The first thing I noticed was the empty rectangle of dry pavement where my truck had been sitting all night. It had rained hard, but the spot under my Silverado stayed dry — until the truck was gone.

I called the police. The dispatcher said it wasn’t stolen. It was repossessed by the lienholder. But I had paid that truck off four months earlier. I had the payoff letter, the cleared check, and the confirmation receipt.
At the finance company, the manager looked at my proof and said, “You people always think you paid. The system doesn’t lie.” He told me to fill out a dispute form and wait 30–60 days while my livelihood sat in their lot, racking up storage fees.