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Local Kris Kringles Save Christmas For Family Visiting Long Island

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It was almost a sad ending to Christmas for a family visiting Long Island from California, when two children's presents fell out of their parents' car.

Thankfully, some good Samaritans saved the day.

All was calm on a cold Christmas night in Northport until a car crossed Main Street. Its trunk flew open, and out fell several gifts onto Woodbine Avenue.

Several cars drove by until one finally stopped.

"As we looked we saw little pink unicorn slippers," Bridget Spillane said. "Then we said oh my goodness, this is someone's Christmas presents."

Spillane and her two sons jumped out of their car and picked the gifts up one by one.

"I couldn't imagine how the kids would feel, or how the parents would feel knowing that they didn't have them," Spillane said.

The gifts were found just down the street from the police station, so the family came here to drop them off saying it was the right and only thing to do.

The Spillanes then posted an emergency note on Facebook, using a picture of the family from an ornament found among the gifts.

"Very quickly it became a Facebook viral sensation and within about an hour or so we get a phone call from someone who believed it was their packages," Police Chief Bill Ricca said. "They were able to identify what they were, and we reunited the packages with its rightful owners."

A grateful Cathy Montague happened to come into the police station while CBS2's crew was there to pick up the gifts which belong to her four year old grandson and two year old granddaughter. Both kids were overjoyed when they heard the news.

"They were very happy, so we all went to bed with big smiles," Montague said.

Police say if you find someone's belongings, you have a legal responsibility and a civic duty to turn them in.

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