Missing 1966 GT350?

In 1987 I was living in a small town in AZ. I was looking for a party I had been invited to on a back street at the end of a canyon when I came across a Mustang sitting in a car port. Having had two when I was younger, I went up to the house to inquire about possibly buying the delapidated looking faded red '66. There was no answer so I walked to the car port to take a closer look. To my surprise, it was a '66 GT 350 Shelby! It looked like it had been sitting there for more than a decade. All the right parts and details down to the heads and fat harmonic balancer. the Shelby tag was gone from the top of the inner fender and I could make out the "K" code serial number. I had been to many Shelby shows with my father who is an avid Shelby enthusiast and I know a "real" GT350 when I see one. This was the real thing. I tried many times to see who owned the car and if it was for sale but no answer, at the house. The neighbor said the man who owned the car only used the residence as a vacation home and rarely used the home. The house at the end of a dead-end with virtually no traffic and I could understand why it could sit there for years with no one stealing the valuable parts off it. From the street it just looked like an old coupe left there to rot.
Anyway, time moved on and I moved to Wyoming and forgot about the car. Jump to February 2007 when my parents moved to Arizona. I went to visit them and thought about the car one day on a ride through the town with my father. I reminded him of the car and we started talking Shelby. The next thing I knew we were looking down all the back streets trying to remember where it had been. We were at the end of a street in the canyon when we both saw the front end of a red mustang peeping out of a car port. "That's the car!" I exclaimed. It was in the same spot just like time and the owner had forgotten about it. Nothing had changed in 20 years! We went to the house but no answer so I took photos while we looked the car over. It's just like someone bought the car, drove it a couple years and forgot they had it. I sure would like to know what the story is.
There is now a nest of some sort on the top of the engine and the door was left open at some point but the car is otherwise exactly as I remember it. I had taken photos then and some with a digital camera in February and compared them and it's the same. The car hasn't moved an inch! The only thing that's not original that we can see is the paint and someone had added an "R" model front spoiler. I have photos if you would like to see them. As yet, my father has had no luck finding the owner but I am sure the car is still there as my father drives past the place on a weekly basis to see if there is anyone around the house. Please feel free to contact me for the photos. I can send them to you over the internet. I did contact Shelby Owners Group and sent them photos but haven't heard from them. The editor said it the photos would be printed in the magazine but I haven't seen them.

 

I can't find anything out about the owner. My father got the guys name but who are we kidding anyway. We don't have that kind of money plus the guy obviously doesn't want to get rid of it or it would have been sold and restored by now. I sure would like to know the story behind that car though. My dad has tried to call the guy several but all he ever gets is a voice mail from some office in Phoenix. Would you like to see the photos? I would love to get some feedback. As for the serial number...I can't make it out but it looks like it's 6R09K.... and there is a star at the end but the numbers are pitted. I do have a photo if you want to try for yourself. I can't post photos on here. Send me an e-mail. It hurts me to see such a great car sit there and rott into the ground.

 

The photos are up in the gallery. Thanks for letting me know about the numbers being secret but they are so pitted they are not legible. I got rid of them anyway. Look under "Missing 1966 GT350?".
I thought there was a number 6 there but it's so pitted I couldn't tell if it was a number or a big pit. I have a lot more photos from February and from 1987 if you want tio see them.

 

Thanks Vern!
I am a photojournalist with the Associated Press.