Today, while returning to Santiago from the Sheraton Hotel in Viña del Mar, we encountered an unexpected hiccup. Just as we were about to merge onto the highway, we noticed something amiss with one of our tires on a winding mountain road. A fellow driver, noticing our predicament, signaled for us to pull over.
We stopped and discovered that the left rear tire had completely blown out. The man from the other car, a middle-aged gentleman, was incredibly eager to help. He assisted us in opening the trunk, moving our luggage to the back seat, and retrieving the spare tire. My husband then set to work changing the tire, while the man kindly asked me and my child to stand behind the car, keeping an eye out for oncoming traffic and signaling them to pass on the left to prevent any accidents.
At the time, it felt a bit odd, but with him standing there, I didn’t give it much thought.
Before we could finish changing the tire, the helpful man drove away. Once we completed the task, we made a startling discovery: one suitcase and two backpacks had vanished from our car. Among the stolen items were our passports, wallets, credit cards, a laptop, and a camera. We immediately reported the cards as lost, and within minutes, we received a call from the bank informing us that someone had attempted to use one of the cards, but the transaction was declined because we had already reported it.
We called the police, but after waiting for half an hour with no response, we decided to head to the nearest police station to file a report. Afterward, we continued our journey back to Santiago.
Reflecting on the incident, we suspect that we may have been targeted at the hotel, possibly even by the valet who parked and retrieved our car. It’s possible that they tampered with the tire, and during the tire change, the man kept us distracted so we wouldn’t notice what was happening inside the car.
There were likely other accomplices in his vehicle who took our belongings. It was a well-orchestrated trap, and we were caught off guard. We had encountered many kind people who offered help before, so we easily trusted this stranger.
We contacted the embassy, and they assured us that they could issue temporary travel documents to get us home. However, due to the holiday, it would take a few days. The embassy staff were incredibly supportive, returning our calls and even adding us on WeChat during their time off. They asked us to send photos of our passports, and after verifying with the issuing authority, they could issue the necessary travel documents.
Our return flight has been delayed by a week. While the cash loss wasn’t too significant—around three thousand dollars—losing the work laptop is quite a hassle, and we’ll have to slowly recover the work data. My daughter joked that she should have brought her homework, so she could really tell her teacher that her homework was stolen.
Fortunately, we kept our phones in our pockets, so we still had them. When we arrived in Santiago, we used WeChat Pay to grab a meal in Chinatown.
I hope everyone remains vigilant while traveling. If you lose your wallet, immediately report your credit cards as lost. #ChileTravel
