Thief Steals All of Military Family's Belongings on Christmas Eve

Firefighters and deputies worked together to salvage the family's Christmas

The day after moving to San Diego County, a military family lost their truck, trailer and all their belongings to a “grinchly” thief. But now, thanks to the quick, generous actions of firefighters and sheriff’s deputies, they will once again have a Merry Christmas.

Francisco Garcia, a soldier in the U.S. Army, just moved to Imperial Beach from Texas Wednesday night with his wife Sienna and their 1-year-old son Adan.

But on Christmas Eve, they awoke at his parents’ house to discover the pickup truck and trailer, filled with all of their belongings, had been stolen from Florida Street. Inside were gifts for the little boy, his crib and Sienna’s wedding ring.

“The first thing that came to my mind was my son, all of his Christmas presents were in there, all of his clothes, his stuff from the hospital when he came home, his beanie, his wrist band and everything,” said Sienna.

Francisco is just days away from finishing up his four-year Army duty at Fort Bliss, Texas. The San Diego natives were so excited to be home, until their happiness was extinguished by the Christmas Grinch.

When San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the call at 9 a.m., they acted quickly to help salvage the holiday for this devastated family.

Deputies enlisted the help of sheriff’s detectives, professional staff, the Imperial Beach Fire Department and the Imperial Beach Fire Association.

Together, the group gathered donated cash, checks, presents and gift cards from local stores.

“We saw the gifts in their hands and I automatically started crying,” said Sienna, “because I knew what they were going to do. That was very sweet and touching.”

“I was expecting something bad again,” said Francisco. “They even told us there are still good people out here, even though this happens, there are still good people out here.”

Deputies are still looking for the stolen truck, which is a 2000 green Ford F-250 with Texas license plate DKT9824. The attached trailer was recovered, with nothing inside of it.

If you see it or know anything about the case, call the sheriff’s department at 858-565-5200 or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 888-580-8477.

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