The Case of the Padre Thief

When people think of spring break on South Padre Island they think of beaches, sun, palm trees, friends and most importantly no school. All twenty-one of us who made the twenty-hour drive from Kearney to Texas were all ready for five carefree days in paradise. The trip started out as planned. Heading to the beach, swimsuits on and cocktails in hand. I was shocked to see thousands and thousands of college students flooding the beach with their university flags flown high in the warm, spring wind. As we got closer, booths advertising certain products were stationed along the sand offering services like free leg shaving or giving bottles of coca cola to every student who gave them a glance. As we moved down the beach there was loud music being blared from speakers, students throwing a football, and girls just catching some rays from the Texas sun. All typical events that happen when school isn’t in session for those seven glorious days.
The next few days carried on with similar events all exciting and adventurous as the days and nights before. Soaking up the sun during the day and busting a move at the local clubs at night. On Thursday, day three of our get-a-way, who knew that we would come off our spring break high with a crashing downer? Friday morning when Bridget woke from her sleep she had stayed the night in our condo across from the Saida Resorts. When she arrived back at her condo at the east side of the resort she called us from her phone to ask if we had spotted her Coach brand clutch purse. We tore our condo apart, lifting couch cushions, rearranging pillows, looking under beds and basically looking in any nook and cranny to find the missing bag. After many minutes of my roommates and I searching, the bag was still unable to be found. Every option of where the bag could be rushed our minds and were asked to Bridget as to where the bag was. Taylor, a friend who was sharing my particular condo, was also worried about the missing bag because her cellular phone was also there. Everyone, just trying to figure out the mystery, was spitting out question after question. As more people got involved with the search more and more people were convinced that the bag had been on the counter that night before, even prior to Bridget coming to our condo. As pieces of the puzzle were starting to come together, another member of our spring break crew was frantically searching for his new camera, which had ironically last been seen right next to Bridget’s bag on the countertop. Now, this wasn’t some plain Jane camera, this was a camera that had cost over $2000. As word of the missing items started to spread through the word of mouth more and more people were realizing certain clues to tie our mystery together. People were questioning the people we knew not only in our own condo but also condos to every side of us. Another group of gentlemen also said that their door had been wide open that same night.
Tempers still continued to flare as people were in search of the missing items. Trying to find any missing clue as to who stole the belongings. After figuring out that the items weren’t simply misplaced, everyone not in our group was considered a suspect. The next morning, the day we were to head back to our college town, I reached for my wristlet purse from the counter. I reached into see how much money I had left I realized that the stack of twenties I had previously counted was missing. I kept recounting and recounting hoping for it to be simply folded down below the other bills I had in this mini purse. Still, the five twenties I had folded in a bunch were gone.
As I began to worry about my missing money, I realized one thing. I realized that nothing would be able to be done about any of our missing items on the trip. Those items that we had cherished dearly were gone forever. Overall spring break is a great time to relax with friends and kick back before the end of semester but always remember to lock your door and never underestimate the greed in anyone. It is still a mystery and the Padre thief will never be caught and brought to justice.