Widow uses inheritance to become Secret Santa for shoppers

"It was a miracle that an angel was right next to us," said Angie Torres.

Christmas came early for Torres thanks to a single act of kindness by a Secret Santa at the layaway of the K-Mart on West Washington Street. Torres was in a tight spot with the 25th closing in.

"Basically it was all toys and it was basically late and I was coming in because I had to make a payment," said Torres.

No payment and the toys would have gone back on the shelf, and Christmas would have come too late. Angie said she saw a woman standing near the register, but did not give it a second thought.

"Right when I was ready to swipe my card she was like, 'do not pay anything, I am taking care of your layaway. You are going to have your toys and you are going to take them home and have an early Christmas,'" said Torres.

At first, Torres thought it was a joke, she got emotional when she realized it was reality.

"It was just tears all over and I hugged this person and just couldn't say anything more," said Torres.

Torres walked in with $200 left on her layaway balance, she left with a present she will never forget.

Torres was not alone, K-Mart management said this anonymous angel simply said she wanted to pay off some layaways.

"I said, okay, I was kind of surprised, this just does not happen and she said she wanted to do it in the memory of Ben," said K-Mart Assistant Manager Edna Deppe

According to the family, Ben is the woman's husband, a man who died earlier this year. The gift given did not have any strings attached, but there was a request.

"Give something back to somebody else and it will cause a chain-reaction," said Torres.