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Car packed with 4-year-old's Christmas gifts stolen, later found with presents still inside

DEDHAM, Mass. — A Massachusetts couple's stolen car packed with their 4-year-old daughter's Christmas gifts was found in Dedham, according to police.

Two days after Christmas, Lauren and William Ingram had packed their daughter Juliah's unwrapped Christmas gifts into their Volkswagen Jetta, which was warming in a Dedham driveway before their trip home to Middleborough.

Unfortunately, the family's gifts and means of transportation were both stolen by a thief, all in a robbery that was caught on video by a neighbor's surveillance camera.

>> On Boston25News.com: Surveillance video shows thief stealing car full of child's Christmas gifts

"I felt violated," William Ingram said. "I thank God I didn't walk out of the house at the time he went and got in that car."

After several days of anger and disappointment, the Ingram family's emotions turned to elation Sunday, when Boston's WFXT informed the family that Dedham police had found the car, and it appeared items were left inside that looked to be gifts.

"I never thought that our car would be found," Lauren Ingram said. "Not only was it found, but, as we know, it was found with gifts inside of it."

>> On Boston25News.com: Family distraught as thief steals car full of 4-year-old's Christmas presents

Despite a week filled with a lack of answers, the Ingram family was happy to find out about the miraculous discovery.

"God is beyond amazing," Lauren Ingram said. "You know, if you don't believe he's in the business of miracles, you should just pay attention."

The Christmas presents had special meaning to the Ingram family, but so did the car.

Lauren Ingram said her employer bought the car so she could get back and forth to work, and she was repaying the favor. Now, she's hoping the vehicle comes back undamaged.

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As for the damage the thief did to Christmas, the Ingram family says it was undone by the goodwill of others, as strangers came to their aid after learning about what happened.

"People reaching out financially to get us a new car, that's just crazy," Lauren Ingram said. "It really is."

In the end, for the Ingram family, it's a story about gifts: the ones stolen, the ones returned and the ones realized.

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"These people, I just can't say thank you enough," Lauren Ingram said. "These people that just openly gave to us, who have no clue who we are, what kind of people we are. I'm just grateful."