Julie Seadrick’s fiancé had just gotten his check and his Christmas bonus from work, and she carefully separated the money for bills and holiday shopping and went to the Friday Harbor Thrift House.

But as the young couple did their annual holiday gift shopping, a Grinch was lurking in the shadows: Seadrick says her purse was stolen as she tried on a sweater for her mother.

Seadrick works at Mosquito Fleet Mercantile and studies at Skagit Valley College San Juan Center; she has a nine-year-old son. Her fiancé, Jason Richardson, works at The Big Store.

Seadrick said the purse contained “all of our Christmas money” — $300 set aside for gifts.

Here’s what Seadrick says happened: At about noon Thursday, she and Richardson were in the Thrift House to shop for presents. Seadrick went into the dressing room to try on a sweater for her mother and left her purse either in the shopping basket or on the hook in the dressing room.

After trying on the sweater, “I circled around the store once and then got to the register and asked my fiancé if he was ready to go.” She went to pay for her purchases and discovered her purse was gone.

She and store employees searched the store to no avail.

She described the purse as a thin, shoulder-strap purse made by Nine West. It contained her checkbook with a picture of her son, and a woven coin purse containing her Christmas money and her money for bills. The coin purse also contained $3 in 50-cent coins.

Seadrick called the Sheriff’s Department and the Calvary Church prayer chain, and is holding onto hope that her purse – and her money – will be returned. Without it, there will be no Christmas gifts for her family.

“It’s hard to think of accusing anyone. We live on an island and we’re supposed to know everybody,” she said.

She asks that if anyone has information about her purse and money, that they call her cell phone, 298-2603, or the Sheriff’s Department, 378-4151.