Summerville woman says belongings missing after hiring movers

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - A Dorchester County woman who moved last month to California says she hired a moving company to take her belongings across the country, but the movers never delivered her possessions to her new home.

Now, law enforcement is investigating.

“Everything I’ve ever owned is gone,” Julie Sanchez said. “I kept thinking, it’s going to show up, it’s going to turn out. And then at some point I just had to accept that it’s gone. I don’t think I’m ever going to get it back. I hope and pray that I do, but I don’t think that I am.”

Sanchez said she relocated from Summerville to California so that she could be closer to her family, but has ended up spending weeks trying to find out where her items are.

“My memories are gone. My kids pictures, my family pictures. My mom and dad have passed on,” Sanchez said. “I have words that my dad has written down, my brother passed on, I have memory books that I made of them. That kind of stuff is heartbreaking. I’ll never get that back.”

Sanchez said that Landmark Moving and Storage, a company with listed addresses in Sarasota, F.L. and Atlanta, picked up her possessions nearly a month ago, but never brought them to California. She says that she provided Landmark, which has also been referred to as Landmark Movers and Landmark Move, more than $6,000 in installments.

Landmark’s website says that they “guarantee a five star full service move to all of our customers.”

The United States Department of Transportation’s household goods database states that the agency has received dozens of complaints about Landmark over the last couple of years, ranging from concerns over lost and damaged items to insurance issues. The Better Business Bureau’s website says that Landmark has an “F” rating with the organization.

Landmark has not yet responded to requests for comment and the phone number featured on the company’s website is currently listed as unavailable.

However, a mover who says that he was one of the people who picked up Sanchez’s possessions in Summerville was reached at another phone number. He stated that he moved Sanchez’s belongings into storage, but does not know what happened after that. He added that he is no longer doing work for Landmark, but that the company used a number of storage facilities in the Atlanta area.

A spokesperson for the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that there’s currently an open investigation involving multiple agencies to determine what happened to Sanchez’s possessions.

“I would not wish this on my worst enemy,” Sanchez said.

The United States Department of Transportation’s database of interstate moving companies can be accessed here.

If you have a story idea for Live 5 News Investigates, call 843-402-5678 or send an email to tips@live5news.com.

Copyright 2021 WCSC. All rights reserved.