El Paso mass shooting widower receives free vehicle after his is wrecked

EL PASO, Texas - An El Paso mass shooting victim’s widower received a free car after a tow truck company worker said his old vehicle was in a crash.

Vanessa Kondow, who works for a towing company, wrote in an Aug. 18 social media post that Antonio Basco’s vehicle was stolen and wrecked Aug. 17. Kondow's Facebook post went viral. She said her husband towed the vehicle back to Basco's house.

No details have been released as to who stole Basco’s vehicle and where it was found.

El Paso Police Department officials said Monday that Basco, 61, has not filed a police report about the incident.

Margie Reckard's widower, Antonio Basco. asked the El Paso community to join in saying goodbye to his late wife. She was laid to rest at the Restlawn Memorial Park cemetery in Northeast El Paso on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019.
Margie Reckard's widower, Antonio Basco. asked the El Paso community to join in saying goodbye to his late wife. She was laid to rest at the Restlawn Memorial Park cemetery in Northeast El Paso on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019.

Margie Reckard, 63, was fatally shot Aug. 3 after a 21-year-old white man walked into an East El Paso Walmart and fired an AK-47-style gun at customers and employees.

The mass shooting resulted in 22 deaths and wounded an additional 25 people. The shooting is believed to be racial motivated because the suspect told police he was targeting Hispanics.

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Reckard was the last victim to be buried. Her funeral was attended by thousands of people last week after Basco invited the El Paso community to it since he said he had no other family. Several of Reckard's family members from out of town also attended her services.

Basco could not immediately be reached for comment.

Many media outlets picked up Kondow's post, which also stated: “Mr. Antonio Basco's vehicle was stolen and wrecked last night. My husband towed it back to his house this morning.”

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The post continued, “This is the same vehicle CASA just completely serviced and repaired for him. He told my husband that whoever took it also stole a pressure washing machine from a small trailer he used to use for mobile car washing.”

After news broke of the stolen vehicle, Casa Ford and Nissan officials on Monday gave Basco a replacement blue Ford Escape SUV at no cost.

“We wanted to bring you here first of all to offer you our condolences,” Casa Dealerships co-owner Ronnie Lowenfield said during an event Monday where they gave the SUV to Basco. “I can’t imagine the hell you have been through these past couple of weeks. We just want you to know we love you and this is from all of us here in El Paso."

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Follow Aaron Martinez on Twitter: @AMartinezEPT

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso mass shooting widower gets vehicle after claim it was stolen