Paihia police are in the unusual position of having a confession to two crimes but no victims.
Now they are calling for people to come forward if their bag was snatched or their car broken in to between 1 and 3pm on April 2 in Paihia.
Senior Constable Neil Vartan said a 14-year-old Kawakawa boy had admitted both offences but could not be held to account until the victims were found.
The bag snatch occurred near the carpark and the Countdown store on Williams Rd. The boy was pursued by members of the public who recovered the bag after he threw it to an innocent bystander, who caught it on reflex.
The pursuers returned the bag to its owner, described only as an older woman, who left without making a complaint.