KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Where there were once three statues — depicting a scene from the founding of Kansas City, Missouri — one is now missing on Northeast Chouteau Trafficway near Northeast Parvin Road.
"If you go down Chouteau Trafficway, and you're not looking closely, you probably wouldn't even notice," said Mark McHenry, co-chair of the Chouteau Fountain Founders.
At some point this week, someone sheared the bolts off of the seven-foot-tall, 400-pound sculpture of a Native American woman trading with Kansas City's founding father Francois Chouteau.
"To actually pick up the entire piece and move it that's, that's almost beyond comprehension," McHenry said.
McHenry who helped raise funds for the two-ton memorial honoring Chouteau and Native American Heritage says the statue alone, done by local sculptor Kwan Wu, is worth $80,000.
"It's kind of a unique piece," McHenry said. "I mean, he's the one that sculptured this out of clay, and then the process he turned into a large piece of bronze, and it's quite frankly irreplaceable."
He added when they were designing this monument, they made sure that the bluff was tall enough to make sure that no one can easily scale it. He surmises whoever did this either used a lift or a ladder to get up there. Another thing that probably helped out the thieves is that even though these light fixtures are in place, they weren't working at the time.
The interim KC Parks director, Roosevelt Lyons, said KCPD detectives have alerted scrap yard dealers of the theft.
"It's not uncommon for copper wiring and different just kind of pieces off of a building or things like that to get stolen," Lyons said. "You don't often see a whole statue going missing."
They hope they can recover the piece whole and find those responsible.
"If someone goes by and this is standing in someone's front yard, or it's in their garage, or on their back patio. Someone's going to say something — we hope," McHenry said. "It's kind of hard to hide."
KCPD is asking anyone with information to call the Shoal Creek Property Crimes Detectives at 816-413-3600. The case detective Steven Downing can be reached at 816-413-3429. Or detective Mark Spiegel can be reached at 816-413-3425.
If someone has information and would like to remain anonymous, they can call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.
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For jurisdictions that utilize the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline, anonymous tips can be made by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com.
Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.
