Posted 2:08 am Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Police Without Leads in Frosty's Whereabouts
By MALENA OGLES
Staff Writer
Tyler police are still looking for suspects in the Saturday morning kidnapping of "Frosty" the snowman.
The 42-foot tall, 250-pound cold-air balloon went missing from the Dixon Farms Christmas tree lot on South Loop 323.
In his 24-year career of bobbing and waving at customers driving along the Loop, Frosty was plotted against, stabbed and vandalized, but never stolen.
"To me it's like hearing someone from Tyler was kidnapped," Cheryl Tonjes said while picking out a Christmas tree with her family.
"I know it sounds crazy, but he's one of the things you look for. I'm mortified that anyone in Tyler, Texas would do that because it's a tradition," she said.
"It's like someone stealing the Statue of Liberty," her husband, Steve Tonjes, added.
Workers arriving to the lot early Saturday morning discovered the snowman's pen empty and contacted authorities.
Nearly four days later, the drag marks from where Frosty's body was pulled over a fence and off the property are still visible.
"Sure we plotted against the snowman many times when we were in high school," a former Robert E. Lee student said. "I don't know why we were against it, because it's happy, but in high school we were like, the snowman must die. Now that he's gone, it's just heartbreaking."
Lot owner Royce Wisenbaker is offering a $1,000 reward for the safe return of his snowman, but so far no one has called with information on the snowman's whereabouts. Wisenbaker's hopes for the snowman's return are dwindling.
"It wasn't kids. It's too much trouble to be kids. The people who took it knew how to take it apart," he said.
While Frosty may have seemed jolly, a 500-watt halogen bulb inside the snowman was hot enough the take the skin off someone's hands.
"The thieves had to know enough to watch out for the bulb. You have to take the bulb out and let it cool. Then climb inside, remove the straps and then the outside straps," he said.
The snowman, halogen bulb and motor were valued at around $10,000. Wisenbaker suspects the thieves would sell it for around $1,000.
"A lot of people are missing it, including me," Wisenbaker said.
Staff Writer
Tyler police are still looking for suspects in the Saturday morning kidnapping of "Frosty" the snowman.
The 42-foot tall, 250-pound cold-air balloon went missing from the Dixon Farms Christmas tree lot on South Loop 323.
In his 24-year career of bobbing and waving at customers driving along the Loop, Frosty was plotted against, stabbed and vandalized, but never stolen.
"To me it's like hearing someone from Tyler was kidnapped," Cheryl Tonjes said while picking out a Christmas tree with her family.
"I know it sounds crazy, but he's one of the things you look for. I'm mortified that anyone in Tyler, Texas would do that because it's a tradition," she said.
"It's like someone stealing the Statue of Liberty," her husband, Steve Tonjes, added.
Workers arriving to the lot early Saturday morning discovered the snowman's pen empty and contacted authorities.
Nearly four days later, the drag marks from where Frosty's body was pulled over a fence and off the property are still visible.
"Sure we plotted against the snowman many times when we were in high school," a former Robert E. Lee student said. "I don't know why we were against it, because it's happy, but in high school we were like, the snowman must die. Now that he's gone, it's just heartbreaking."
Lot owner Royce Wisenbaker is offering a $1,000 reward for the safe return of his snowman, but so far no one has called with information on the snowman's whereabouts. Wisenbaker's hopes for the snowman's return are dwindling.
"It wasn't kids. It's too much trouble to be kids. The people who took it knew how to take it apart," he said.
While Frosty may have seemed jolly, a 500-watt halogen bulb inside the snowman was hot enough the take the skin off someone's hands.
"The thieves had to know enough to watch out for the bulb. You have to take the bulb out and let it cool. Then climb inside, remove the straps and then the outside straps," he said.
The snowman, halogen bulb and motor were valued at around $10,000. Wisenbaker suspects the thieves would sell it for around $1,000.
"A lot of people are missing it, including me," Wisenbaker said.
