Texas police are calling on the public to help identify a woman they’ve dubbed the "Wedding Crasher,” who is suspected of turning up to weddings uninvited, posing as a guest, and swiping presents off the gift table before fleeing the venue.
Detective Scott Frakes of the Comal County Sheriff's Office near San Antonio told local station KENS 5 that the woman has stolen gifts from four different weddings hosted at two venues, with the earliest incident reported back in December 2018. Authorities believe that there might be more newlywed victims out there in neighboring counties.
But how does the swiper get away with swiping wedding gifts, especially if traditional gifts usually are bulky kitchen appliances? The calculated thief instead targets small envelopes of cash and gift cards.
Frakes said that he believes that the thief has made away with thousands of dollars.
"It seems our suspect has found a lucrative way to make a living and has been clever in a way she executes, in the way she stole," Frakes told KENS 5. (Sheriff’s officials told BuzzFeed News Frakes was unavailable for comment on Thursday.)
Frakes said investigators have obtained video footage of the woman at both wedding venues and stores where the stolen gift cards were used.
One of the couples who fell victim to the culprit’s sticky fingers were Dani and Kinsey Schick, who found out the day after their Aug. 3 wedding reception that multiple $100 gift cards and tickets to Disneyland had been stolen.
“We just had the greatest day of our lives that night,” Dani told BuzzFeed News. “A few of the staff knew that it happened later that night, but no one told us on purpose, which was super amazing. I’m really thankful that they waited to tell us. So finding out after was definitely a little easier than like finding out…during our wedding reception.”
“We were a little sad, honestly,” said Kinsey. “I hoped she didn’t take any heartfelt letters or things like that.”
Jill McCarty, vice president of New Braunfels Wedding Chamber, a wedding coordinating company, told BuzzFeed News that many vendors that were organized by her company recognized the suspect because she had attended various open houses.
“We believe that she’s been frequenting the open houses and different events that the venues have had to kind of scope things out, to get to know some of the vendors, and to kind of get an idea of wedding dates and stuff like that that are happening in our area,” she said.
Authorities are offering a cash reward of up to $4,000 for information on the culprit.