VANCOUVER, Wash. — A Marine Corps veteran is asking for the public's help after his custom-made mountain bike was stolen.
Vancouver Police said it happened in the early morning hours of May 9 at the VA Recovery Center in Vancouver. Javier Romo was staying there as part of a two-month treatment program for addiction and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Police said it appeared someone broke the lock on the fenced-in bike enclosure and stole the bike.
"There was a period where I would have been angry, but I think it was more disappointing," said Romo. "I would have been happier to donate that bike so that the person that's riding it can know what that bike meant and what that bike brought to me, and my hopes that it would bring the same to someone else. But it's not going to do that now."
Romo built the bike himself after taking welding classes and saving money for quality bike parts. He hopes people who know bikes will recognize the red, Chris King components, or the Fox 36 fork, or the titanium frame, and wheels. Anyone with information on the bike's whereabouts was asked to call Vancouver Police Tip Line at 360-487-7399.
"I put everything into that bike because it was my baby," said Romo.
Romo served nine years with the Marines. That included combat time at the onset of the Iraq War.
"I was on the berm as the scud [missile] attacks were coming in," said Romo, noting he was never the same after leaving the military. "I was struggling quite a bit with post-traumatic stress and then later with substance abuse and then alcohol abuse."
Romo said a big part of his therapy came from the outdoors, physical activity in nature, especially mountain biking.
"The mountain bike immediately took me out of [my head] and gave me moments where I was present, where I didn't have to suffer," said Romo. "That's why that bike meant so much to me and that's why so much went into that build."
Romo started a GoFundMe. He said he'd be grateful for donations, either to help him afford a new bike or parts he could use to rebuild one.
"If I could get some shop time somewhere and some tubes and build another frame and get into similar components that that bike had, I would love that," he said.