Michigan Woman Says She Put $700 in Gifts Into Wrong Car

A woman says she accidentally placed about $700 in Christmas gifts into a stranger’s car after a key opened the vehicle’s trunk in suburban Detroit.

Linda Gipson of Ypsilanti tells the Detroit Free Press and AnnArbor.com she discovered the mistake Thursday after leaving Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi.

The 49-year-old says she put bags into the trunk of a car identical to her daughter’s 2003 silver Ford Focus, and then returned to shop. She says she was surprised when she returned to find the vehicle gone and her daughter’s car nearby.

Police were notified.

Ford Motor Co. spokesman Dan Pierce says the Dearborn-based automaker isn’t aware of an instance where one vehicle’s trunk was opened with another vehicle’s key. He says the company is interested in learning more from Gipson.