$10,000 Gorilla Statue Stolen in Slingerlands Found

A life-sized, bronze statue of a gorilla that weighs an estimated 600 lbs. was missing from a garden in Slingerlands. You might be thinking, what was it doing there in the first place?! Well, owner Judith Bovitz purchased it to recognize the endangered mountain gorillas in Rowanda about 12 years ago.

It's become more and more important to her over the years and people love to pose with it. The puzzling part is: where did it go? Who took it? How did they take it?

Bovitz says she went to bed after watching the Olympics Friday night, slept through the night with neither dog making a sound and noticed the statue missing around noon on Saturday. How does a 600 lb. statue just disappear? Here's the original news story:

This story does have a positive ending as the statue was found next to a garbage dumpster Tuesday morning in the Indian Ladder Farms parking lot in New Scotland. Along with it, a note: "Please help me go home," and it included a number for the Albany County Sherrif's Department. The gorilla was undamaged and now back where he belongs, guarding the garden.