She Shipped Her Son's Last Photos From Alaska. The Moving Company Auctioned Them.

In January 2023, Sarah M. contacted a moving broker called United Best Moving to ship her household from Fairbanks, Alaska to Dayton, Kentucky. The distance was over 4,000 miles. The binding estimate was $13,876 for 667 cubic feet.

What followed was a seven-month ordeal involving four companies, a price that doubled on moving day, months of unanswered delivery questions, a crew in a rental truck demanding cash, a police report, a state attorney general investigation, a federal inspector general case, and an auction that sold everything she owned to strangers.

Among her belongings were the only remaining photographs of her deceased son.

United Best Moving LLC (DOT 3442313) provided a binding estimate of $13,876 for 667 cubic feet. Sarah paid a $3,000 deposit on January 21, 2023. On February 28, a DocuSign email arrived with the binding estimate documents.

United Best is registered in McDonough, Georgia. Its HHG broker authority was revoked by FMCSA on April 3, 2023, three months after Sarah booked her move. The company was dissolved by the Georgia Secretary of State in September 2023. It shares an address (3312 Northside Drive, Macon GA) with Atlas Mover Group LLC, a company that was sued by Atlas Van Lines for trademark infringement and lost by default judgment.

Sarah did not know any of this when she hired them.

On March 1, 2023, the carrier arrived. It was not United Best. It was Roadrunner Transit Inc (DOT 3579547), a company based at 378 Schuyler Avenue, Kearny, New Jersey. Sarah had never heard of Roadrunner Transit.

The carrier claimed 683 additional cubic feet beyond the estimate. The new total: $28,628.80, more than double the binding estimate. After negotiation, a revised bill of lading was issued on March 9 for $17,804, with $4,376 due at destination.

Sarah wired $4,500 to Roadrunner on March 8. She had now paid over $7,500 for a move estimated at $13,876, with her belongings still in Alaska.

Sarah's belongings left Alaska sometime in May. She asked repeatedly for delivery dates. No answers came.

On June 8, Roadrunner reported the goods were 'in California' and would be dispatched soon. A shuttle fee of $667 was added for the final delivery, raising her destination balance to $5,043.

On June 14, Roadrunner told Sarah the goods were in California and would be dispatched. On June 20, she offered to pay the balance by check, bank money order, or credit card.

Roadrunner refused. They would accept only cash or postal money orders. Not bank money orders. Not credit cards. Not checks.

Roadrunner then hired a third company, DelPro LLC (DOT 2138988, Hackensack NJ), to forward the freight from California to Kentucky. DelPro's driver, identified only as 'Hisham,' picked up the goods around June 23. They arrived in Kentucky around June 26. But they were not delivered to Sarah's home. They were taken to an undisclosed storage location.

On July 2, 2023, a delivery crew arrived at Sarah's home in Highland Heights, Kentucky. They were driving a U-Haul rental truck with Arizona license plate AE58731, a 2012 Ford E-450. Not a company truck. Not a truck with a DOT number painted on the side. A rental.

The crew called a man named 'Eddie' on speakerphone. Eddie claimed to be the owner of the operation and said he had instructed the crew. None of the carriers in the documented chain, not United Best, not Roadrunner, not DelPro, has an officer or owner named Eddie in any public filing.

The crew demanded cash or postal money orders before unloading. Sarah wanted to pay by bank money order through her bank. The bill of lading specified postal money orders. The crew refused to accept anything else.

Sarah called the police. Highland Heights Officer Vance responded (Case 23-3015). The officer spoke to the crew, reviewed the bill of lading, and advised both parties it was a civil matter. The crew left with Sarah's belongings still on the truck.

On August 1, 2023, at 10:59 AM, Sarah wrote to the carriers: 'I have accepted the fact that I am no longer going to see my belongings. I have since began the process of replacing what I can.' She had been sent photos showing items damaged, missing, and mixed with belongings that did not belong to her. She offered $1,000 by credit card as a final settlement.

At 1:56 PM that same day, a carrier representative identified as 'Matt W.' responded: 'Offer declined. The offer Sebastian gave you was the last, for this is being auctioned off at the end of the day, in addition to be sent to collections on your personal credit, as you are liable for your moving expenses.'

The carrier placed a lien on the goods and sold them at auction. No notice of the lien sale was provided to Sarah, as required by Kentucky's Uniform Commercial Code (KY UCC 355.7-307). The statute requires that a carrier notify 'all persons known to claim an interest in the goods' before a lien sale, including 'a statement of the amount due, the nature of the proposed sale, and the time and place of any public sale.'

None of this was provided. Sarah's belongings, including the only photographs she had of her deceased son, were sold to strangers.

Sarah wrote to Roadrunner on June 9, 2023:

'You have the only pictures I have left of my son. I cannot get over that. He is gone now and you have what is left of him. Do you know how that feels? It's horrible. You have everything I have worked for in my life. Everything my daughter has. I had to put my faith and trust in your company to be professional and I do not feel like I've been treated with the utmost care at all as a customer.'

Chris R. from Roadrunner's dispatch department responded: 'Shuttle fee needs to be paid. You can file a claim and once your claim gets approved, we will cut you a check or send electronic payment for the delay. You cannot file a claim without the whole balance paid with the shuttle included.'

Pay more, or you cannot even file a claim for the delay.

The Kentucky Attorney General's Office of Consumer and Senior Protection assigned Investigator Michael Spann (502-696-5329). Spann contacted the carriers, asked when and where the auction would take place. Matt W. said he did not know. On August 15, Spann asked when to expect documents. No response was ever provided. The carriers simply stopped communicating.

The DOT Office of Inspector General's Seattle field office (agents Tanna Langue and Nicole Cardwell) opened an investigation. John Vetne, a retired transportation attorney who met Sarah through a Facebook group for moving fraud victims, coordinated with OIG to provide evidence including the U-Haul license plate, police reports, and carrier communications.

Neither the KY AG nor OIG could recover the belongings. They had already been auctioned.

A separate consumer complaint (Case CONO-23-002897, Broward County, April 2023) was filed against United Best Moving and Home and Office Movers under state consumer protection law.

Sarah hired one company. Four touched her belongings:

1. United Best Moving LLC (broker, McDonough GA): Authority revoked April 2023, dissolved September 2023. 2. Roadrunner Transit Inc (carrier, Kearny NJ): Demanded cash, refused bank money orders, hired DelPro to forward freight. 3. DelPro LLC (freight forwarder, Hackensack NJ): Authority revocation notice May 2023. Picked up from Roadrunner's California hub, delivered to 'undisclosed storage' in Kentucky. 4. Unknown crew in U-Haul rental truck: Called 'Eddie' on speakerphone. No DOT number. No company identification. Demanded cash. Left with the belongings.

At no point did Sarah know where her belongings were, who had custody, or that they would be auctioned. No chain-of-custody documentation exists. No FMCSA regulation requires carriers to track who handles consumer shipments between pickup and delivery.

The broker was dissolved. The carrier stopped responding. The freight forwarder's authority was revoked. The crew with the rental truck disappeared. Nobody is accountable. Nobody paid Sarah back. The photos of her son are gone.