Grandview Heights resident Murray McFadden is hoping whoever took parcels that were left on his porch by friends last week did it out of need – but he has his doubts.
"Maybe it's some poor, unfortunate person who's trying to put some gifts under the Christmas tree," McFadden said Monday of the Dec. 21 incident. "At the same time, that's not the best way to do it.
"It was probably a crime of opportunity."
Police have been alerted to the incident, which was captured by McFadden's home-security camera. Surrey RCMP Sgt. Paul Hayes said the footage has been posted internally to try to identify the vehicle, its occupants and exactly what transpired.
"It's not always what you see," he said.
McFadden posted the footage to YouTube in the hopes of identifying those involved. He said he discovered the loss after returning to his 28 Avenue home to find no sign of parcels he'd been told had been left just 20 minutes earlier.
The security-camera footage shows a silver-coloured van pull up in front of the home just before 7 p.m. – eight minutes after the parcels were left.
A woman – wearing a white hoodie under a black jacket with stripes on the arms – can be seen getting out of the passenger side empty-handed, then getting back in with gift bags.
Hayes encouraged anyone with information to contact police at 604-599-0502.