Abandoned Car Mystery Outside Loma Linda Hospital Solved

LOMA LINDA (CBSLA.com) — A car was abandoned in the parking lot of Loma Linda University Children's Hospital for six weeks before a hospital visitor discovered it belonged to the victim of a hit-and-run accident.

Ken Cress said he saw the vehicle in July and noticed something was not right.

"I noticed it was dirty and filthy, and the windows were down," he said.

Cress' daughter was a patient at the hospital, where he walked by the mystery car several times this summer. He said it was in the same spot for at least a month.

On Aug. 12, Cress peered through the open window and saw paperwork belonging to a woman named Jennifer Stoops.

"Just out of curiosity, I Googled the name and I was absolutely floored to discover that she had been killed on July 10," Cress said.

Stoops was the victim of a hit-and-run accident in Lytle Creek Canyon. Cress said he reported her car to the California Highway Patrol in July and thought it was bizarre officers never showed up to tow it away.

The hospital security staff had ticketed the vehicle and posted a 72-hour tow notice on the windshield in August.

"About four to five days ago, I was here at the hospital and noticed the car is still here," Cress said. It's been nearly two months since he had first noticed it.

Stoops' uncle, Richard Granado, bought the car for her. Until now, he had no idea where it was.

"So, when you called me I said: 'Wow' I didn't know,' " said Granado.

Granado said Stoops' young daughter has cancer, and she told him two weeks before she died that her car had broken down, and she abandoned it.

Granado does not believe Stoops' car is connected to her death. But said he does not understand why the CHP never called his niece's family to tell them about her car.

"I don't know the reason for it, but I think somebody should've done something," Granado said.

Hospital security said it is aware of the car, and the CHP did come out to investigate. A spokesperson said the CHP will look into the matter.

Granado said he will have it towed off the hospital lot Wednesday, about six weeks after the car was abandoned.

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