Here in California, you have to fill out a special form surrendering all interest in a vehicle., whenever you sell or in this case give it away. You can even, as I did, fill out the form online at the DMV website. So I'm guessing there was no similar setup in this person's state or other jurisdiction. It seems likely though that it eventually would have worked itself out when the circumstances became known. That would be a bummer though, you're right.