Neighbors come through and find stolen truck

WASILLA -- Sometimes, it pays to have a good network of neighbors. Just ask Sarah Wilbur of Wasilla.

She woke up last Thursday, and something was missing from her driveway -- her truck. She called the Alaska State Troopers to report the stolen vehicle, and then she called four sets of neighbors -- the Jacksons, the Broaches, the Nazarios and the Eastgates.

Wilbur and her husband drove everywhere in search of the truck.

What they didn't know is that her Vine Road neighbors were doing the same thing. Her neighbors' response -- jumping to action in order to help -- surprised Wilbur.

"It's not like we are best friends or anything. It's like an informal network. Most of us have gotten to know each other because we have lived there for so long," Wilbur said.

She said she has lived there for about 11 years. Wilbur said her neighbors took it upon themselves to start a search, out of the kindness of their hearts.

One neighbor drove all the way down Pittman Road in search of the vehicle. Another neighbor drove to Wasilla and looked around town, hoping to find the stolen vehicle."

"My husband and I drove around and didn't find it," Wilbur said.

That informal network of neighbors came up big for the Wilburs, however.

"Bob and Nancy Broach found the truck, like a half-mile away from our house," Wilbur said. "The only thing wrong with it was the running boards were a little damaged."