Just in time for the holiday shopping season, a so-called layaway angel made an appearance at a Vermont store.
The man, who went by the name Chris Kringle, walked into a Walmart in Vermont and proceeded to pay the layaway bills of complete strangers.
“I was still in disbelief and I turned to my mom and said, ‘He’s just a wonderful man and I think the Christmas magic is walking among us,’” Julie Gates told Inside Edition after Kringle paid for her items.
Gates said the layaway angel paid off her bill of $199 at the checkout counter.
“I said, ‘Can I have your name so I know who I’m thanking?’ And he said, ‘Absolutely,’ and I thought he was going to give me his real name, and with that, he turned around, never said another word and walked off,” she recalled.
The only clue to his identity is a New England Patriots jacket that he wore at the store.
“I think he’s just trying to stay anonymous, as anonymous as he can,” Gates said.
She said he keeps a phony Facebook account in order to stay under the radar.
“He logged on under a fake account, he said, ‘I’m not the person my name is on Facebook, and I just wanted to say you’re welcome to everyone I helped,’” she said.
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