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Kelowna  

Theft burns small business

Madison Erhardt

A local business owner is distraught after $40,000 of equipment, including her car, was stolen from her business last week.

Just one hour after the vehicle was taken, it was found torched. 

''I was going to be doing the holistic market on March 10, so I had the car packed up with everything I needed to do a trade show. The biggest thing was the Endermologie machine by LPG worth $28,000,'' says Odette Baumgartner, owner of Odette's Skin Laser Wellness Clinic in Lake Country. 

Baumgartner also had product samples, a camera, computer, her purse and her husband's tools inside the vehicle when it was stolen, overnight on March 9.  

''When I got up in the morning, my daughter asked 'why are the garage doors open, and where's the car?' So at that moment I realized it had been stolen.

''Then we got a call from the RCMP an hour later saying the car had been found burned to a crisp and everything inside it was gone except for a box that had no monetary value,'' she said. 

Baumgartner says there are only four Endermologie machines in all of B.C.

''The thieves can't sell it. The company I bought it from has a serial number, and they know it's been stolen. I'm the only person that knows how to use this machine. It is useless to them.''

''I now have staff members that can't work because we have to cancel clients. The company back East where this machine comes from doesn't even retail it anymore. It's an exclusive machine,'' she added.

A third of her business is now gone. 

''I don't care how this machine gets back in my hands, I just need it back, and that's why I'm offering a $1,000 reward to the person who finds it and brings it to me.''

RCMP are investigating the situation. Anyone with any information is asked to contact Lake Country RCMP at 250-766-2288.



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