Guilty Grinch returns pilfered package on New Year's Eve

Jan. 2 (UPI) -- A California woman whose package was stolen from her parents' porch days before Christmas said the remorseful thief returned the box on New Year's Eve.

Brittany Hale said a security camera at her parents' Rancho Santa Margarita home was recording Dec. 21 when a woman stole a package containing personalized collages of photos from her wedding that were meant to be Christmas gifts for her parents and grandparents.

Hale released the video in the hopes of reaching the thief and convincing them to return the photos, and the gambit appears to have worked -- the security camera recorded the woman making a second visit to the home on New Year's Eve and returning the packages.

"Starting 2018 off with the stolen wedding photos returned," Hale said in a Facebook post. "Last night the lady that stole them had the heart to return them. I am thankful that this lady did the right thing and returned what was not hers. I can only hope she has learned a lesson from stealing other people's property."