Mother searches for go-kart stolen from sons with autism
By Lily O’Brien
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SEDGWICK COUNTY, Kansas (KAKE) — A Wichita-area mother is on the hunt for a go-kart, which was gifted to her sons and stolen days later from a family member’s house off Seneca Street in south Wichita.
She says the most hurtful part isn’t just the theft; it’s how much her two boys — who have autism — have been affected emotionally.
“It kills me that this happened to them,” said that mother, Miranda Tyler. “We try to keep them as independent as we can, and we got it for him [the oldest son] to kind of start learning how cars work and driving to see if maybe that’s going to be a goal for him.”
Less than a week after they were gifted the go-kart, it was stolen in the middle of the night.
Days later, Tyler says her oldest son understands what happened. Her younger son, she says, isn’t non-verbal but is limited in communication, still expressing fears about what strangers could do to the family and having nightmares.
A compilation of security camera videos from multiple neighbors shows someone breaking down the Tylers’ fence, taking the go-kart back over it, and pushing it down the block.
“We found the tracks leading all the way back to the woods,” said Tyler.
Those woods, she says, have a homeless encampment. The family says they haven’t had any issues until now, and assumes the black and red go-kart was dumped back there, or taken through it somewhere else.
She notes that she, her husband, and police officers searched the area but found nothing.
“It’s just a waiting game,” said Tyler. “It’s one thing if you take from me and my husband, but you’re not going to take from my special needs children … this world can be harder on them anyway.”
She says all she wants is for her sons to be able to jump camp on the worn leather seats that brought them so much joy in just a few days.
“It was everything. They had been begging for one, and you know we live within our means because my boys are special needs,” said Tyler. “I would forgive him if he brought it home because I get how hard it is right now.”
The family created a GoFundMe to replace the go-kart if it isn’t found.
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