EVERETT — It took less than 12 hours for Kristen Shaulis to lose nearly all her worldly possessions when she made an unplanned stop in Everett in early March.
By the time police found her belongings, including her minivan, Shaulis and her two black Labradors, Max and Misty, were on a boat headed north to her new job in Alaska.
Everett resident Karl Myers left town Friday, towing her minivan and everything that was recovered. The 65-year-old will make the two-day ferry trip to Ketchikan,* where he will catch another ferry to Metlakatla, a small town on Annette Island southeast of Ketchikan.
That is where Shaulis works as a registered nurse in a health clinic run by an American Indian tribe. She showed up to her first day of work in scrubs donated by Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.
Several people gave her clothing, shoes and money to help carry her through.
“Yesterday when I went to do my grocery shopping, every piece of clothing I had was donated,” Shaulis told The Herald in March. “I just felt very fortunate.”
But “when you don’t have your things, and you don’t have your things around you, you just feel lost. But I’m glad I have clothing and I have food and I have housing,” she said.
Shaulis could not be reached this week for comment. She appreciates the community’s support, Myers said. The two have talked several times on the phone to coordinate his trip north.
“You could hear the emotion in her voice that all this is being done for her,” he said.
Several local businesses helped get her 1999 Chrysler Town and Country minivan running again after thieves destroyed the ignition system. They did the work for free or at cost.
Dick’s Towing of Everett towed the minivan to Dwayne Lane’s Chrysler dealership and service center, which fixed the ignition system, cleaned the car and put in a new battery.
A-1 Auto Service Center in Everett did an oil change and fixed a minor electrical problem.
Another Everett company, Conaway Motors Inc., replaced a headlight and water pump.
“I was the catalyst, but people really stepped up when I asked,” Myers said.
His involvement came out of volunteer work he does with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. He spends about 10 hours a week with other volunteers looking for lost or stolen vehicles.
Shaulis just started a new job and can’t take a week off to collect her property in Everett, he said.
So Myers offered to bring it to her.
Myers said he wanted to show Shaulis what the community is capable of, and to show others that anyone can make a difference in someone’s life.
The Everett Police Department is investigating the theft but does not have “anything fresh,” said Sgt. Ryan Dalberg, a department spokesman.
Dan Catchpole: 425-339-3454; dcatchpole@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @dcatchpole.
Correction, May 19, 2014: Myers took a ferry from Washington to Ketchikan, where he transferred to a local ferry to finish his trip. An earlier version of this story misstated his water route.
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