AUBURN — Shelly Bradstreet is not looking for a handout. She was overwhelmed Friday by the number of people — strangers, all of them — who came forward with offers to help replace a bicycle stolen from her 12-year-old daughter earlier in the week.
“I don’t know how Danyell and I am ever going to thank everyone,” Bradstreet said. “I love this community.”
Saying thanks, as it turns out, may be the easy part.
Before noon, there was already a swirl or rumor and activity surrounding the theft of the three-wheeled trike, used the past three years by Shelly’s daughter Danyell, who suffers  rheumatoid arthritis.
A local bike store owner on Friday offered to replace the stolen trike at cost. A woman who found what she thought was a similar bike in her basement wanted to hand it over to Danyell at no charge at all.
Turns out that was a two-wheeled bike.
Numerous people called or wrote the Sun Journal, Auburn police or Shelly herself to offer donations toward replacing the stolen bike. An Auburn police officer set up a fund to collect money toward that aim.
Meanwhile, rumors were floating that the missing trike may have been found.
Early in the day, Shelly received a message from a Sabattus police officer who reported he had spotted a bike a lot like the one stolen from Danyell. Turns out that was true.
Sort of.
“It matched the description perfectly,” said Sabattus police Officer Ralph DeStefano.
Aware of the bike stolen from Auburn, DeStefano stopped to check it out. Cased solved? Not quite.
“As it turns out, the woman who owns that one has had it for a number of years,” he said.
While all this was happening, more people were stepping up with offers to help pay for a replacement bike. But Shelly says a friend is traveling from Connecticut this weekend to provide a replacement for Danyell to use while the search continues for the missing three-wheeler. She balks at the idea of accepting money.
“Financial help was not a goal for me,” she said. “I just wanted more exposure to help find Danyell’s bike. I want to thank everyone for their generosity but, I will have to decline all the wonderful offers.”
Which, by the end of the day, had not been found. Anyone with information about the bicycle, a light blue three-wheeler with basket stolen from the dead end of Temple Street, is asked to call Auburn police at 784-7332 or 333-6650.