Single Mother Has Christmas Gifts Stolen From Car In Downtown Tulsa

Lori Fullbright, News On 6

ROGERS COUNTY, Oklahoma -- It's not even December, and already a Grinch has stolen Christmas from a Rogers County family.

This will be the first Christmas for Christine Day and her three kids since her divorce, so she knew she had to be smart with her money and plan ahead.

She began buying gifts in July, setting aside a little cash at a time. She's been storing those presents in her car so her kids would be surprised on Christmas morning.

The surprise was hers and it wasn't joyful.

The Christmas tree is decorated and the stockings are hung and Christine Day has been a busy little elf, shopping for her two daughters and her son, spacing out the expenses and stashing the gifts in the perfect hiding place.

"I always kept it in the car because the kids snoop so much. I thought I was being smart, not so much," Christine said.

Christine recently went to a birthday party at Tulsa's Mayo Hotel and when she came outside, her car window had been broken, and her GPS stolen and the thief didn't stop there.

"I thought, oh my gosh, the presents. I didn't think about it. I popped the trunk and everything was gone," she said.

She was in shock, then she was sad, then, she got mad.

"I'm mad they do it with such disregard, assuming these are the haves and they're the have nots, just to take it. They don't know I struggle like everybody else right now. That's where the anger comes in," Christine said.

She told her children and says they were wonderful and understanding, although they didn't get how someone could see Legos, obviously a child's gift and steal it anyway.

"I told them to pick their top item on their list and I would make it happen. They're good kids. I was proud of their reaction, probably better than mine."

Christine has a very upbeat attitude and told her kids they will write each other a letter, listing all they appreciate about each other, to put the focus back on the real reason for the season.

Christine just wants to warn others, to remove their GPS unit from their windshields when they're out of the car and to disable your trunk release switch, if you have anything of value in your trunk.