The #1 source for news about monkeys and apes

[Carrie McLaren <carrie AT stayfreemagazine.org>]

The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC)

September 18, 2001 Tuesday

SECTION: B; Pg. 1

HEADLINE: Stuffed gorilla worth $500 taken from downtown store

BYLINE: DENESHIA GRAHAM; Of The Post and Courier Staff

BODY:

"Koko," a 4-foot-tall stuffed gorilla, was ape-napped Saturday from 
her perch outside Resortworks 2 on Church Street. Charleston police 
say an unidentified man grabbed the gorilla, tossed it in a car and 
then sped off at 4 p.m.

The stuffed primate, valued at $500, was last seen wearing a hot pink 
sweat shirt with a Charleston logo, police said.

Koko was something of a local landmark, spending its days lounging 
along the sidewalk in a director's chair. "We've had a lot of people 
come in saying 'where's the gorilla,' " Sara Boughter, a store 
employee, said. "It's a shame."

Boughter was in the store Saturday and witnessed the theft. She saw a 
man in a white T-shirt and a blue baseball cap run down the sidewalk 
and snatch Koko. The man also stole Koko's chair.

The abductor drove off with the gorilla in a white two-door Honda 
with Ohio license plates, police said.

Koko was expensive because of her size and because it represented the 
real-life California gorilla of the same name, made famous in 1972 
for communicating through sign language, Boughter said. Part of the 
proceeds from the sale were to go to the Gorilla Foundation/ 
Koko.org, she said, to teach gorillas sign language.