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(KSL News/AP) -- Police are trying to locate a car that may lead to more information about a murder case.
Yesterday 80-year-old Steven Poulos was shot in the back at his Holladay home.
The family is hoping deputies will soon track down the car and identify the suspects in this shooting.
In the meantime, they said they know Steven is in a better place, and they're remembering all their wonderful memories with him.
Steven Poulos loved his family. His kids say they learned a lot from their dad.
Nick Poulos, Son: he taught me a lot of things, including integrity - and kindness to people."
Standing outside her home yesterday, Poulos' wife of nearly 47 years, Billie Poulos, was in disbelief that her husband -- who narrowly escaped death when the cross dangling around his neck deflected a German machine-gunner's bullet -- would take a sixth bullet, in his back, in his own home.
Steven Poulos was recently interviewed by World War II historian Geoffrey Panos as part of a KUED documentary scheduled to air in March.
Panos, who edited the two-hour interview Friday night, characterized Poulos as "marvelous and warm and animated and delightful."
In a 2000 interview, Steven Poulos told The Salt Lake Tribune about his experience being shot in World War II.
On June 19, 1944, his squad was hiding in a foxhole. The Germans soon discovered their position and began zeroing in with mortars and machine-gun fire.
Afraid to remain, Steven Poulos and his comrades retreated but were ordered by their commander to turn around and advance.
As he and others from his squad leaped over a hedgerow, they spotted a machine-gunner in a tree.
"My sergeant said, 'There he is. Get him!' and then I bounced back from the hedgerow and felt electricity go through me. I was stunned. It felt like lightning. I didn't know what hit me."
What hit him were the bullets of the machine gun. One grazed his leg, two pierced his right side, one struck him in the back and another ricocheted off a gold cross he wore on a chain around his neck.
Stephanie Poulos Arrasi, Daughter: �We just didn't think he'd go like this. You know. 80 years old, we just didn't think... Nobody thinks. They think that happens to other people."
His family believes that whoever showed up to look at the car Saturday robbed the 80-year-old Poulos, forced him into his basement and shot him.
Stephanie Poulos Arrasi: �He was very friendly, took anybody into his home."
When Stephanie Poulos swung by her parents' house about 12:45 p.m. Saturday, something seemed out of place, she said. The Subaru Legacy was gone. The front door, which was usually open, was locked.
Using a spare key to get inside, Stephanie Poulos noticed her parents' jewelry box was open, its contents strewn about. Her father was absent.
"Stephanie Poulos Arrasi, Daughter: �I was calling his name... And their bedroom looked messed up and I thought maybe they were cleaning their closets out or something."
Since Poulos used a cane and didn't go downstairs, Stephanie didn't look there. But it turns out, that's where her dad was taken. It wasn't until later that a neighbor saw the car leave.
Nick Poulos: �We're grateful in a lot of ways. My sister was here, she came in... And we think they were here."
The family says they will always remember what their dad stood for.
"He was a hero. He was a real hero. He was a hero to a lot of people. And we're gonna miss him."
It was another sister who later found their dad in the basement.
We talked to a neighbor today that says he saw a young man and a young woman getting out of a yellow cab in front of the house around 11:00 a.m. Deputies say they're investigating that. Another neighbor apparently saw the car from the ad leaving about 1:15. Police believe the suspects took off in that car.
The Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office was looking for the car, a 1997 maroon-colored four-door Subaru Legacy, with California license plate 4KOB631.
"We're not quite sure what the connection is here, but we want to find that vehicle," said sheriff's spokesman Paul Jaroscak.
(The Associated Press contributed to this story)
