Stolen quilts made to honor late Edison soldier are back home with his family

Edison police returned three quilts made from Karen Delmonaco's late son Robert's T-shirts, quilts that were stolen off her porch just before Thanksgiving, to her on Monday.

EDISON TOWNSHIP — For Karen Delmonaco, Monday was like Christmas.

It was Monday that Edison police returned three quilts made from her late son Robert's T-shirts, quilts that were stolen off her porch just before Thanksgiving.

"I can't believe it," Delmonaco said. "I can't tell you how much this means to me. I was driving myself crazy. Every time the doorbell rang, I thought it would be somebody returning the quilts."

When the bell rang Monday afternoon, it was Edison police Detective Shaun Forker and her wish came true.

"They (the quilts) turned out so beautiful," Delmonaco said.

Her son was 21 and serving with the Army's 102^nd Calvary when he died in October 2014.

http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2015/11/thief_steals_quilts_in_remembrance_of_deceased_son.html

Delmonaco, a physical education teacher at Lincoln Elementary School in Edison, tore up his T-shirts and sent them to a company to have the quilts made, one for each of her daughters and one for their father, as mementos—as Christmas gifts. Some of his uniform was even included.

She was notified when they arrived at her house, but when she got home, the package was gone.

A neighbor told her a suspicious-looking person walked up to the house and took the package.

Edison police put out pictures of the quilt to other police departments.

Police said police in Lyndhurst, acting on a tip from Englewood Cliffs police, found the stolen quilts among items inside a van their officers pulled over.

The driver of the van, Hector Davila, 48, now faces multiple charges of receiving stolen property and theft.

"This is a great example of how communication and cooperation between law enforcement agencies works to best serve the public," said Edison police Chief Thomas Bryan. "More importantly, we were able to return this special quilt to the Delmonaco family for the holidays."

Edison police cautioned residents about the rise in thefts of unattended deliveries during the holiday season. Bryan suggested residents have packages delivered wen someone is home or to a neighbor who can accept them in person.

Sue Epstein may be reached at sepstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @susan_epstein. Find NJ.com on Facebook.