Often newscasts begin with the news of something stolen, but on Thursday night, we started Eyewitness News at 10pm with a story about something found and the urgent need to find its owner.
If the bag had fallen into the wrong hands, we wouldn't even be talking about it, but James Taylor says he tries to live by the golden rule, especially at Christmas. That's why he's going above and beyond to try and reunite about $700 worth of Christmas gifts with the person to whom it belongs.
You don't have to look beyond Taylor's front yard, which is full of handmade and humorous decorations, to know he is filled with Christmas spirit.
"My favorite time of the year," he said.
So it's that spirit that has compelled him to launch a search for the owner of the bag -- a green canvas tote full of Christmas gifts, cards and a lot of cash.
"It was a little wet when I first picked it up," Taylor said. "I'm like wait a minute, this stuff hasn't even been opened yet."
Taylor was driving along the outbound feeder road of the Northwest Freeway near the outlet mall when he spotted what he thought was a purse. His wife had hers stolen before so he stopped, hoping he could save someone the headache of closing credit card accounts and getting a new driver's license. He quickly realized it might be someone's entire Christmas.
"I'd feel terrible," he said.
So he started his search.
"I would hope someone would do the same," Taylor said.
Taylor has posted a sign at the nearest intersection and a similar one on Craigslist. Any callers will have to pass a stringent test to make sure the spirit of Christmas spirit isn't tainted.
"I'll ask specific questions about the names on cards," he said. "My end goal is that the people get their gifts by Christmas. That would make me feel great and I'm sure it would make the person who lost the bag feel better about the situation."
If you think the you know the owner of the bag, contact ABC13 and we'll connect you with Taylor.
Taylor says he'll keep the bag for about a year and if no one claims it during that time, he'll donate it to charity.
