Independence, MO, man desperate to locate stolen motorcycle painted with the ashes of his late mother

By LESLIE AGUILAR

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    INDEPENDENCE, Missouri (KCTV, KSMO) — A Harley Davidson motorcycle costs a pretty penny, but for an Independence man, his bike has a much higher sentimental value than monetary.

Danny Shockey’s 2000 Harley Davidson Deuce was stolen from his front yard early Friday morning, despite being inside a gate, double-locked, with three cameras watching it.

“It was storming that night and there was a loud thunder. It was lightning out. Trees falling. I really had no clue what was going on, slept right through it,” he said.

Even the family’s Doberman pinscher dog didn’t hear the thief.

The motorcycle is one of a kind due to a custom paint job.

It was plain black when Shockey got it, he had it transformed into something special. The black and two tone wood grain design is meant to look like a whiskey barrel. It as a tribute to his late father.

“On the front of the frame it says ‘F Cancer’ because my father passed away in 2013 of lung cancer,” he’s afraid.

The bike also has an even more special tribute to his mother who died in 2019 in the paint of a purple butterfly.

“I had some of her ashes put in there. So it was like she was always riding with me when I go on it,” Shockey sad.

He felt connected to his mother while riding all over the country, including to Sturgis one year pre-pandemic.

“No matter what she was always riding with me. But now somebody else is riding my bike. It’s not fair,” he said.

The man who stole the motorcycle was caught on Shockey’s surveillance cameras.

He appears to be likely in his mid 30’s, with a slender build. The man has a brown goatee and walks with a metal prosthetic below his left knee.

The suspect had to unlatch the front gate, and take his time picking two locks on the bike to be able to roll in out onto the street, and likely start it and take off once down the road.

Shockey hopes the suspect sees this story, his conscious takes over, and he’ll return the bike.

“The bike means a lot to me. For me to come out and find my bike is gone, it’s devastating. So the best way to describe it it’s like losing a loved one. And there’s nothing you can do,” he said.

To Shockey it’s not just a motorcycle, it’s literally a part of his beloved mother who was gentle, kind, and comforting.

“Earlier I was upset so I said ‘let me go down the street and see if somebody’s zoom camera picked it up down there’. And when I got to my gate a butterfly landed right here on me and it wouldn’t go in away for a couple minutes. I looked at it as my mom sending me a sign son it’ll be all right,” he said.

If you recognize the suspect, or see the motorcycle, you’re asked to call Independence Police.

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