pickup truck was on the front page of a national newspaper . The truck was covered in flowers and teddy bears , with candles surrounding it .
NBC did a broadcast with the truck and memorial right behind them .
John Tomlin ’ s beloved Chevy truck became a memorial around which the community rallied .
The photo came to the attention of the PR man for Chevy trucks who shared it with Kurt Ritter . Kurt recalled saying , “ We have to do something for that family .”
Kurt Ritter gathered a small team and , with no press or fanfare , traveled to Littleton , Colorado , to participate in a home build the family planned before the shooting .
The community helped and the project became a point of healing for the devastated families and townspersons .
On the last day of the home build , John Tomlin ’ s father handed Kurt an envelope he found in his son ’ s room containing $ 300 and a list of things he wanted to do to fix his truck .
Jon Moss , head of the General Motors Specialty Vehicle Group , was the most notable car builder and customizer in the world at that time . Kurt called Jon and told him about John Tomlin ’ s truck . The two decided to ship that beat-up old Chevy truck to Detroit to “ Garage X ” so Jon Moss and his team could get to work .
In 14 days , Jon Moss and his team completed the entire list John Tomlin wrote out and then some .
A “ full body off ” restoration commenced . They took apart , cleaned , and tuned the small block V8 engine , repainted the truck , put on new performance tires , got rid of the rust , cleaned and replaced worn or broken parts , and made the truck look brand new . They even put leather seats inside .
The truck was given to the family without so much as a word from Jon Moss or Kurt Ritter . In his day , Jon ’ s popularity was such , he was recognized in public — and at 6 ' 8 ", he stood out . That said , Jon Moss did not go to Littleton when the truck was delivered so he would not distract the family during this intensely private moment .
With so many Columbine stories out there , not one mention of this can be found .
I interviewed 60 people for this book . Not one heard the story .
Why didn ’ t Jon Moss want to talk about it ? He said it was the right thing to do for that family and nobody needed to know he did it . He did not want fanfare . It was personal between him and John Tomlin ’ s family .
I told Jon that when my book is released , it will mark the 25th anniversary of Columbine . I am an SRO . I asked him to trust me and to please let me tell this story . I talked him into it .
One week before the book went to the publisher , I still had no success in talking to a member of John Tomlin ’ s family . I contacted a dozen people to help make the connection , to no avail .
As a last resort , and with four days left in my deadline , I sent an email to Columbine School Resource Officer Eric Ebling . Before the end of the day , he returned it saying he had never heard that story and nobody at the school had either . He said he knew someone who could help .
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