Net closing in on woman alleged to have stolen Willie Nelson's stuffed armadillo

The net is closing in on a woman allegedly caught on camera stealing country singer Willie Nelson and his band’s unofficial mascot, a stuffed armadillo named Ol' Dillo, from the sound desk stage at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York last Thursday. Ol’ Dillo belongs to one of 80-year-old Nelson’s sound engineers, Aaron Foye, and typically takes in the show from atop Foye’s console at stage left. Dillo has been with the band for the last three years.



The Capitol distributed video footage from one of its security cameras clearly showing a woman (medium build; dark, shoulder-length hair) walking onto the stage and absconding with the unassuming armoured mammal, lifting it from its perch atop the mixing console. Tom Bailey, manager of the Capitol Theatre, said he and his staff have come up with several clear images of the woman who made off with Ol’ Dillo.

“We now are quite clear as to what the perpetrator looks like,” Bailey said. “We’re going to close this thing up right and get that armadillo back to Mr. Nelson.” Bailey and his staff have been talking with Nelson’s management and Port Chester police about how best to proceed. A criminal complaint is likely to follow soon, Bailey said.


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Texas Roadhouse, a chain of barbecue joints, is also offering a $1,000 gift card for information leading to Ol’ Dillo’s return. “We are appalled at the theft of an armadillo,” Travis Doster, the restaurant’s public relations director said. “Such low-down behaviour can’t be tolerated. We are also willing to enter into a armadillo exchange and give one of our armadillos to the bandit if they will return it to Willie.”