Good Samaritan chases down Texas family’s stolen RV so 6-year-old with cancer can travel

A family in Texas can now travel with their son thanks to a Good Samaritan with a sharp eye.

Ethan Perez was 4-years-old when he was diagnosed with leukemia after suffering with what his family thought were growing pains, the Houston Chronicle reported. For the last two years, Ethan, now 6, has undergone extensive chemotherapy treatments and spent more than his fair share of time in the hospital.

Ethan’s parents purchased an RV so they could travel with their son on short trips that wouldn’t put his health at risk, his mother Evelyn wrote in a Facebook post.

Their hopes came crashing down when the RV was stolen from the family’s driveway Thursday night, KPRC reported. A landscaper working on their neighbor’s lawn told the family a man and woman connected the RV to a Uhaul before driving off. The RV was not yet insured.

Evelyn posted about the crime on social media, imploring anyone with information to reach out.

The next day, someone did.

Rick Jones was on his way to work when he saw the Uhaul pulling the RV, Evelyn wrote. He recognized the vehicle from Evelyn’s social media post and followed it down I-10 to a gas station and called police, the Houson Chronicle reported.

“I can’t believe it,” Evelyn wrote on Facebook. “I’m in awe.”

When police arrived, they apprehended two men and two women, but later told the family they could not be arrested because the suspects were already standing outside the RV and had unhitched it from the Uhaul, the Houston Chronicle reported.

“We were floored, we could not believe it,” Evelyn said, according to the newspaper. “They were caught with a stolen RV. I would think that’s evidence to arrest these people.”

Ernesto Perez, Ethan’s dad, told KPRC the thieves had “trashed the inside,” broken a window and stolen a flat screen television.

Still, the Perez family is thankful for the diligence of their “hero.”

Ethan met Jones on Saturday and gifted him a Superman shirt along with the framed words “Not all heroes wear capes,” the post said.

“How else do you thank someone like this who saves the day for a little boy that is fighting cancer, for an entire family?” Evelyn said, according to the Houston Chronicle. “It was a really special way that our family connected with them under these sour circumstances.”

This story was originally published August 6, 2019 at 12:46 PM with the headline "Good Samaritan chases down Texas family’s stolen RV so 6-year-old with cancer can travel."