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‘Grinch’ steals thousands of dollars in Christmas presents from Holladay family

Posted at 10:30 PM, Dec 21, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-22 00:30:52-05

HOLLADAY, Utah — When Ashlee Walters returned to her Holladay home on Monday, she realized someone had been inside.

"Walked in, all the doors were open, all the closets, all the cupboards, mattresses flipped over," Walters said.

When she glanced under her Christmas tree, she realized all of the presents were gone. Walters estimates she had at least 45 presents under there.

"Under the tree alone, probably about $2,300 to $3,000 was under the tree," Walters said.

The thieves also went upstairs and threw things around, stealing anything they could get their hands on. The items stolen include jewelry and a PlayStation which belongs to her 16-year-old son, Trevor Walters.

"Seriously? Why would you do that? You’re the grinch," Trevor said.

Walters said none of her neighbors saw anything and she’s not completely sure why she was targeted, but police said she did make one huge mistake.

"I put all my Amazon packages in the garbage can, empty boxes, put my garbage can out that day and maybe that alerted them to 'hey, she has a bunch of packages'," Walters said.

Walters isn't going to allow this to spoil her Christmas and luckily, her son's friends already stepped up to replace his PlayStation.

"After it got stolen, they all started a group text. It was a Trevor GoFundMe and they all put in money and got me a new one," Trevor said.

While Walters hustles to replace as many presents as possible, she's also buying herself an important Christmas gift.

"Actually, Saturday they’ll be here to put in new locks and surveillance and video," Walters said.

She hopes next time the grinch knocks at her door, she has an extra set of eyes.

"Be aware of your surroundings. You never know who’s watching you," Walters said.