noticed that mail was being tossed from the window of the car in front of him. The salesman stopped, and retrieved some of the mail, and found Lilya's number and called her. Lilya forwarded this information to the police.

With the car safe at home, Lilya is just happy to have it back in one piece. "We were really lucky," she said.

The Breitung Police Department has forwarded the investigation to the County Attorney's Office, where charges would be filed.