DALLAS, Texas — A Dallas bride-to-be's unique and thoughtful gift for her fiance has been ruined by a selfish porch pirate who was seen swiping it on Tuesday.
The Dallas Police Department is investigating the theft.
Kelsey Foster is that bride; she and her husband, Garrett, are tying the knot in October after being together for more than three years.
The pair met just before the pandemic, a day after Valentine's Day, and continued dating despite the lockdowns and 'unprecedented times.'
Last July, Garrett popped the question.
Foster couldn't wait to start planning a wedding, which amplified when she and her soon-to-be husband took their engagement photos.
"We had never done a photoshoot before," Foster said. "It was definitely a long time coming. Those pictures showed that special connection I've always felt with him."
Foster loved one engagement photo so much that she decided to commission an artist and have them paint it on canvas, a surprise gift she planned on giving Garrett before the wedding in October.
"I just thought a painting of it would be so special in our house," Foster said.
The artist took almost two months painting the photo before it arrived on Foster's doorstep in a box Tuesday off of Preston Road just north of Arapaho.
But a woman seen snooping on several security and doorbell cameras in the area spoiled the surprise.
In Foster's doorbell camera footage, the woman spots the packages on her doorstep, approaches and then leaves. She then returns and scoops up all the boxes and walks off.
Some packages were deliveries from Amazon, but one box had the painting inside.
"She comes up twice -- looks dead in the camera and still takes everything," Foster said. "The other things can be replaced, but the painting was sentimental."
Foster said she can reach out to the artist again to make another painting but isn't sure if it's going to be done in time before the wedding.
"If it takes her almost two months and she has other clients, it's not fair to them or her to have to rush me one," Foster said. "This woman didn't just steal a package from me, she stole a special moment from me that I could have had with Garrett."
Foster said all she wants is for the porch pirate to give back the painting which is of no value to anyone but her.
She also posted the doorbell camera footage on social media to warn folks. People on 'Nextdoor' in her area commented that the woman had been seen in the area doing similar things before.
"Mail it. Toss it back on the porch. Toss it in the alley. I don't care -- I just want it back," Foster said.