ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The Saturday night heist of a high priced combination stroller-car seat from the grounds of the Walt Disney World was solved with the help of a social media post, a serial number and solid detective work.
David Diaz, a marketing executive in the Orlando area, told News 6 he took his wife, toddler and 5-week-old child to the Magic Kingdom to enjoy the lighting of the lights at Cinderella’s Castle.
“We already had a fast pass so we decided to go the Little Mermaid (ride),” Diaz said. “As soon as that was done, we were going to leave,”
Diaz estimates about 10 minutes between parking the stroller to completing the ride was all the thief needed to turn the evening into a Christmas nightmare.
“We searched the entire new Fantasy Land from 'Be Our Guest' all the way down to 'Dumbo' and it was just nowhere,” he said.
Diaz said Disney cast members immediately helped in the search for the expensive stroller, a gift valued at well over $500.
“Our diaper bag with all of its contents were in there, but really the biggest kicker was our car seat was in there," Diaz said. ”We could not get home without a car seat. We were literally stranded with a 5-week-old.”
Diaz posted his story on Facebook, filed a police report and then got an unexpected break.
Diaz told News 6 a friend spotted all of the stolen items posted on Facebook Marketplace offered by someone calling herself Amanda Freedom.
“We found the stroller posted online, but what really did it was that we found the serial number to the car seat that was stolen,” Diaz said.
Once Orange County detectives had that information, they set up a rendezvous on Wednesday to purchase the stroller and car seat: The serial numbers were a match.
The alleged thief, 24-year-old Amanda Poyner, said nothing to police as she was arrested.
Orange County detectives told News 6 that much of the stolen property has yet to be found.
Lt. Joe McCollum said the investigation is just getting started as detectives try to track down additional stolen property.
“She was trying to turn this thing around pretty quick," McCollum told News 6. “Once it was determined the serial indeed matched the victim’s serial numbers, then we effected the arrest.”
McCollum said investigators are convinced Poyner is working with at least one other family member but they are still developing leads.
“We got it (the stroller) yesterday," a jubilant Diaz told News 6. ”It was such a pleasure to meet the entire detective family and they were excited to meet us. They did an amazing job.”