Intense media and social media scrutiny has resulted in the return of the Baby Bear statue, stolen in the early morning hours Monday from its perch in Chemainus91Ƶ Secret Garden.
Kathy and Ward Yeager are ecstatic to have the bear back in its rightful place with Mama and Papa Bear at Baby Bears Ice Cream Shoppe.
The bear was found by a trucker off the haul road near the Henry Road roundabout Tuesday morning. A note attached read: 91ƵI am so sorry for taking the bear.91Ƶ
Duncan/North Cowichan RCMP came to the ice cream shoppe to deliver the bear where they met Chris Webb, who does computer work for the Yeagers and was there to see if he could extract more images of the culprit from the surveillance camera at the business.
Webb quickly called the Yeagers with the good news.
91ƵI couldn91Ƶt believe it when we got the call this morning,91Ƶ said Kathy.
91ƵI hoped it would be returned and I91Ƶm happy, very happy,91Ƶ said Ward.
91ƵOur community really pulls together,91Ƶ added Kathy. 91ƵIt91Ƶs a community artifact.91Ƶ
Baby Bear had his feet ripped out during the theft from a cemented stand, and was a little worse for wear but will now at least be able to heal and get back to his rightful place.
Kathy was quick to credit the staff at the Chemainus Health Care Centre91Ƶs Urgent Care - and, specifically, Dr. Jim Broere and R.N. Gina Boudot - for springing into action.
91ƵEven the doctors helped out to get him repaired,91Ƶ marvelled Ward. 91ƵIt91Ƶs the first bear Dr. Broere has operated on.91Ƶ
While the medical staff was working on his feet, 91Ƶthe I.V. was honey,91Ƶ chuckled Ward.
The theft of the bear drew province-wide attention for the senseless nature of the crime where the suspect could be seen repeatedly kicking at the statue to dislodge it, but also as a symbol of escalating incidents pertaining to property crime in communities.
Ward expressed his gratitude to the news media for the response that undoubtedly had something to do with the bear91Ƶs return.
91ƵWe had so many thousands of people who91Ƶve responded,91Ƶ he said.
91ƵThe Garden here is a little bit of Chemainus. Everybody likes to come here. Everybody has taken a bit of ownership of this. This is a moment I can say we91Ƶve got a nice ending here, albeit we91Ƶve got a bit of repair to do. He91Ƶs part of the family.91Ƶ
Video surveillance was crucial, too, with clear images of the suspect being released, Ward added.
91ƵThis was actually very violent when you take a look at the video. When you steal things, you91Ƶre not going to do that anonymity anymore. If I was him, I91Ƶd be terribly embarrassed. I think his family should be terribly embarrassed what he did.91Ƶ
The Yeagers aren91Ƶt about to let him off the hook just because the bear91Ƶs been returned and hope he91Ƶll still be identified to face charges.
Fairy tales and fables do come true, and the tale of the Three Bears, in Chemainus at least, does have a happy ending.
91ƵIn the spring, I think we91Ƶll have a grand opening where Baby Bear will be re-installed,91Ƶ said Ward.
At the same time, there will be free ice cream for all.