Christmas Eve thieves target single mother, girl

ATLANTA (FOX 5 Atlanta) - Police say thieves on Christmas Eve hit a new low: a single mother came home to find her home ransacked and the presents under her Christmas tree cleaned out. 

"I wonder do they have a heart? Do they care?" said Starlet Wheatley, mother to a six-year-old girl, holding back tears as she spoke to FOX 5.

"A person to rob you on Christmas Eve is a coward," she said.

Monday afternoon on Christmas Eve, while Ms. Wheatley was at work, her alarm company notified her that someone was breaking in; she arrived home to find police there and numerous items missing.

She said televisions and electronics were missing from around her guest room, daughter's room, and living room, and more than a dozen presents under the tree were taken. They were mostly meant for her daughter. 

"For someone to take all of her presents the day before Christmas-- that's very hurtful," she said.

 Police are searching for the culprits. 

Ms. Wheatley's family is now getting her a surveillance system for Christmas.