Missing Christmas Tree Saga Gets a Happy Ending
The mystery of two missing community Christmas trees in San Clemente, California, has been solved.
Residents of the coastal city were baffled and the organizer heartbroken after the first of two holiday plants went missing from its perch Dec. 8. The tree had been a longstanding tradition led by Deborah Sheldrake-Stetson, who encouraged others to help decorate it.
As she has done routinely for the past 14 years, she placed the bare tree near Calafia Beach, just south of the rail crossing, the evening of Nov. 30.
She said she was devastated to find the tree missing Dec. 8, and put out a community cry for help. A Good Samaritan made a $300 donation, which allowed Sheldrake-Stetson to buy a replacement. But it, too, disappeared.