Emotional 'High' Turns Into All-Time Low For Family Of Broncos Fans In KC
DENVER (CBS4) - A family of Broncos fans made a road trip to Kansas City for the Christmas Day game, only to have their truck full of gifts stolen.
"This is the first time I've ever experienced anything like that," Bob Archuleta said.
Archuleta got tickets to the Broncos away game versus the Chiefs from his nephew. He and his family had never been to an out-of-town game before, so they set out to make it an ultimate holiday trip as a family.
"I literally just loaded that truck up," Archuleta said of his Ford F-350.
Inside his big gold truck, Archuleta packed all the Christmas gifts the family had purchased for each other -- new Broncos gear and coats as they were expecting cold game day weather. The family even brought a tree with them so they could celebrate the holiday away from home.
"The guy at the hotel is noticing we're bringing everything in as was like, 'Did you guys bring your whole house with you?' I'm like, 'pretty much,'" Archuleta joked.
It was an almost perfect weekend. Despite a Broncos loss, Archuleta and his nephew randomly met a few of their favorite players, like Brandon Marshall, Derek Wolfe and Chris Harris Jr. They also met John Elway.
"That was pretty exciting, so we were pretty emotionally on a high up there," he said.
But that high quickly became an all-time low for Archuleta's family.
After loading up his truck with the family's gifts, belongings and new Broncos gear, he said they went back into the hotel to get a couple hours of sleep.
"I came out to let my three small dogs go to the bathroom and I looked up and saw my truck was gone," Archuleta said fighting back tears. "I can't even describe to you the shock and what that feeling was like."
His daughter shared that shocked feeling when Archuleta came rushing back to their room with the unfortunate news.
"I couldn't believe it," said Destiny Rios, his daughter. "It's hard to explain because you're feeling so many emotions all at once."
Rios said they notified the hotel who called police. Kansas City investigators are now looking into the theft, noting that a similar truck was stolen from the same hotel just weeks earlier.
"It's frustrating," Rios told CBS4, adding she knows the thief or thieves will be found. "You can't steal my memories; you can't take the fun that we had. You may have taken our truck, but that's replaceable."
Police found the stolen truck, trashed with all of the gifts and gear missing, but it has yet to be returned to the family.
Archuleta and his brother are going back to Missouri, and plan to work with the police and their insurance company.
"I don't really know why I'm doing that, but my brother and I are just going to drive around to see if I can find my truck," Archuleta said. "I worked really hard for this Christmas and God blessed me with that truck."
Archuleta said he was renting a car and taking it to Kansas City Wednesday afternoon. He blames himself for what happened and hopes other Broncos fans don't make the same mistake.
"Be careful where you park and don't bring valuables," he said.
Kelly Werthmann joined the CBS4 team in 2012 as the morning reporter, covering national stories like the Aurora Theater Shooting and devastating Colorado wildfires. She now anchors CBS4 Weekend Morning News and reports during the week. Connect with her on Facebook or Twitter @KellyCBS4.
