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Tonya Papanikolas ReportingThe family of a man shot and killed in his basement over the weekend is asking for the public's help. They want to find the car in which the killer fled. It's the same car 80-year old Steven Poulos had been trying to sell in the newspaper for a friend.
Poulos’ family members say they're still in shock over what happened. They know Steven would want them to be at peace and move on, but they say that's hard to do when the suspect is still on the loose.
Billie Loukas Poulos is wearing her husband's cross around her neck.
Billie Loukas Poulos: “It just made me feel closer to him."
Steven Poulos used to say he was saved by the cross, and he meant it literally. During World War II, he was shot five times. One of the bullets dented the bottom of the cross.
Billie Loukas Poulos: “Hit the cross, ricocheted off and hit him, missed his jugular vein by just a hair."
Poulos talked about his war experiences in an upcoming KUED war documentary, where he recalled being pulled down into the water on D-day.
Steven Poulos, Courtesy KUED: “I got on top and I started swimming to the beach with nothing, no weapons at all."
He later suffered a stroke. His family says he survived so much, they never guessed he'd be shot to death in his own basement.
Billie Loukas Poulos, Wife: “For someone to take his life like this, it's a despicable, cowardly act."
Billie Poulos wasn't home Saturday when her husband was dragged downstairs and killed.
Billie Loukas Poulos, Wife: “As I was driving home, got a phone call from my family that I needed to be out here right away, because they had some bad news for me, but they didn't want to tell me over the telephone."
She says the family wants to know what happened and hopes the suspect receives justice.
Billie Loukas Poulos: “It won't bring Steve back, but it will get somebody off the streets so they won't be doing it to someone else."
In the meantime, Billie remembers what a giving, loving man her husband was.
Billie Loukas Poulos: “We love him and we'll miss him."
Billie says she's hoping to find out exactly what happened to her husband. She's asking the public to be on the lookout for a '97 four-door maroon Subaru Legacy with California plates. It's what Steven had been trying to sell and what the suspect took off in.
The sheriff's office says investigators are focusing their attention on finding that car. The family says they know catching the suspect won't bring Steven back, but it will stop the person or people from hurting someone else.
They're now preparing for Steven's funeral this Friday. They wanted to thank the community for being so supportive.
