Police hunt for statue bear-napped from outside factory

Police in Abilene, Kansas, are on the hunt for a statue of a candy bear stolen from outside a factory. The bear, which is 3.5 feet tall and 4 feet wide, was donated to the Russell Stover factory by former owners in the early 1990’s.



“It is a tourist kind of a landmark here in town,” said Russell Stover Plant Manager Paul Willis. “We actually built this patio because so many people want to take pictures with it,” Willis said. “Everybody here in town, they expect to see the bear here and they expect to take a picture with it,” he said.



Willis said the bear vanished sometime between Nov. 4 and Nov. 5. “No sign of it,” he said. “We keep looking on Facebook to see if anybody has any pictures of it in their living room or their front porch.” Abilene police are on the hunt for the bear and the suspected thieves. They are searching traffic cameras for clues.


YouTube link.

In the meantime, factory workers said they are left wondering where the bear might be. “We don’t know if it will show up on the beach somewhere in a Hawaiian shirt with a margarita or something else,” Willis said. Dickinson County Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for the return of the bear.