Solving Crimes | By Katie

I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. I used to love it because I was able to sign up when it first became available to the public (ie: you didn't need a college email address to have an account, I went to community college which did not have a student email system, while my friends in Universities had full access and talked of the site before allowing anyone to join.) 
Now, Facebook is something I keep because of the local pages and groups, so I know more or less what is going on nearby, be it events such as the little train running, or groups to ask local Moms what is the best indoor gym in the winter for your toddler to get their wiggles out (pre-covid, obviously). 

A few days ago Thom and I needed to run some errands, we ended up stopping at about 4 or 5 different stores through the excursion. One of them being at Office Depot where he could ship off 12 boxes, I knew better than to take a 4yo inside. I sat in the car with Sefton, while Thom waited for the clerk to hand type the info for each and every shipping label being created. 
Meanwhile I set up "Little Baby Bum" to play for Sefton through the speakers while he patiently waited for Dad, meanwhile scrolling through Facebook as we sat in the parking lot. This post popped up in my feed, coming from the "Wenatchee Crimes and News" group I follow.

Mind you - we had just come from Target (or as Sefton affectionally calls it the "Circle Store"). We didn't find any of the things there on our list, but did grab a few Easter basket stuffers for Sefton, not wanting him to see the goods, I left Thom to checkout while taking Sefton to return the cart, and wait for Dad near the door to head back outside. As I was standing there I happened to notice a bike inside the exit door with fat tires (commonly used for biking in the snow), and that it was a vibrant orange, and the frame was filled in. Just like the image here, but with bigger tires. I almost did nothing and kept scrolling, but I left the following comment, which brought on a few replies:

There was a myriad of additional posts from other people who also saw the guy sitting on the bike, and informed the poster of his description. Before you know it, she shared that the police were on their way. Thom had since returned back to the car, I informed him of the exciting news happening live on the Wenatchee Crimes facebook page, we half joked about going back to Target, but alas we had more stores to visit, and a small human who was holding on so well, we didn't want to press our luck. 
After Lowes and a Goodwill donation drop - I checked back in to see any updates:

Success! Caught the thief, the gentleman got his beloved bike back, and faith in humanity restored. 
All from the comfort of my car, holding my phone. Glad I could contribute my civic duty in such a valiant manner.