Thief Returned Terminally Ill Woman’s Camera

By Alex in Crime & Law on Dec 13, 2008 at 12:42 am

Jami McElrath got her camera stolen when a thief broke into her car. When the thief found out that Jami is terminally ill, he had a change of heart and returned the camera:

McElrath, who has inoperable cancer, was collecting photos to place in a scrapbook for her children so they could remember her after she was gone. The camera had belonged to her father, who died of a heart attack two years ago.

The woman told her heart-wrenching story to Dallas-area news station WFAA TV, appealing to the burglar to return the camera. [...]

Then something remarkable happened. A few days after the story aired, Douglas got a call from a man who told him to look behind a red car in the station’s parking lot. The caller didn’t leave his name; he said only that he felt bad about the incident and wanted to return the camera.

Link – Thanks Geekazoid!

Tags: camera, terminally ill, thief, TV

Neat stuff from the NeatoShop:

Woogie
Dec 13th, 2008 at 1:20 am
I hope they still arrest the thieving maggot. What? If you’re not dying of a disease, it’s fine to take peoples stuff? Guy’s still a wanker.
Ali S.
Dec 13th, 2008 at 2:30 am
At least the thief was kind enough to return something that money couldn’t replace…that counts for something, right?
Mouserz
Dec 13th, 2008 at 3:04 am
Well thats sweet.
raina_c
Dec 13th, 2008 at 4:46 am
I’m one that’s hardcore when it comes to criminals (like Nancy Grace), but I still think the story was nice and who knows maybe this will make the thief think before he does something like this again…I mean he has a conscience so that’s good. If he does it again, then throw the book at him.
Evilbeagle
Dec 13th, 2008 at 6:37 am
The thief doesn’t deserve mercy of any sort, but it is refreshing to hear of a criminal with a scrap of conscience.
DOJ
Dec 13th, 2008 at 6:56 am
Sometimes Robin Hood steals from the poor on accident
liphttam1
Dec 13th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Don’t do the crime, if you cant take the pain.
GailW
Dec 13th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
This is one of the reasons I feel that stealing is just as bad as murder.
Max Power
Dec 13th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
@GailW

………………………. I’m not calling you anything for the blog’s sake. :S
mustardhamsters
Dec 13th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Mr. Rogers’ car was stolen once, and the thieves returned that too.
vero4902
Dec 13th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
That is nice… not that it makes the guy stealing it in the first place “okay”, but at least he has a heart.
Christophe
Dec 14th, 2008 at 12:57 am
Tsss… Thieves are not what they used to be : he could have extorted some good money out of somebody who had nothing to loose.
;p
ted
Dec 14th, 2008 at 9:18 am
Geez. Most thieves don’t give a crap about the situation of the people they steal from. It’s called “no conscience”.
Maybe this guy just couldn’t sell it fast enough.
sloane
Dec 14th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Maybe he didn’t feel like with that much publicity he’d be able to sell it and decided he might as well give it back.

Keep track of the comments with

Comment RSS

Lijit Search

The latest from NeatoBambino: