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by Pam Zekman
CHICAGO (CBS) ― A car owner's complaint to the 2 Investigators has led to a police investigation in both Illinois and Indiana. As 2 Investigator Pam Zekman reports, vehicles are vanishing in an apparent scam that could cost you your car.

The 2 Investigators went searching for vanished vehicles at a West Side towing company, a Villa Park repair shop and an auto parts dealer in Gary, Ind., looking for a straight answer.

It all began after Teresa Jenkins called CBS 2 for help. Her sport utility vehicle had been hit by another car. She wasn't insured, but a Chromy's Towing driver told her that didn't matter and gave her a sales pitch.

"They have their own body shop and they're going to make sure this other guy's insurance company pays for it," Jenkins said.

But they didn't. Chromy's took Jenkins' SUV to J&A Collision in Villa Park, and for four months she got the run-around from the owner, John Franko.

"I took several trips up there to meet with John Franko," Jenkins said. "And I asked him for a written estimate; he was always busy."

Then Jenkins got this letter from I-80 Auto Parts in Gary, Ind., stating it had her car.

"I've never even heard of these people before," Jenkins said.

The letter said she had to pay $8,000 in fees or her car would be sold in 14 days. But and invoice shows that I-80 sold the car to a dealership in Harvey, two months before the letter was even sent.

"You can't do that," said Lt. Richard Batrich of the Chicago Police Department. "It's against the law. It's illegal."

Now, the Chicago Police Department is looking into whether other cars damaged in Illinois were fixed up and illegally sold in Indiana.

"We're turning up more cases each day," Batrich said.

Cases like that of Reginald Johnson. His wife's car was supposed to be towed to Chromys' lot on the West Side, but when they went to get it the next day, Johnson said the car was gone.

He was later told the car was moved to J&A in Villa Park.

"They said it was a free storage lot," Johnson said.

Months later, Johnson says he was given a choice: pay J&A $4,000 to fix the car or pay I-80 $8,000 in fees to get it back. But when Johnson went to J&A to make a deposit for the repairs, the car was no longer there.

Franko said it was at I-80 in Gary.

"That didn't make sense; that didn't sound right," Johnson said.

So he reported the car stolen.

Last week, he got it back after police found the car on the Southwest Side. It was bought by a man who is now out $7,000 from the sale brokered by I-80.

Batrich said the car was illegally resold.

As for Jenkins, her SUV was returned by the dealership after we referred her case to Chicago police detectives.

"Thanks to Channel 2 News I have it back," she said.

The 2 Investigators asked Rafael Chromy, the owner of the tow company where this all started, about the customer complaints.

"I'm not doing nothing wrong," he said.

When told the people CBS 2 spoke with believe his company is the first step in some kind of a shell game with their cars, where the cars end up stolen or missing, Chromy said, "Well no one stole their car. The car didn't get stolen."

John Franko did not return the 2 Investigators' calls.

I-80's attorney says all its transactions were legal because cars were abandoned and storage fees not paid.

Six agencies are now involved in this probe, including the FBI and the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

Law enforcement officials have some advice on how car owners can avoid having this happen:

•Don't hire a tow truck company that solicits your business at the accident scene.
•If you don't know of a towing company, call the dealership you purchased your car from, your insurance company or your repair shop for a referral or other help.
•Have your vehicle towed to the location where you want the repair work done.
•If you cannot do this, make sure the towing company you hire gives you a receipt or invoice that gives the exact location where its storage lot is located, the hours when the car can be picked up and the fees charged.
•If you have problems picking the car up in Chicago you can file a complaint with the City Department of Consumer Services.
•Complaints from locations outside Chicago can be filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission.

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