UHaul stolen in Albuquerque with Nine Inch Nails memorabilia inside
Jan 06, 2025
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – It was not the trip one man driving through Albuquerque expected: his U-Haul full of priceless items from one of his favorite bands was stolen.
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Ryan Jonik said he's out more than $50,000 from the items stolen, not to mention the sentimental value. He is thankful though that some of his stuff was recovered. “I was like, this is gone. Probably never going to see it,” said Jonik.
Jonik was moving his family's belongings from Los Angeles to their new home in Charleston, South Carolina over the weekend. When he stopped in Albuquerque to get some sleep, he woke up to find his U-Haul and SUV behind it taken from the parking lot of his Uptown hotel. "It was in a well-lit area. Right by the entrance. I wasn't really thinking anything of it. I went to bed. I woke up around 2:30 and I was like, ‘Should I go check on the truck.’ I was like, ‘No everything is going to be fine.’”
On Sunday morning, he woke up to the U-Haul gone and SUV gone. Luckily, some items had AirTags and the vehicle had a GPS.
Police were able to locate his vehicle, the U-Haul and some of his belongings. His belongings were thrown in a pile in an empty lot in Albuquerque but some of it was damaged and items were missing. “I'm picking up stuff in the dark like my records. I've been collecting records since I was 5. My record collection is just scattered around. We have a 4-month-old, we have a rocker, it's broken. It's just very violating."
Jonik is also a big-time Nine Inch Nails fan and said he's been archiving concerts and collecting memorabilia for years from the band. Some of that stuff was stolen. “There's some prints that are irreplaceable. I've met the band once and they signed it for me. So that's like a one-of-a-kind thing.”
The equipment he used to transfer concerts that were recorded on cassettes to digital is also gone. Even though he said he feels violated, he is also grateful. “You know, my wife and I are very positive people, and we are just trying to look at it like, 'Hey we're healthy, our four-month-old is healthy. Our dog is healthy.' Some of this stuff is irreplaceable and that stings but it’s like we'll figure it out,” said Jonik.
Jonik asked the community to be on the lookout in pawn shops for Nine Inch Nails memorabilia. He is asking anyone who may know anything to contact him or police. His email is [email protected].