8-foot mechanical ape missing, owner mystified

[September 04, 2008]  MACHIAS, Maine (AP) -- An 8-foot mechanical gorilla standing outside a flea market store could move its arms but not much else, and it was heavy.

Now it's disappeared -- in broad daylight -- and owner Lowell Miller wonders how anyone could move it so easily.

The gorilla was last seen Sunday in front of Sandy's Sales, and Miller realized it was missing when he started to close up at the end of the day. He thought his clerk had wheeled it inside and the clerk thought Miller had moved it.

He didn't say how heavy it was but said it had a concrete base, with electric motors inside that moved the arms up and down and turned it sideways.

"Who the h... would ever steal a gorilla as heavy as that thing was?" Miller asked Tuesday.

Maine State Police Sgt. Jeff Ingemi said he thinks the pilfered primate is decorating some college student's apartment.

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Information from: Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com/

[Associated Press]

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