Cheyenne Couple Gets Help Solving Mystery Of Stolen Diapers

CHEYENNE — Mialey Drais was doing her usual outdoor cleaning chores at a Maverik convenience store when she saw something that she didn’t particularly want to see — a box of discarded diapers sitting by a trash can.

“At first I thought it was a box full of dirty baby diapers,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “Just crap, you know, basically junk.”

Stinky, smelly junk at that — junk that Drais would have to clean up. 

Drais was already making a big old sigh just at the sight of them. Not that it surprised her someone would leave a box of smelly diapers by the trash can like that.

People are always leaving gross stuff in inappropriate places for someone else to clean up — and that someone is usually her.

On closer inspection, Drais realized it wasn’t a box of dirty diapers at all. It was a brand-new box of unused diapers, with a shipping label on the side for someone named "H. Miller."

“I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, I bet these are stolen,’” Drais said. 

Porch pirates have been particularly bold of late in Drais’ neighborhood, she said. Not only have they stolen delivery items from her, but some thieves recently even broke her vehicle’s car windows to get at stuff. 

“I’m in one of the alleyways right off of Garrett,” she said. “They broke my back window out, and then they came back three weeks later and broke in (again).”

That happened in broad daylight, Drais said, but that didn’t stop the thieves from smashing car windows and making off with golf clubs and hunting gear that belonged to her husband. 

Whether it was porch pirates or a delivery gone wrong, Drais was immediately mad on behalf of the young mother who’d lost her diapers this way, and she was determined that this delivery gone wrong was going to get righted.

Drais started by looking at the shipping label, seeking a way to connect with whoever had sent the diapers, hoping they could in turn connect her with the person they belonged to.

A coworker, meanwhile, took a slightly different tack.

He posted a photo of the box of diapers online, hoping someone might be able to help track down whoever they belonged to.

Who Steals From A Baby?

Harley Miller had already entered a dispute with Walmart over her missing diapers, which she’d ordered alongside a new dog dish and some dog food.

Walmart had refunded Miller right away after seeing the delivery driver’s photo, which proved no diapers had actually been delivered.

Miller was still fuming, however, over the thought that someone in Wyoming would take a $20 box of pull-ups — literally stealing from a baby.

Miller and her husband, Josh Zaklan, have recently moved to Wyoming from Washington, trying to get a new start. Money is really tight right now, making the theft all the more frustrating.

She still needed the diapers. Reordering meant that the driver would need a new tip for the diapers, and there would be a new shipping fee, too.

Miller and her husband have been DoorDash drivers as a side hustle and have heard of other drivers stealing food orders before. 

But diapers from little babies?

This seemed like a new low.

“Like, who does that?” she asked Cowboy State Daily. “They’re diapers. Like, who steals diapers from someone? And we just moved here, too, from Washington. We moved here in June, and we’ve never had issues like this (in Washington).”

The Community Lends A Hand

Miller was scrolling through Facebook, thinking about posting a rant, when a friend tagged her on a photo.

When she looked, it was her missing box of diapers, posted in the Facebook group Cheyenne Community Connections. 

Drais’ coworker, Jaycob Honeycutt, had made the post as part of their efforts to find the rightful owner of the diapers.

But, frustratingly, Facebook wouldn’t allow Miller to comment on Honeycutt’s post or message him directly.

“It looks like you may not know this person,” Facebook helpfully informed her. “Send requests to people you know personally to see their updates on Facebook.”

The only option on the screen from there was to give in and click “OK.”

Miller was able to share the post, however, so that’s what she did, putting it right back in Cheyenne Community Connections.

“Hey! So, uh those are my son’s diapers,” she wrote in her post. “I have valid photo ID and would very much appreciate it if I could have them, please. Especially since they were paid for and my son needs them.”

Nick Of Time

Within minutes, members of the Cheyenne community were lending Miller a hand, bumping her post so it would remain close to the top of the feed, as well as directly tagging Honeycutt, so he would notice her post.

Within minutes, Honeycutt had sent Miller a private message, letting her know that they would hold the diapers for her at the store so she could come and pick them up any time.

That’s great, but Miller is housebound right now with no car to go anywhere. She also doesn’t yet know anyone who could watch her child while she walked to the Maverik to get the diapers. 

The Cheyenne community came to the rescue again. An anonymous good Samaritan volunteered to pick the diapers up and return them to her, solving her dilemma in the nick of time — she only had one or two pullups left.

Miller is still getting likes on her Facebook post, even after turning the comments off because her situation had been resolved. 

She’s been particularly impressed by the friendliness of her new Wyoming community. They didn’t hesitate to reach out and help a new resident to their state overcome what had been a very bad start to the Labor Day weekend, even though she was a stranger to all of them.

It’s also helping her feel better about the recent move to Wyoming, where she and her husband hope to overcome some of their recent hardships.

“My husband’s friend owns a gun business here in Wyoming and my husband is part of that business,” she said. “They met, like, 10 years ago and were in boot camp together and now they’re business partners.”

The business, called Wright Firearm Solutions, repairs and builds custom guns. It’s a side hustle for Miller’s husband for now to augment his full-time job as a long-haul truck driver. 

“People are busy themselves, so I don’t have much of a village yet,” she said. “So, I 100% didn’t expect (the help), I really didn’t. It’s like mind-blowing to be honest.”

All’s well that ends well, particularly for this young mother, down on her luck and new to Wyoming. It’s gone a long way to restoring a little faith in humanity, as well as the start of finding a new village out there in the Cowboy State, one that’s always willing to help a stranger in need.

It’s the Cowboy Code after all, even if it’s just a little old box of diapers.

Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.