Bag of stolen wigs recovered by police after tip from the public

An alert resident of a Downtown Eastside hotel has helped Vancouver police recover some of the wigs that were stolen from a store last week.

The witness spotted a bag of wigs in the hotel's hallway, and called police at around 10 p.m. PT on Thursday, according to a news release.

"The person who located the bag of wigs immediately linked them to the media coverage about the theft and called 911," Const. Jason Doucette said in the release.

"Although we've recovered a portion of the wigs, the investigation remains a priority. We would like to get the remainder of the property back and make an arrest in this case."

At least 150 wigs were taken during a break-in at Eva and Company Wigs at 950 West Broadway in the early morning hours of Sept. 7.

The wigs are made from real human hair and valued at about $2,500 each. About 15 were intended for patients at B.C. Children's Hospital, including children with cancer and other medical conditions like alopecia.

According to the manager of the store, some of the children had skipped the first week of school so they could start classes with their new hair.

Investigators have a suspect in the theft, described as "dark-skinned, with noticeably curly, long, black hair." Police say he was last seen walking away from the wig store carrying a large black garbage bag and wearing a denim or blue jacket.

Anyone with information about the stolen wigs is asked to call the VPD's property crime investigators at 604-717-0610 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.

With files from The Canadian Press

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