UPDATE: Villegas confirmed with KGUN9 that her food truck was located and recovered twenty-four hours after the airing of this story.
—-
Daniela Villegas had a lifelong dream of owning a food truck.
That dream was shattered when she discovered that everything she had worked so hard for had been stolen.
"It's a lot, a lot of savings. This is all my savings," she said emotionally.
Villegas, a native of Sonora, Mexico, always knew cooking was her passion.
Growing up, she spent countless hours in the kitchen with her mom, turning recipes into a joy and a livelihood.
"When I see one recipe, [and] I like it, I make it right now. I enjoy it a lot, a lot," she said. "It's my job, this is my hobby, this is my everything."
In December, she purchased her first food truck, investing $50,000 to open 'My Taquito Villegas,' before it was stolen from her front yard.
"I don't know whether to scream, cry, everything together," she said when asked how it made her feel. "I feel everything, like something is gone from my soul."
CCTV footage from a neighbor captured a white pickup truck driving away with the food truck at 1:40 in the morning on May 25.
"It's really frustrating because I see how hard she works," said Julissa Bey.
Bey is Villegas' niece. After learning of the news, she took to social media, urging the community to keep an eye out. The response, she says, was overwhelming.
"We didn't expect that much support," Bey said. "But it's got a lot of support, a lot of shares. Neighbors were already texting us their camera footage."
She says the suspect or suspects broke the lock on the trailer of the food truck before attaching it to the truck and
driving off.
They say a police report has been filed, but Bey fears the food truck could be as far as Phoenix, while her aunt remains hopeful.
"I poured my hope, my future, my family's future. Everything in my life."
