Firefighter dealing with terminal cancer now dealing with theft of his truck: "He had just finished 96 hours of chemo"



ST. LOUIS, Missouri -- Police are searching for a car thief who targeted a family under a lot of stress.

Bob Abell went from fighting fires and saving lives for 25 years in St. Louis, to being in a hospital bed with terminal brain cancer.

"I am feeling kind of weak. It is starting to catch up with me -- chemo," said Abell.

Doctors say Abell has anywhere from a year to three years left to live. Abell is undergoing chemotherapy to beat the odds. Doctors said with the chemotherapy, he has a 50/50 chance of beating cancer.

"It weighs on me that she (his wife) might have the bills. She will have to continue paying the bills after I am gone. That is a heavy weight," said Abell.

Tina, his wife of nine years, is by his side day in and day out.

"We are newlyweds -- so we still like each other," said Tina Abell.

Tina Abell had been using the family truck to see her husband who will finish treatment at the end of September.

"It was a white 2000 Chevy Silverado. 16 years old. I was coming up to visit Bob. He had just finished 96 hours of chemo and I was coming up to bring him a treat, and I look outside and the truck was gone," said Tina Abell.

The couple's truck was stolen from outside their home.

Tina Abell says neighbors and friends have been helping out, taking her to visit her husband. But with the truck stolen, it just adds to the amount of stress this couple is already under.

"I cried uncle last night. I told her it's just too much, you know?" said Bob Abell.

"Everyone keeps saying how strong I am. I think because we are just madly in love, ever since he's been diagnosed, I have to be here and I have to try to keep things running at home," said Tina Abell.

A police report was filed on the stolen truck, but so far, there have been no leads.