Update on the stolen vintage Mini that went viral

The classic Austin Mini, ‘Edna’, stolen just days before Christmas, has been sighted twice in Reading. 

Ben Wheldon-Bayes, third year University of Southampton Civil Engineering student whose car was stolen from outside his house during the Christmas holidays, has had some good news.

Two days ago, Ben was informed by police that his classic Austin Mini was picked up on ANPR – Automatic Number Plate Recognition (we didn’t know what that stood for either)- and later spotted by a member of the public with the number plate confirmed as matching.

Edna

After his first Facebook post to find his car went viral with over 36,000 shares, there had been still no sign of Edna. Until now, it was assumed the car had been broken down and sold for parts.

Both sightings were in the Caversham area of Reading, close to where the Mini was originally stolen.

Ben has appealed to Facebook once more with this update, asking:

 If people in the Reading area and further afield could keep an eye out (and the other eye on the road), I would be so grateful!

His second post has already had a respectable 32 shares.

A reminder of little Edna

The whole story has turned into quite an ordeal for Ben. He said:

I’ve also accepted over 150 random adds in the hope that one of them leads to information that will return my car home. However this has so far proven unfruitful, with a strange man from India getting a bit obsessed with me and a young school girl just wanting a chat.

The vintage car is a classic 30 year-old brown Austin Mini with the registration B335 EDA. It went missing sometime between 6.30pm and 2am on 21st December 2014.

If you know anything about the whereabouts of Edna, email us at [email protected]