Missing Minion returned to Orange City home

ORANGE CITY, Fla. – A special Christmas decoration has been returned to an Orange City home.

"We're so happy we have him back, aren't we!" said Nathan Sealander.

Sealander's son, 2-year-old Colton smiled at his buddy, Dave the Minion after thieves ripped the decoration from the family's front yard last week.

"We got an anonymous tip on Friday night that Dave was in the neighborhood," said Sealander.

Sealander said they called the Volusia County Sheriff's Office for a deputy to check out the house who supposedly had the Minion.

"The people said they didn't know anything about it, so we went to bed a little disheartened that night," he said.

But on Saturday morning, a couple of kids came to the family's door with some good news.

"They found him surprisingly two blocks from where he was allegedly at. They found him in a ditch.
They said they saw the story on the news and they knew he was ours and wanted to bring him back," said Sealander.

The family said they tried offering the kids a reward that was promised in their flyers, but the kids turned it down. Sealander said this incident really showed their kids a valuable lesson.

"It showed the kids that there are good people out there. Maybe somebody realized that they affected our kid's Christmas and they had a change of heart," he said.

Sealander said they're now keeping a close eye on Dave, by taking him inside the house every night.

"Had you not reached out to us. I don't think we would have got him back. It's a Merry Christmas. It's a Christmas miracle," said Sealander.