The doorbell notification appeared on my phone while I was in a meeting.
I saw the package placed beside the door.
I planned to retrieve it afterward.
When I finished the call twenty-five minutes later, the box was gone.
That was when I became angry.
Not because the kit was expensive.
Because I knew how excited our son had been.
He'd spent weeks saving allowance money for extra paint and small tools he wanted to use with the model.
My wife had ordered the kit as a surprise, and now somebody had taken it without giving a thought to the child waiting to open it.
I went outside and checked the street.
Nothing.
Then I opened the doorbell camera application.
The recording showed the delivery driver leaving the package.
Several minutes passed.
Then a vehicle stopped near our driveway.
A woman stepped out.
She wore a large hat, sunglasses, and a pale coat.
She approached the porch, looked toward the front door, and lifted the box.
Then she returned to the vehicle.
The video was clear enough to show what happened.
But the woman's face was partially obscured.
I couldn't identify her with confidence.
I filed a report and preserved the recording.
The incident was documented, but there wasn't enough information at that point to establish who had taken the package.
I understood that.
A camera recording isn't magic.
It shows what the lens captures.
It doesn't automatically identify every person or prove every element of an offense.
Still, the incident left me uneasy.
The woman hadn't wandered randomly down the street.
She seemed to know exactly where she was going.
She walked directly to our porch, collected the box, and left.
There was no hesitation.
No looking for the correct address.
No sign that she believed the parcel belonged to her.
She acted as though she had every right to take it.
That bothered me more than the missing model kit.
The following week, I contacted the HOA.
I explained that multiple packages had disappeared and asked whether the association had security footage covering the street or whether other residents had reported similar incidents.
The HOA president responded personally.
Her email began with sympathy.
Unfortunately, package theft can occur when residents fail to follow recommended delivery-security procedures.
I frowned.
She continued by suggesting that I should arrange for deliveries to be held elsewhere, invest in a lockable parcel box, or use the community's approved receiving service.
That last option was new to me.
I looked through the original HOA documents.
There was no receiving service mentioned.
So I asked for details.