On the evening of Aug. 10, a dear mannequin and friend was kidnapped.
Sabrina Brush, music theater junior, said her prized possession was stolen from her on her very own property.
“There has been a kidnapping of my beloved child. This child is a one-armed, pregnant mannequin, and she was stolen right off of my very own balcony,” Brush said.
This was the first case in OCU history of its kind.
AUG. 10, 2020: MOVE-IN DAY
Brush said she lives in a dorm on the second floor of her building in the Cokesbury Court Apartment complex.
“It is not a private balcony, meaning like they could just go up the stairs,” Brush said.
Brush said her mannequin was on display for the community to see.
“I got everything moved in, and I took my mannequin, and we were like ‘we should dress her up and put her on the porch, and she can be a greeting to everyone moving in,’” Brush said. “So, we sat her on our porch facing the roadway into Cokes, and she was waving.”
Brush said her roommate Annie Youngs, music theater/vocal performance junior, suggested they dress up the mannequin in one of her extra sorority shirts.
“My roommate Annie said ‘hey, it’s rush week. Let’s put one of my sorority shirts on her as an advertisement for recruitment,’” Brush said. “We put one of her sorority shirts on her, some shorts, some sunglasses and a mask.”
Brush said the mannequin was positioned in front of their apartment door, making it very clear that it was their property.
Brush said her roommate called her later saying they needed to change the mannequin’s shirt, due to a request made by her sorority’s members.
“We changed her into a shirt that said ‘Act like a princess, think like a boss, look like a model,’” she said.
Brush said she arrived home late that night.
“I got home around 1 a.m., and it was raining. The mannequin was leaning over the edge of the balcony, so I was thinking about bringing her in, but I decided to leave her out,” she said. “That was the last time I saw her.”
Brush said Youngs returned home at 2 a.m., and the mannequin was still on the porch.
The mannequin was stolen in the middle of the night.
AUG. 11, 2020
Brush said she woke up the next morning began as usual.
“Someone was dropping off something at my room early in the morning,” she said. “I opened the door and thought they would say something about the mannequin, but they didn’t say anything about it.”
Brush went to check on the mannequin, but it was gone.
“They didn’t say anything about the mannequin because there was no mannequin,” Brush said. “All that was left was her shorts, her mask, her glasses and her necklace in a pile. But the mannequin and the shirt were gone. Gone.”
Brush said she immediately reached out to her community for help.
“I made a post on OCU Buy Sell Trade asking if anyone had seen her,” she said. “People were commenting ‘thoughts and prayers’ and not being serious, but I needed answers.”
Brush said she made a phone call for help.
“I called our RA. On the phone call he had said, ‘hey I’ll come up and if you want, we can contact OCUPD,’ but 10 minutes later, he comes up and he’s followed by two police officers.”
Brush said she was surprised by the presence of the law enforcement.
“We then had to tell them our porch decoration was stolen. They asked what it looked like, and we had to say it is a one-armed pregnant mannequin that we had dressed up,” she said. “We showed them the picture, and they told us to send it to them so they could put it on file. They asked when we last saw her and were doing a full police report on this mannequin.”
Youngs said the theft was appalling.
“I only got to be her mother for a short time, but I put a shirt on her back and gave her a whole lot of love,” Youngs said. “I just don’t know how anyone could kidnap a pregnant woman with a missing arm and still keep a healthy conscience. Sick is the only word to describe what I’m feeling. I just want my baby girl to come home safely.”
Brush said a few days went by, but there were no further updates on the mannequin’s whereabouts.
“There is really nothing. People keep asking about her, but I just have no information,” she said. “I’m not quite sure where to turn next. I just hope she’s safe and healthy and that her baby is doing alright.
Brush’s possession of the mannequin dates back to her freshman year.
JANUARY 2019
“I’ve had this mannequin since freshman year,” Brush said. “I got her from a maternity store. The maternity store isn’t there anymore; it went out of business.”
Brush said she saw the mannequin out in the cold in the dead of night.
“We were coming home from dinner this one night, and I made my friend stop the car because I saw this mannequin that had one arm and was pregnant, and I think it just really struck a chord with me,” Brush said. “She was by a dumpster. They were throwing her away, so I gave her a home.”
Brush said she and her friend ran out of the car to grab the mannequin and place it in the car.
“I can’t just let her go to a landfill. I’m a conservationist,” Brush said.
AUGUST 26, 2020
Brush said after two weeks of silence, the case was cracked wide open.
“Basically, one of my friends texted me and said ‘hey, I know who has your mannequin,’” Brush said. “They had seen it on someone’s snap story over the weekend.”
Brush sent one of her friends over to the room to investigate.
“One of my friends’ roommates went over and played dumb,” she said. “They totally spilled the beans. They told the story of how they stole the mannequin from the balcony, wrapped her in a towel and ran through the Methodist parking garage.”
Brush said she contacted an RA and asked for their assistance.
“My friend who is an RA knocked on their door at 7:30 p.m. and asked to do a spontaneous room check,” she said. “They went over to the room and said, ‘there has been probable cause to believe that you are in possession of a stolen item from someone else on campus. Since there is a police report about this incident, you can either give me the item now, or I can call the police and have them search your room.’”
Brush said the culprits surrendered the mannequin to the RA.
Brush posted on OCU Buy Sell Trade alerting the community that she and the mannequin were reunited.
“Dear Stars of OCU:
After almost three weeks of searching and being worried sick, the mannequin saga has come to an end,” she wrote. “With special thanks to many dear friends who have been keeping a lookout, the thieves have been identified and my dear child has been brought home. I want to thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and any tips that we’re sent our way. We can now be a whole, happy, family once again. It really shows that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Unfortunately, she will no longer be able to serve as a welcome mascot, but we’d rather her be safe. Please respect our privacy at this time as we work to rebuild. Thank you.”
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