Hours after Santa Claus delivered gifts to a Langley family, the pile of new toys, gift cards, and clothing were stolen out of the back of their truck.
Anna and Myles Murphy travelled from Langley to Abbotsford with their son Kade, 8, and daughter Lylah, 4, to spend time with family on Christmas and Boxing day.
Anna explained the family stored the kids’ new gifts in the back of their family truck on Christmas night in the Clearbrook neighbourhood of Abbotsford, and assumed the gifts would be safe overnight.
They were not.
In the morning, the family discovered the back window of their truck had been smashed, and everything inside – hockey skates, winter clothes, dolls, Nerf guns, gift cards, and more – was gone.
“I’m nine months pregnant so the last thing I wanted to do was carry it all out and in again, so we left everything in there [the truck], which I regret now,” said Anna.
“They smashed the back window of the driver’s side and took everything out. Literally everything.”
Between the cost of the gifts and a $500 deductible to fix the truck window, Anna estimates her family is at a loss of $1,000-$2,000.
Despite the losses, Anna’s children gained an important life lesson, even though she said telling the kids the bad news was “the hardest part of it all.”
“We let them know the gifts had been taken, but that’s not what Christmas is about, it’s about family. We told them we’d do our best to get everything back and they were more understanding than I thought they would be. But the look of disappointment on their faces was obvious. It’s sad.”
Abbotsford Police Department (APD) Sgt. Judy Bird confirmed there was an auto theft in the Clearbrook area, and said there are currently no suspects.
Bird explained the theft cannot be actively investigated until there is more information to follow up on.
“There may be a few options that we have, should the suspects try to cash in on some of the gifts that were taken.”
In the meantime, the Murphys have started a GoFundMe account in hopes of raising some money to replace the gifts and pay the vehicle deductible.
“Holidays are hard as it is to save up money for gifts, so to have it all taken is frustrating,” added Anna.