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An investigation is underway after a Washington woman claimed a moving company never delivered her belongings after paying them, KING 5 says.
Patrice Cox, a Sammamish resident told reporters she signed a contract with a broker who connected her to a moving company. They were responsible for transporting several items to her second home in Austin, Texas back in April. All of a sudden, the broker switched up companies and the movers arrived the night before Cox was set to fly to Austin.
"Red flags were going up. I think that if we weren't catching that flight the next morning, I would have said stop. Bring it all back," Cox said, adding that she paid nearly $900 before the movers left. They allegedly told her the valuables would arrive in Austin by the end of April.
Then came excuses and weeks of delays, she said. Eventually, the broker and moving company stopped contacting her altogether.
It's now late August, and Cox says she has yet to see her items, which included a bed, gym equipment, a family Christmas village set, and china passed down by her husband's grandmother, who once lived in Germany.
"During the war, she took her china and buried it in her backyard so that the Nazis wouldn't get it," Cox recounted. "Looking back, if hindsight is 2020, whatever the saying is, I would have put trackers in my boxes... I never in my wildest dreams would have thought something like this would have happened to us."
The King County Sheriff's Office is investigating the incident and warned people to look out for scammers. Summer is the peak time for moving, especially in the greater Seattle area, KCSO Sergeant Tim Myer said.
Authorities noted that scammers will load victims' belongings, drive off and then abandon them in storage units.
"Storage lockers in our jurisdictions in Shoreline and Kenmore, for example, have goods from these other moves that are appearing there," Meyer added.
Officials also encouraged prospective movers to check websites like the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission to verify permitted moving companies.