Vancouver police have recovered almost half of the toy donations that were stolen from the Salvation Army in Vancouver on Dec. 3.
About 32 boxes were recovered but 48 boxes remain missing. The toys were worth $25,000 in total.
But the community has stepped in to help fill the gap caused by the thefts, and some people who would not normally be helping out are doing their part. Well-known criminals who were outraged by the thefts have passed on tips to police.
"Some people that maybe know the people that are responsible 'dropped a dime' as we say in the business and gave the police a phone call," said Cst. Tim Fanning of the Vancouver Police Department.
There have not been any arrests as yet, but police were following the leads, said Fanning. On Friday six boxes were seized from an address in East Vancouver which police refused to name.
And generous members of the public are also donating more to make up for the lost toys. An extra $100,000 has been donated in the past week.
"People are dismayed about this and they're disappointed that this has happened in their city, so they've upped their donations at the kettle, but on top of that we've had cash donations to our call centre or our website have increased over the last four days," said Salvation Army major Brian Venables.
He said London Drugs donated $10,000 worth of merchandise, and the Vancouver Police Department is also collecting toys and donating $2,000 to buy more.
"It's really brought the community together from the police department working so diligently to try and solve the case to the fire department supporting us and major corporations supporting us and the general public overwhelming us with toys, It's been wonderful," said Major Venables.
Fanning said he believed the people behind the thefts had likely been recipients of help from the Salvation Army and other charities in the city.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Reshmi Nair
