FARMINGTON – A Dodge van stolen Wednesday evening from a Farmington business was recovered Thursday but remains a mystery, a Farmington police representative said.

Police began searching for a red 1998 Dodge van stolen Wednesday evening from in front of a business at 157 Front St. It was found Thursday a couple miles north, parked at another business, Tax Resolutions, at 454 Fairbanks Road.

A Franklin Chrysler Jeep employee had left the van for Nina Gianquinto, owner of Up Front and Pleasant Gourmet, after she asked for a loaner from the dealership. The van’s doors were unlocked and the keys were on the dashboard.

Before Gianquinto could leave her business, someone helped themselves to the van, sometime after 5 but before 7:30 p.m.

Sgt. Peter Barton checked parking lots for the van during the evening and it was added to law enforcement’s national alert network.

When employees of Tax Resolutions spotted the van in their yard Thursday, they called the car dealership, which then called police.

After checking with neighbors on Fairbanks Road, officer Matthew Brann said the vehicle was parked there around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.