The workers at The Taco Maker on Bonanza Drive were saddened when they had heard that one of their customers had passed away, a victim of cancer.
The family did not have the funds to return the man’s body to Mexico for burial, and the restaurant employees put out a cardboard donation box in hopes of raising money to help with the costs.
The restaurant’s general manger said approximately half of the box had been filled with paper money. But the box disappeared after being out for a week or so. Somebody had stolen it and an undetermined amount of money that was meant for the late man’s family, said Teresita Hernandez, the restaurant’s general manager.
“He was a regular customer of this place. Everybody knew him. That was the way we were helping,” Hernandez said.
The Park City Police Department received a report about the missing donation box at approximately 5 p.m. Dec. 8, but a police captain said the box disappeared five days earlier.
Hernandez said a worker at the restaurant told her three or four people came inside beforehand asking for job applications. The worker left the counter to get the applications, but the people were gone when she returned, Hernandez said. The box was missing afterward, she said.
The box had a picture of the late man and a sign indicating that the money was to be put toward the transportation expenses to Mexico.
“I felt so bad. That’s why I called the police. We just tried to help,” Hernandez said.
Rick Ryan, a captain in the Police Department, said a woman later called The Taco Maker indicating she had information about the case and the name of someone who might have taken the money. Ryan said the police continue to investigate.
“It doesn’t get much lower than that. You’ve got The Taco Maker trying to do a good thing, help somebody out,” Ryan said.
Anybody with information may call the Police Department at 615-5500 or the department’s anonymous tip line at 615-5847.