Thief Returns Stolen 100lb Pumpkin to Boy

A 9-year-old Pennsylvania boy got his huge pumpkin returned to him yesterday by an apologetic, if anonymous, thief. Jaiden Newcomer won the pumpkin at a festival when he guessed how much it weighed (100 pounds, according to the York Daily Record), and the behemoth required four adults and a wheelbarrow to make it onto the family porch. Last week it went missing, and publicity surrounding the case led to many offers to replace it with other, not-quite-as-huge pumpkins. Apparently, the publicity also touched the thief's heart.

The Newcomer family came home yesterday after a weekend away to find the pumpkin back on their porch, along with a note reading, "I'm really sorry about taking your pumpkin. It was wrong of me. You earned the pumpkin. I didn't think my actions through nor realize who they were affecting. Sincerest apologies." A skeptical Jaiden made sure it was the same pumpkin by checking for a distinctive mark. "He's very excited," his mom tells the York Dispatch. "He's beside himself." (More pumpkins stories.)