Search under way for bear-napped Truffles
You can talk about the Grinch Who Stole Christmas all you want, but Heather Mansholt has bigger problems on her plate.
She wants the thieves who snatched Truffles from in front of her store in south Naperville to return him unharmed and none the worse for wear.
Truffles is a cute, cuddly, stuffed Kodiak bear who has spent the past nine months or so sitting on a barrel outside the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory at 2835 Show Place Drive in the Naperville Crossings shopping center near Route 59 and 95th Street.
Truffles, and others like him across the country, serve as kind of a mascot at all the company's stores, wearing seasonal costumes and posing for pictures with any visitor, patron or employee who wants one.
And now, just days before Christmas, when he should have visions of chocolate-covered strawberries dancing in his furry head, he's been bear-napped in broad daylight by someone in a maroon Saturn-style vehicle who apparently never learned that the holidays are a time of sharing with others.
Mansholt says she's filed a police report and is offering $50 in gift certificates for Truffles' safe return.
She describes the missing bear as about 40 inches tall, nearly as wide and "really darn cute."
He was last seen wearing his Santa suit when the vehicle pulled up about 2:30 p.m. Thursday. Someone "came out and took him and put him in their car" and drove off, Mansholt said Friday.
Police said a witness told them he saw a teenage boy, about 5 feet 6 inches tall and wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, pacing in front of the store. Then he grabbed the bear and jumped into the getaway car.
Police said the missing bear is valued around $300.
It was the second time in just two days that Truffles found himself in peril. Earlier this week a teenage boy grabbed him off his barrel and tried to flee on foot. Mansholt, who was in the store at the time, said she chased the kid down in the parking lot and rescued Truffles.
Truffles' popularity is undeniable, she said. "He's on at least three of our employees' Christmas cards."
Now, of course, his perch is empty and whoever stole him deserves nothing but coal in his stocking.
One young patron already has inquired about the bear's whereabouts. Mansholt says she didn't have the heart to tell the youngster that Truffles may be stashed in somebody's dark and scary closet.
"I just said he was taking a nap," she said.
Anyone who knows Truffles' whereabouts is asked to call the store at (630) 904-2462. It's open from 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. today and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.
Police say anyone with information also may call the Crime Stoppers hotline at (630) 420-6006.
Mansholt remains hopeful that whoever took Truffles will be overcome by the Christmas spirit and return him to his rightful home.
She's not overly optimistic, but, hey, it is the season for miracles.
In the meantime, she described her lonely vigil like this in a note to area newspapers:
"As we sit now, staring quietly at the empty barrel where Truffles' rear end has rested for all these months, we want him to know that we will not give up in our quest to find him!!! BE STRONG, TRUFFLES!!!! BE STRONG!!! WE WON'T FORGET YOU!!!!!"
"We love that little guy," she said.