Mass. woman with rare disorder issues plea after prescription formula stolen from front porch

A Bridgewater woman with a rare disorder has turned to the community for help after she allegedly caught a package thief on video taking two boxes containing her prescription formula from her front porch early Sunday morning.

Alyssa Augusto has phenylketonuria, a rare metabolic disorder, and said that this medical food serves as her primary source of nutrition.

“As most of you know I have a rare metabolic disorder called Phenylketonuria (PKU) but this disgusting human being STOLE my Phenylketonuria (PKU) medical food (formula), a medical prescription, off of my front porch this morning and left an EMPTY box,” Augusto wrote on Facebook.

This not only threatens her health and nutrition, but it also threatens the health of her six-week-old daughter, she said.

“I need this formula to live, it is my MAIN source of nutrition which now becomes even more imperative that I have a 6-week-old to breastfeed,” she continued. “Not only is this person jeopardizing my health but the health and nutrition of my daughter.”

The incident comes amid a nationwide formula shortage, but Augusto made it clear that this formula cannot be used by just anyone, as it was made specifically for someone with phenylketonuria.

“Once they realize it’s nothing of value to them I’m sure they will just throw it away,” Augusto wrote. “This formula CANNOT be used for anyone who does not have Phenylketonuria.”

A video recording, which Augusto shared on Facebook, appears to show someone approaching her porch with a box, which they drop on the porch as they snatch two other boxes.

Augusto said that the box left on her porch was an empty Amazon box. In the comments beneath the post, she confirmed that she reached out to the person whose address was on the box to see if they also had something stolen. The person, who she said lives less than a mile away from her, told her that they did not recall anything being taken from their home.

Bridgewater Police Department confirmed that officers had received a report of a package theft this weekend and were investigating. No other package thefts in the area were reported to police at the same time.

Augusto requested that others share the post in hope of catching the thief and said, “If anyone has footage and/or has had packages stolen the police are urging you to please come forward so we can catch this guy!”

“It’s truly unsettling especially in our quiet community of Bridgewater,” Augusto added in a message to Boston.com.

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