Strangers help return football team's missing jerseys

IRVING, Texas - Forty-three missing jerseys that belonged to a local high school football team were returned thanks to the kindness and persistence of a stranger who found them on the side of the road.

In rush hour traffic on eastbound 183 in Euless, Shirley Torres and her daughter-in-law spotted bright red jerseys littering the side of the road Monday morning.

There was no packaging and no receipts. Torres only found a team name – the Cardinals.

“It made me mad because people were running over them. There's somebody that needs these jerseys somebody's using them,” she said. “My thought was I need to find the people of these jerseys. That's all. If that's the last thing I do today, I have to find it. I have to do it.”

Torres posted a photo to Facebook and asked FOX 4's Steve Eager to share it. She also left messages with schools and even went back and forth with Nike.

Meanwhile, the coaches at MacArthur High School noticed a Monday morning laundry delivery seemed a bit light.

It all started to make sense when a friend told Coach Bobby Parsons about Eagar's Facebook post.

“He sent me a link, and I looked at it and said those are our uniforms,” Parsons explained.

Within a few hours of making the connection, the jerseys that were still in good shape were back on home turf.

“We're very blessed that somebody took the time to do that for us because that would be just one less thing these kids would have,” said Parsons.

“It feels awesome," said Torres. “I'd do it again in a heartbeat.”

Torres and her daughter in law say a stranger named Sarah also stopped to help pick up the jerseys.

Coaches believe the laundry delivery service had a bag open or fall off the truck. Coaches said they’ve used the same laundry service for years and believe it was an accident.

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