Porch Pirate Steals NICU Baby's Handmade Quilt, Baltimore Mother Hopes For Its Return
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A Baltimore mother is hoping someone will return a baby blanket that was stolen from her doorstep.
There have been lots of stories recently about packages being stolen from doorsteps, but a box taken from one upper Fells Point home has broken the hearts of a young couple.
There was nothing inside of monetary value, but, for them, its deeper meaning makes it priceless.
Claire Hanway said a neighbor found a package addressed to her a block away from her home in the 300 block of S. Duncan Street. The box was torn open and empty when she found it.
Hanway said the box contained a handmade quilt for her son, who's been in the NICU since his birth in September.
Born last September at 25 weeks, he's been in the Hopkins NICU, or neo-natal intensive care unit, ever since he came into the world.
"One pound, 11 ounces, and is now over seven-and-a-half pounds," Claire said.
[REPORTER: "That's like a miracle."] "He is our little miracle baby," Claire responded.
One of Claire's oldest friends, Kate -- who lives in Oregon -- hand-made a special quilt for Cas.
"She took all this time finding all these different patterns, asking which one I preferred and what are the nursery colors were gonna be, and has worked on it for months," Claire added.
On Saturday, Claire and her husband were both at Hopkins with Cas, when two boxes were delivered to their house. One had baby clothes. The other had the precious quilt.
A neighbor discovered them just blocks away.
She saw that the mailman had come at 6:50 p.m., and at 7:20 p.m., she saw two people walking away with the boxes.
The neighbor gave Claire surveillance video of the incident, and they have filed a police report.
To get a photo of the quilt, she had to reach out to her friend.
"It was really devastating to have to tell her, and of course she started crying, as she spent months of hard work into this," Clair said.
[REPORTER: "What do you want?"]
"I don't need anything to happen to the people who took the quilt," Claire said. "I would just love to get the quilt back. It was such a lovingly made quilt for this little baby who's been in the hospital since he was born and I just want all that effort that my friend went to to actually go full circle and make it to the baby that it was meant for."
She's hoping the porch pirate has a heart and will return it, or if someone else sees it will send it back.
If you see the quilt, send an email to returnmyquilt@gmail.com.
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