WOODBRIDGE, NJ — Wednesday delivered quite the plot twist in the now-infamous Woodbridge Girl Scout cookie caper. The story rapidly made national headlines: On Friday, Jan. 18 someone allegedly stole an envelope containing $1,200 in checks and cash from the Woodbridge/Carteret Girl Scout troop selling cookies at the Woodbridge Center Mall.

Now today, the Woodbridge police department says this has all been a giant mix-up, and that the Girl Scout troop leader who originally reported the theft even admitted the money may have been accidentally thrown away. That Scout leader, a Woodbridge resident named Jessica Medina, filed the original police report about the alleged theft, and she posted extensively on her personal Facebook page about the money being stolen. "An exhaustive investigation into the alleged theft of Girl Scout cookie sale monies has concluded with a finding of insufficient evidence to support the theft as initially reported," said Woodbridge police, in a long statement released by the Township Wednesday. (The statement, in its entirety, is below.)



According to Woodbridge Twp., Medina agreed with the police department's findings, speculating that perhaps the envelope containing the money was accidentally discarded with the trash as the Scouts cleaned up the area.

Medina did not immediately get back to Patch today when asked to confirm the Township's assertions.

In another twist, Medina has also been removed by the Girl Scouts of Central and South Jersey for the incident, the organization told Patch. "We are surprised and very saddened at the turn of events," said Ginny Marino, CEO of The Girl Scouts of Central & Southern NJ. "The Girl Scouts of Central and Southern New Jersey expects the highest standards of fiscal responsibility and ethical behavior from our volunteers ... To that end, GSCNSJ has removed this troop leader from her position as a Girl Scout volunteer. We will continue working closely and cooperating fully with law enforcement concerning this issue. Our focus now is helping our girls to move forward with their cookie season."

Woodbridge police said they first received a report on Friday, Jan. 18 at 5:31 p.m. of an alleged theft of money from a Girl Scout cookie sales table, which was located at the entrance to Boscov's at the Woodbridge Center Mall. The report, filed by Troop leader Medina, alleged that sometime between 4:20 p.m. and 4:50 p.m. that day she had placed proceeds from the cookie sale (approximately $500 cash and several checks) in an envelope, which was reportedly left unattended on the cookie sale display table. Sometime thereafter, Medina discovered that the envelope was missing and reported the alleged theft to Woodbridge police.

"The WPD Detective Bureau launched an immediate investigation, which, among other leads, focused on Medina's Facebook post that the theft was captured on surveillance video and that a male suspect, accompanied by an elderly woman with a walker, was responsible for the theft. Detectives identified and located the woman with the walker and her companion referenced by Medina in her Facebook post — the individuals were subsequently interviewed and were eliminated as possible suspects," said Woodbridge Twp. in the statement. "A full review of any/all surveillance video in and around the area of Boscov's department store and Woodbridge Center Mall failed to show the proceeds envelope on the sales table and the alleged theft was not captured on video."

From there, Woodbridge police interviewed individual Girl Scouts, their parents and any witnesses who may have been around the cookie table that day. Nobody had observed a money envelope on the table at any time, they all told police. Furthermore, the cash proceeds of that day's cookie sale were secured in a cash box that was present on the table — not in the envelope.