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SANDY — The flyers told the story. Anne Hilton posted them all over West Jordan, hoping to prove to her son that good people still exist.
On each flyer: A big picture of her 16-year-old son's BMX bike, stolen from outside a local grocery store in March.
"I am a single mom who has tried to raise my son, Anthony, with values, morals and to be a good person," the flyer reads. "Anthony's best friend is his BMX bike. He rides every day. He has been devastated since it was stolen.
"Please help me be bring Anthony's best friend back home safe and unharmed," she continued. "We can prove to Anthony there really are good people in the world, even though something bad has happened."
Anne Hilton was posting those flyers just as the case file landed on West Jordan Police Sgt. Travis Brower's desk.
No leads; just security footage showing an unidentified person taking the bicycle.
Brower thought about his own teenage sons, both of whom are into BMX.
"It bothered me," he said.
So Brower called Eddie Buckley, the owner of a Layton-based BMX store named 5050bmx, and told him the story. Then he called Anne Hilton and told her the plan.
On Saturday, at a BMX demo in Sandy, that plan came to fruition when Brower and Buckley surprised Anthony Hilton with a new bike.
The 16-year-old's hands shook as he took the bike from Buckley's hands, surrounded by members of the BMX demo team who later signed the bike and gave him a T-shirt.
"That bike was everything to me," Anthony Hilton said, particularly for a teen who has a hard time speaking in public and dealing with stress. "When you don't have a lot of money and you dedicate all your time to riding and someone just took something from you, they don't realize how much it means to you."
Anne Hilton thanked Brower for being a positive role model for her son, who is planning to pursue a career as a professional BMXer.
"I hope that one day, if Anthony accomplishes his dreams and goals and he’s in that position, he’ll remember Sgt. Brower then," she said. "You can’t lose your compassion and love just because something bad happens."
Later, after thanking Brower privately, Anthony Hilton stayed to watch the demo team — many of them his personal idols.
It started to hit him that the bike was now his.
"That's crazy," Anthony Hilton said. "I can't believe someone would do that.
"You hate admitting your mom's right," he added. "But I kind of have to now." Email: dchen@deseretnews.com Twitter: DaphneChen_
