PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Instead of spending Christmas morning opening presents with his family, Jason Wonn was scrambling to replace the gifts that were stolen from his truck, and he says some can’t be replaced.
He stopped at the Port Charlotte mall to finish his Christmas shopping Wednesday. Most of his presents were already wrapped in his truck as he prepared to hit the road to visit his parents in Sarasota.
“I bought gifts for my mother, my father, my sister, her significant other, my girlfriend and her two children,” he said.
After he finished shopping, he nearly fell to the ground when walked outside.
“I opened the doors to my truck, and I noticed right away, that everything was gone,” he said.
$2,000 worth of Christmas presents and possessions.
He drives an older vehicle and says the remote to lock it only works about 80 percent of the time. He says it’s safe to assume this wasn’t one of the times it worked. Malfunction or not, he says he should’ve double checked all doors were locked.
He turned to Facebook for help - not for presents but to help find the irreplaceable items like dog tags belonging to his close friend who died in 2012.
“He was a good friend. He’s gone. All I have is his dog tags, and now they’re gone,” he said.
He also lost a Hoyt left-handed hunting bow which he says is valued at several hundred dollars.
Bryan Kelly saw Wonn’s Facebook post, and figured he could help at least with the left-handed bow he had in his garage.
“I’m an avid fisherman. I know what it’s like to have something that you rely on for a hobby to be taken from you like that,” said Kelly.
He gave it to Wonn along with a few gift cards for his family and a holiday card sharing a message most people can relate to, ”Goodbye 2020.” He also encouraged him to keep his head up.
“We have opportunities everyday to share with people strong, positive messages through our actions and through our words to make people feel better,” said Kelly.
Wonn says he’s hoping someone will bring back his late friend’s dog tags, since those mean more to him than anything else taken from his truck.
Local law enforcement has reported a rise in crimes like these and urge you to double check, triple check your doors are locked before walking away from your car.
