Canadian Man Wants to Apologize, 21 Years Later

Canadian Man Wants to Apologize, 21 Years Later

I read an article today about a Canadian man who wanted to apologize to the person whose car he stole for the day. That’s right! But it was all a misunderstanding. He was 17 at the time and has recently launched a quest to find the woman.

In August 1998, the now 38-year-old Kevin Freedman was working as a lifeguard and swimming instructor at a community pool in Winnipeg. He had a plan to run an errand during his break and was planning to do it on foot. At the time Freedman’s car was totaled after hitting a cow that had unexpectedly made its way onto a dark, rural road. His considerate co-worker, Jocelyne McKie, lent him her car in exchange for a Slurpee from 7-Eleven.

McKie wanted to make sure Freedman knew which car was her’s, and he was confident he knew. She drove a popular light-colored 1990s Ford Taurus, and he saw it right away in the parking lot. The windows were down and the doors were unlocked. But there was a tiny issue that he brushed off. When he tried to start the car, it didn’t start right away, but it did, and so he made it on his merry way. After a quick stop at the ATM, it happened again. He attempted, nervously, turning the key over a few times then remembered that when it happened at the pool, he had his seatbelt on. He figured it was some sort of new technology he didn’t know about.

After being able to start the car again, he made his way to the police station to pay his parking ticket. Freedman locked the doors and made his way into the station. After being told that he needed to go to a different office to pay for the ticket, he returned to the parking lot. But now, he couldn't manage to unlock the door. The best part about this situation is a group of patrol officers show up and give him a hand. "Oh, I've got a Ford just like this at home," he recalls one of the officers telling him, after he explained the situation. "Sometimes, the keys are a little wonky. You just have to know how to do it." After the officer was successful unlocking the Taurus, he sais the technique he used was "all in the wrist." Once again Freedman had trouble starting the car like before and was beginning to worry that he may have damaged his friend's car.

He finished his errands and returned his friends car with Slurpee in hand. He managed to park it in the same spot the way he found it. He handed McKie her drink and apologized profusely, telling her that he hoped he hadn't broken her car. She reassured him that there is nothing wrong with her car and never had problems. Later after his shift was over, Freedman noticed her car in the lot but remembered she left way earlier than he did. Naturally, he felt terrible thinking he did something to her car, and she had to leave it there. "I was pretty embarrassed, pretty ashamed," he recalled. "I didn't sleep well that night."

The next time he saw her, he immediately apologized about causing problems with her car and her having to leave it at work. She had no idea what he was talking about telling him her car is fine. "She said, 'I didn't leave the car,'" Freedman recalled. "Then, it dawned on me." Was it possible that he took the wrong car? Sure enough, it was possible. McKie also remembered that a young woman reported her car stolen while Freedman was running errands. But because the woman couldn’t remember her license plate number, she had gone home and returned to the pool the next day with the police. What is crazy is that the woman found her car in the exact place she had left it!

Freedman wanted to go to the police and confess. His friends talked him out of it thinking it would create more problems and that there was no harm done. "The police probably thought she was nuts, and she probably thought she was a little nuts, and after 20 years I just want to let her know she's not," he said. "It really happened." He has taken to social media in search for help in finding this woman to say sorry and reassure her that she was not in an episode of The Twilight Zone.