A baby-blue Lexus stolen from a Whitehorse driveway was recovered in Dawson City, thanks to the power of social media.

The SUV was stolen overnight between Aug. 13 and 14 from the home of a Copper Ridge couple.

The woman, who asked to not be identified, said her spouse woke up that morning and saw posts on the Whitehorse Buy and Sell Facebook page about items stolen from cars in Copper Ridge.

“He went to check if our car had been broken into and and there was no car,” she said in an interview Wednesday.

The couple had accidentally left a key in the unlocked vehicle.

They reported the theft to police, who told them stolen vehicles are sometimes found in the same neighbourhood – someone will take it for a joyride, then abandon it.

The couple drove around the city in their other car looking for it – a baby-blue Lexus sticks out like a sore thumb – but couldn’t find it.

They’d only had the vehicle less than a year, and had recently invested some money into it, installing a new radio.

They also posted on the Buy and Sell page, with a photo of the SUV.

On Aug. 15, someone reported seeing it twice in Dawson, but police weren’t able to locate it.

The woman posted her message again on Tuesday, adding it to the Dawson Buy, Sell and Trade page.

“That’s how we found it,” she said.

Within half an hour, someone in Dawson called RCMP.

Officers located the car on Sixth Avenue, Sgt. Dave Morin said.

The couple drove up to Dawson last weekend to retrieve it. It was in good shape, just very dirty inside, with iPods, empty wallets, gift cards, clothes, food and money littered around.

“They were using the car as a base, apparently, for their crimes,” she said.

The vehicle also had the wrong kind of gas in it – Ski-Doo or boat gas – and it wouldn’t run.

She and her husband drained it out and were able to drive the SUV home to Whitehorse.

A Dawson RCMP officer stayed with them all day to help them fix it, she said, expressing her gratitude.

“We were quite lucky,” she said. “It’s crazy that we found it. We were sure that they would just joyride it and abandon it in the woods.”

No one has yet been charged with theft of the car.

But Dawson City RCMP aren’t ruling out a connection between it and several break-ins in the community over a two-day period earlier this month.

Two suspects were arrested Aug. 19 and charged with theft under $5,000, possession of stolen property and breaches of court orders.

Charles Genier, 27, of Whitehorse, and a 16-year-old girl both appeared in court last Thursday.

Genier faces charges of stealing a men’s and women’s silver and gold sluice box wedding ring set from The Rock, a jewelry store in Dawson, and stealing money from the Dawson City Music Festival office.

The youth cannot be identified, and the details of the charges she faces are not available to the public because of her age.

Morin said police received many tips from the public over the two-day period.

People were reporting that businesses had been broken into and cash had been taken, and also called to inform police about suspicious people around town.

Anyone with information about either the break-ins or the car theft is asked to call Dawson City RCMP at 993-2677.