she kept looking for her stolen 71 Nova for 9 years, finally it showed up on Craigslist... but the Oregon DMV had screwed up over and over, and she had to go to court to get a judge to declare her the legal owner, after 4 years of fighting the damn system

Her fight for her car unraveled a chain of dishonesty, deception and perhaps even some deliberate ignorance in a state that ranks fifth in the U.S. for car thefts.

 Oregon’s DMV system relies on state and federal law enforcement databases that purge records of stolen cars after a few years. 

The local cops didn't renew the stolen car report, the DMV wasn't doing diligent checking when issuing titles for "lost title", the pandemic jacked up the court system, the state’s lack of public defenders and a statute of limitations all complicated her reunion with the classic muscle car

https://www.thedrive.com/news/woman-recovers-stolen-chevy-nova-ss-after-13-messy-years

https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2023/05/oregon-womans-13-year-stolen-car-odyssey-uncovers-deceit-purged-records-and-state-dmv-gaps.html

https://www.motortrend.com/news/women-gets-back-stolen-1971-chevy-nova/