[MSN] 300-pound gorilla sculpture stolen from woman's front yard

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300-pound gorilla sculpture stolen from woman's front yard

Joni Goode wants her 300-pound gorilla back. “That’s how I know her 
house is there, is from the gorilla,” Frese said. She immediately went 
home and called Goode, who arrived home hours later.By Goode’s best 
guess, sometime on Monday while she was out of town, her scrap-metal 
gorilla sculpture was stolen from her front yard in the Frontier Village 
neighborhood, which is bordered by North Alvernon Way, East Grant Road, 
North Columbus Boulevard and East Pima Street. A neighbor, Lu Frese, 
says she drove past the house on North Justin Lane early Tuesday and 
knew something was wrong but couldn’t put her finger on what was 
different. When she went for a walk on Wednesday, Frese realized it was 
the missing gorilla. The gorilla, affectionately nicknamed “Gordon,” was 
a Christmas gift to Goode 12 years ago from her husband, Jerry Kelly. 
Goode estimates Gordon’s worth at about $3,500. The ape occupied the 
same spot on Goode’s lawn for all 12 years, she said. He’s about three 
feet tall and four feet long. “I really miss seeing him out there,” she 
said. Kelly got a friend to make the gorilla for her after she admired a 
similar sculpture in a local furniture store. Frese said Gordon was a 
neighborhood landmark, and neighbors miss him as well. “This is a big 
thing. This is Gordon the 300-plus-pound gorilla. I don’t know who could 
have done it,” she said. “We’re hoping that someone sees him somewhere 
and brings him back.” Tucson Police Department Sgt. Mark Robinson said 
it’s common for metal to be stolen in the Tucson area and sold to scrap 
yards for money. Goode’s best bet is to send pictures of Gordon to local 
scrap yards, he said.

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