FORT WORTH, Texas — When Fort Worth resident Kate Team became a mom, she and her husband faced the challenge of traveling with kids head-on.
Traveling as a family became so enjoyable, she’s now a digital creator who shares tips and tricks for traveling with children in short, eye-catching Instagram reels.
She knows the ins and outs of traveling, but during a trip this week, the family returned home to an unpleasant surprise.
“It’s just unfortunate, we’ve parked at the airport so many times,” Team said.
Team’s family left their vehicle parked at DFW Airport’s terminal A.
While they were away on a trip to North Carolina this week, she received an alert from her vehicle’s OnStar system, a navigation and location sharing service. OnStar notified her that her vehicle’s tracking system was disabled, she said.
Team said she wasn’t sure what was going on.
When the family returned to DFW airport yesterday, she discovered that her brand new luxury SUV, purchased this year, was gone.
“It’s my first new car ever,” Team said. “I was kind of like, ‘Okay? It’s just one of those surreal moments, like, what do we do now?”
She reported the theft to police immediately. Team told WFAA a responding officer told her she was the fifth person who had reported a vehicle theft that day, however, WFAA has been unable to confirm that information through DFW Airport.
A spokesperson for DFW Airport confirmed the airport is investigating vehicle thefts from earlier this week, but wouldn’t specify how many were reported stolen.
As a result of the thefts, the airport is increasing patrols in the area, an airport spokesperson said.
“The safety and security of travelers and employees is our top priority. DFW Airport is continually assessing and enhancing crime reduction strategies, both seen and unseen, across our 28-square-mile property. We continue to ask visitors and employees to 'see something, say something' when encountering any suspicious activity,” an airport spokesperson said.
Experts say thieves are learning how to hack vehicle tracking systems, disable them, and start the engine.
WFAA reached out to General Motors and OnStar to ask about its tracking system being easily disabled and whether anything was being done to prevent it, but we have yet to receive a response.
“There’s police there at the airport 24 hours, it’s just crazy that this happened,” Team said. “I’m hoping it stops.”
DFW Airport has 30,000 parking spots and nearly 300,000 people travel through the airport daily. This week, Team was unlucky.
“There are worst things that happen,” Team said. “It just stinks, but we’ll probably keep parking at the airport. When you’re traveling with little kids, you have car seats, and it’s honestly nice to be able to get in your car and go home.”
Vehicle thefts are on the rise nationwide. According to analysis conducted by the National Insurance Crime Bureau, more than 1 million vehicles were reported stolen last year, marking a 7% increase over 2021. The data showed that the U.S. is seeing the highest vehicle theft numbers since 2008, when 1.05 million vehicles were reported stolen.