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Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK

Taylor Rae thought it was odd when she spotted hockey equipment strewn about a Kamloops alley this week.

A bag along with piles of equipment were found by a house in a snowy downtown alley between Nicola and St. Paul streets on Wednesday, Dec. 28, and Rae decided she shouldn't just pass by the discarded gear.

Rae took it home and began the search for the owner. She wasn't sure if it belonged to a teenager or an adult, but she knew hockey equipment isn't cheap to replace — easily reaching a few hundred dollars to replace a full bag of gear.

She contacted multiple local sports organizations in town and went to the Kamloops RCMP detachment, but didn't have any luck.

Police told her they didn't have the resources or the ability to find out whose equipment it was.

"So they told me to do it myself," Rae said.

A post on social media helped connect her with the owner within hours, who then listed in detail all the items in the bag.

"I pretty much expecting it to be a gone'r," Quinn Smith said. "They broke in Tuesday night (Dec. 28). Smashed the window in my truck and took the gear."

He reported it to RCMP, but didn't expect much to come of the investigation.

Smith, who plays in a local adult rec hockey league, said he had just got off the ice after a game.

"If you're on the street, the last thing you'd want to be wearing is somebody's soggy, wet, stinky hockey gear," he said.

His hockey helmet was missing and the rest was a "frozen block of dirty gear."

Rae found it just a few doors down from Smith's house, between 6 and 7 Avenue, so the thieves didn't make it far before abandoning the bag of sweaty gear.

Smith said he's heartened by Rae's effort after he and other neighbours have seen property crime rise in the area.

"I'm just happy to have it back. After a few stolen things, you have doubts about humanity. Then Taylor and her mom come along, there's still some good people out there," Smith said.

"Now I can continue my drive to be a beer league champion," he quipped.

He and Rae both suggested neighbours in the area should watch out for each other, believing local police are often too busy to address property crime in the neighbourhood.

"It makes me want to be a bit more vigilant," Smith said. "If you see things laying around, don't just walk by and ignore it. It doesn't hurt to just grab onto it and throw a message out there."

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