COMAL COUNTY, Texas – The Comal County Sheriff’s Office is trying to track down a woman who they’ve labeled, "The Wedding Crasher,” an uninvited guest who has stolen gifts from at least a half-dozen weddings.
Detective Scott Frakes said he first became aware of the suspect last November after a wedding in Spring Branch.
Since then, he said, she has struck at least five more times, mostly at the same venue.
He said the other thefts have happened during weddings in another part of Comal County, as well as in Blanco in Kendall County.
“She comes in just after everybody is outside, walks in with a purse. She's in there no more than about a minute, minute and a half,” Frakes said.
The woman, who was caught on surveillance cameras at a wedding earlier this month, often overlooks other gifts and concentrates on gift cards and cash, he said.
“'Cause it's easy to grab up a stack of cards,” Frakes said. “Most people know you go to weddings, you're going to have gift cards or cash.”
Always dressed up as if she was invited to the wedding, the suspect sometimes even mingles with other guests, Frakes said.
Investigators also have obtained video from several retailers, showing the same woman using the stolen gift cards.
They’re still working to count up the losses, although they estimate the total is in the thousands of dollars.
“The difficult part is not all of the victims retained their receipts so it's going to be difficult in actually tracking everything that was stolen,” Frakes said.
Detectives have dubbed this suspect, “The Wedding Crasher,” as a nod to a comedic movie with a similar name.
However, Frakes said this case is no laughing matter.
“This is someone that is marking somebody's special day and essentially ruining it,” he said.
The Comal County Sheriff’s Office asks anyone who recognizes the woman in the photos to call their Crime Stoppers line at 830-620-TIPS (8477) or 1-800-640-8422
Tips also can be submitted online through their website: http://www.comalcrimestoppers.org