FAIRVIEW PARK, Ohio — Families in Northeast Ohio were shocked and forced to play the role of the Easter bunny after they say they paid for a no-show Easter bunny who failed to deliver and hide the anticipated eggs for children on Easter Sunday.
Sunday was not an eggcellent start for families on Cleveland’s West Side.
Families told News 5 that they pre-paid for an Easter egg drop to happen overnight. But when they woke up, the plastic eggs synonymous with Easter egg hunts were absent, and so was the excitement felt by children waiting to find the treasures inside.
The person running the Easter services failed to deliver, families said, forcing them to hastily create an egg hunt later in the day in Fairview Park.
“There’s been a lot of people affected. Fairview, Rocky River, Strongsville,” said Jen Stross, who later organized an egg hunt for families.
Police departments in Westlake, Strongsville, Parma, Fairview Park and Broadview Heights received reports from residents who claimed they paid for an Easter egg service and never received anything in return.
Parma mom Daisy Rosado paid for eggs to be delivered in her yard between 10 p.m. Saturday night and 6 a.m. Sunday.
"I have three little ones, a 9-year-old, a 7-year-old and a 5-year-old. They kept asking me where’s the Easter bunny? When is he going to come? Why hasn’t he come yet?" she said. "The parents were looking forward to this because we wanted our kids to be excited. It gave us something to be excited for and we haven’t had that for a long time."
Rosado filed a police report with Parma police, not because of the lost money, but because of the principle of it all.
"It makes me sick to my stomach that people would prey on families like that and on the innocent of kids," she said.
Rosado and many others, including Sue Gaukin of Broadview Heights, found an ad posted on local Facebook community pages showing that dozens of people paid for the service with no services received.
Gaukin paid $50 for 100 eggs for her 4 grandchildren.
"My husband wakes me up and goes, Sue, there are no eggs. I texted her like 8:00 in the morning 'Hey, where're my eggs?' and no response," said Gaukin.
She said she wanted to do something nice for her grandchildren, but also help out a local woman.
"I don't understand it because I go out of my way to do whatever I can for people," she said. "I'm debating whether I should go to the police to make a police report or just chalk it up to experience," she said.
News 5 is not naming the woman who is allegedly responsible for egg-less Easter, because she has yet to be charged.
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