ST. GABRIEL - Thieves targeted a fancy car in Iberville Parish and stripped it for parts, but the owner says it was a lot more than just a car and worked hard for everything she had.

The 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat was stolen from Kristie Mascarella's home in St. Gabriel last week.

"Everybody keeps saying, 'it was just a car,' no, it wasn't to me," said Mascarella.

She purchased the vehicle during a dark time in her life when she was in and out of the hospital. Born with Spina Bifida she's been in a wheelchair her entire life and faced one challenge after another. All of those challenges have been channeled into her car, detailed with the phrase "Challenge this" on the side. What started as a joke between friends became her dream car complete with the license plate "BADDCAT." She had the car tailored to her liking with added extensions and fins. It was equipped with hand controls so she could operate the pedals. It was one of a kind.

"I wanted to drive my Hellcat to the coast for Cruisin' the Coast," she said.

That bucket list trip has turned into a yearly venture every October where Mascarella has made life-long friends and earned the title "Mopar Bay Queen."

Inside the Hellcat she kept a pistol and her purple and gold LSU-themed wheelchair. She designed the chair herself and used it daily, bringing it with her on those drives to Mississippi and anywhere else she went. It was in the front passenger seat of the vehicle when thieves smashed the window and stole her car.

The car was last seen leaving her neighborhood shortly after midnight on Tuesday morning, May 13. It was found a week later in West Baton Rouge Parish, completely stripped for parts. The shell of the car is all that's left over.

"Now I have no car and no chair," she said.

The Iberville Parish Sheriff's Office is looking for a black Chrysler 300 with plate 408HYM. They believe the car was involved in Mascarella's incident and another car theft at Perkins Rowe in St. George last week. The Iberville Parish Sheriff's Office says this type of theft is a "problem that's going on everywhere."

Mascarella is mourning what she's lost and all she's worked for.

"I got up and made something of myself and I went to work and I work every day and I work hard for what I have and just in a few minutes they took it all from me," she said.

For now, she's getting around in an older model chair while she works out what to do. She is unsure if her insurance will cover stolen equipment.