INDEPENDENCE, Mo. – A woman said her birthday packages were stolen off of her front porch before she even got to open them. Now, she is crediting an online Facebook group called Stolen KC for helping track down the thief.
Surveillance video showed a woman and man acting strange outside the woman’s home on East Walnut Street in Independence. Then, video shows a woman go on the porch and take off with her packages.
Jeff Horner, who ordered the gifts for his fiancée’s birthday, said as soon as the couple posted the video in the Stolen KC Facebook page they started getting messages.
“We started getting names, and then once we got names we got Facebooks, we got locations,” he said.
Horner said people recognized the woman and were able to give him her name before police even showed up. Then, he said he handed the information over to officers and the woman was arrested a few hours later. He said she was taken into custody a few houses down from where they live.
“Blasting this on social media and the response we got, it’s amazing how many people chimed in and said, ‘hey we know her, this is her name,’” Horner said.
The couple said they hope the woman learns a lesson.
“If you want something, get a job, pay for it yourself. Don’t steal it from everybody else,” said Kylee Fratto.
The couple said two of the four stolen packages were recovered by police.
