Sa’fyre’s father and three siblings died in a suspicious fire at their Schenectady home. Sa’Frye spent months in the burn unit; lost one of her hands; required multiple plastic surgeries; and continues to need a special mouthpiece to stop her mouth from shrinking because of scar tissue.
After Sa’fyre said she wanted Christmas cards, her aunt got the word out on Facebook and a campaign was launched. Volunteers and a warehouse were needed to handle the more than 1 million Christmas cards addressed to the girl. At one time, there could be as many as 150 volunteers working at the warehouse.
That is the heart warming part as were the many volunteers who came and helped. However, the organization heard that volunteers were stealing from the cards. For a while, Bradford was allowed to take cards home to write back to the donors. However, they were supposed to be emptied at the warehouse and the contents removed. She was told to stop taking cards home in January after allegations of stealing surfaced.
The organization had contacted police about their fear that volunteers were stealing from the cards. That led to the arrest and charge of Bradford for Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony.
She could face four years in prison.
The organization clearly believes that this was not the only fallen angel but the arrest is likely to deter any continued pilfering. The organization said that it had other names of suspected thieves. However, no other charges have been filed.