Thieves Steal Adair County Man's '68 Custom Truck

An Adair County man said someone stole his 1968 fully restored, custom truck the weekend before Thanksgiving.

He said thieves kicked in his front door and took items from his house as well, but what hurts most, is losing the truck he bought 46 years ago when it was brand new.

Vern Bailiff first bought the truck as a delivery truck for his business and used it for the next 18 years.

Later, he said he spent $40,000 and four years restoring it and turned it into a show truck. Now that it's gone, it's like a part of his life is missing.

"It's hard when you put that much time and effort into something and somebody steals it," Bailiff said.

He said his truck contains a lot of memories.

He started restoring it when he moved to California in 2000 to take care of his elderly mother before her death in 2010.

"She loved me to take her to eat at In and Out burgers every Saturday in that truck and everybody would stop and look at it and she'd tell them how I'd done the work and she loved that," said Bailiff.

He said the one thing his mother didn't like was the big scoop on the hood because she couldn't see over it.

But, he created a pattern in the bed of the truck from a pattern from one of her quilts - hand cutting all 693 pieces and putting them into place.

"There was 550 hours just in doing the bed," he said.

The truck has a big block 540 horsepower Corvette engine in it and he's hauled it to car shows in different states.

He would like to have it back, so he and his new bride could enjoy it together.

Since Bailiff moved back to Oklahoma, he planned to do some more work to the truck, so he didn't have it tagged or insured. He hopes it hasn't been dismantled or taken out of state.

He filed a report with the Adair County Sheriff's Office, so if you see the truck or know where it is, call them at 918-696-2106.