Arizona mom Sydney Ostrander says she is willing to prosecute after a thief made off with her family’s Halloween display, including a skeleton dog beloved by her children.
The Ostrander family discovered the theft on Oct. 21 after a chaotic night in Surprise, Arizona. Around 4 a.m., Ostrander’s mother had called emergency services to report that a tree had crushed her van during a storm. The family initially assumed their missing decorations had simply been scattered by wind until they reviewed their security camera footage.
What they found was no gust of bad weather. The footage showed a woman getting out of her vehicle and helping herself to decorations, first from a next-door neighbor’s yard, then from the Ostranders’ own lawn. The thief loaded up two tombstones, a phony skull, and a plastic skeleton dog nicknamed “Ellie” before driving off in her Jeep.
Ostrander’s children have taken the loss of Ellie especially hard. “Although it may seem like just a Halloween decoration, Ellie was part of a family display that our children loved,” Ostrander told FOX 10. The skeleton dog had become a centerpiece of the family’s seasonal tradition, and its disappearance has left the kids particularly upset.
The financial hit was relatively small. The decorations were valued at only around $100 according to a police report. But Ostrander has made clear that the principle matters more than the price tag, telling investigators she is “willing to prosecute” the perpetrator.
The theft appears to be part of a broader pattern. After the Ostranders shared their surveillance video, other residents in the Surprise area came forward with their own footage appearing to show the same vehicle targeting Halloween displays around the neighborhood. Multiple households now believe they were hit by the same decoration-hungry culprit.
“It’s disappointing that we can’t even decorate our homes for Halloween without worrying about someone stealing from us,” Ostrander told the TV station. Her frustration reflects a growing annoyance among locals who have found their holiday spirit dampened by the string of thefts.
Surprise police are currently investigating the reported decoration heists. Authorities have not yet announced any arrests or released a detailed description of a suspect, though the shared surveillance footage has given residents a head start in identifying both the vehicle and the woman behind the wheel.
The incident has struck a nerve in the community, where families have increasingly turned to social media and neighborhood surveillance networks to protect their property. What began as one family’s unfortunate discovery after a storm-damaged van has evolved into a collective effort to catch a seasonal thief.
The decorations were taken in the early morning hours of Oct. 21 from the Ostrander family’s front lawn in the Phoenix suburb of Surprise.