ST. LOUIS – St. Louis leaders have asked the feds to investigate an alleged scandal at the city tow lot that FOX 2 News has raised the alarm about for years.
We’ve taken you exclusively inside the tow lot’s weekly auction. Rachel Addison’s car was mistakenly sold at that auction in 2023.
“It was my livelihood,” Addison said Wednesday. The city acknowledged at the time that it failed to notify Addison her Pontiac G-6 was in the lot before it was sold for $650.
“I ended up having to buy a new car and I’m in debt now because of it and I owned the last car,” Addison said.
We first featured her case in November 2023.
“I thought immediately afterwards I would at least have heard from them or gotten the money back they made from selling the vehicle, but I’ve heard nothing,” she said Tuesday.
FOX 2 notified City Hall that Addison’s case remains unresolved. A spokesperson said he will check with the Citizen’s Service Bureau (CSB) and city counselor’s office to get answers. Meanwhile, an internal city audit has found Addison is just the beginning of problems that could be costing taxpayers millions. That audit has been sent to federal investigators for a review.
“I do have a lot of concerns,” St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said about the audit in this week’s briefing. “We are taking it very seriously and we are committed to getting to the bottom of it.”
The internal audit looked at inventory between July 2022 and September 2024—alleging 568 missing vehicles—with those vehicles reportedly worth $5 million. The audit reported finding an additional $80,000 in cash unaccounted for.
“I just hope anybody that’s been affected by them gets some kind of justice,” Addison said.
She remains hopeful the new federal investigation will bring accountability.