If you live in Oberlin, you’ve seen Tracy Ellis on his bike.
For years, he’s used it daily for round trips to work at Lorenzo’s Pizzeria.
Despite his Down Syndrome diagnosis, “he’s very independent,” Patricia Ellis-Scott, Tracy’s mom, said. "In the last year, he has been unable to walk."
That makes it harder for Ellis’s family to comprehend what happened to them on Sunday morning.
"I left church a bit early and got a call and said 'Pat, come back, Tracy's bike has been stolen,'" Ellis-Scott said.
The $600 black custom bike, equipped with a basket and a flag was stolen from in front of Rush United Methodist Church, where Ellis serves as an usher and greeter.
"A guy stole my bike and they need to go to jail,” Ellis said. "It's a bad person."
"It was actually to the point where someone would have rather seen their car gone than this bike,” Ellis-Scott said.
In this community, though, the crime didn’t go unnoticed.
"Everybody has called and come and our phone hasn't quit ringing,” Ellis-Scott said.
In fact on Tuesday, after word got out that the bike was stolen, neighbors and strangers stopped by the Ellis home dropping off food and even money.
"See that's what Oberlin's like,” Ellis-Scott said.
The family asks anyone with information to contact Oberlin police.
There have been a couple of GoFundMe pages set up, but the family asks that if you would like to donate, please don’t do it online. Instead, drop it off at the police department.