Christmas

Fairy Tale Ending After Gift Mistaken for Trash

A Flower Mound family is praising those who helped replace their daughter's Christmas gift after it was mistaken for trash.

Britain Gray, 3, got a new Frozen motorized Jeep for Christmas, but after just more than a week she found herself without it.

"Saturday, my daughter was out playing with the Jeep, her new Frozen Barbie Jeep, and the battery ran out about halfway up the driveway. She went inside and had lunch, and we're setting around watching TV and the trash came and left," her father Mitch Gray said. "She came back outside to play and the Jeep is gone."

"It was about five feet or so from where the bulk trash gets picked up they mistakenly took it," Mitch Gray said.

Mitch Gray thought he might have to spend $300 on a new Frozen Jeep to replace it, but he didn't have to spend a dime.

A neighbor made a phone call to the Town of Flower Mound Customer Relations Manager Shelley Putnam, who then called Waste Management to find out what could be done.

That's when Robert Smith with Waste Management requested special permission to replace it. A company spokesperson told NBC 5 when items are lost they will make an effort to search for them, but replacing them is not within company policy. Still, permission was granted.

Stores in the immediate area did not have the exact model, but Smith eventually found one in Frisco, according to Putnam. It was delivered to their door Sunday afternoon, just a day after it disappeared.

The Grays thanked both the Town of Flower Mound and Waste Management for going above and beyond.

"It was totally unexpected they would go to that measure for customer service," Mitch Gray said.

Waste Management issued the following statement Monday:

"Waste Management values the communities that partner with us. We are glad this story had a happy-ending. This is a great teaching opportunity to remind everyone to not leave items at the curb that you do not want removed by the trash collection team."

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