Burien resident Kathie White reported her 2002 Chevrolet Camaro stolen at the beginning of September. Police soon recovered the car and instead of returning it to White took it to impound.
Four months later White still does not have her car back and the person whose house it was recovered at has not been charged.
While ownership of the car is pretty clear to White, it is not as clear to the state Department of Licensing or the prosecutor.
While White has the original title to the car, the person whose house the police picked the car up at also has a title for the car in her name, supposedly transferred to her from White.
White suffers from lupus and was in the hospital for a couple of weeks during August. The woman who White believes stole the car used to work with White and knew when White was going to be in the hospital.
It is during her stay at the hospital White believes an old title was stolen from her house and used to transfer the title fraudulently.
The licensing department has cancelled the title, but says they cannot release the car without an order from a judge.
And while a trial might settle the question of ownership once and for all it does not look like one will be forthcoming.
Deputy Prosecutor Doug Young finally responded to White's attempts to get a hold of him once White got a pro-bono attorney. In an e-mail between Young and White's pro-bono attorney Laurie Johnston on Dec. 20, Young said, "I plan to charge this case as a felony before the end of the year. It had been my intention to charge it before now.
"Undoubtedly, this will be a trial."
However in an interview on Dec. 29, when asked when it would go to trial Young said he had not decided whether or not he is going to file charges.
He said he has no control over the vehicle, and that it cannot go back to White unless fraud is proven. But he said he has no idea what will happen to the car if there is no trial.
White said the entire process has been an absolute nightmare.
She wrote eight letters and made numerous phone calls to everyone involved in the case, including the Burien police chief and the detective in charge of the case, as well as Young. All of which went unanswered until she got a lawyer to contact them.
White affectionately refers to her Camaro as "Queen," describing it as a member of her family.
"I feel like my closest relative is in jail," White said.
White just wants, and needs her car back.
"Getting Queen back is critical to keeping what functionality I've got," White said.
White suffers from back pain. She has had to put her treatment for this pain on hold because she has no way to get to the clinic in Seattle.
She took a three-hour bus ride once from Burien to Seattle, after which it took her three days before she could move from her bed because the pain was so bad. Her condition is worsening quickly and she said if she is not able to get the injections she needs soon they will no longer be able to help her.
I have never had to ask for help, never had to rely on the system," White said. "This is breaking my spirit."