The museum put out several posts on social media alerting the community of the missing dinosaur statues. They posted photos and offered a $1,000 reward.
Three large dinosaurs named Dimetrodon, Dilong and Minmi are back safely in their home at the Dinosaur Park in Bastrop County after they were stolen and ended up at a Texas fraternity house, according to published reports.
Measuring 6 to 10 feet long, the statues had been reported missing from their exhibit area in the museum last week, according to Austin-American Statesman.
The museum put out several posts on social media alerting the community of the missing dinosaur statues. They posted photos and offered a $1,000 reward.
Park-goers were pretty stunned when they first heard the news of the missing trio.
“What!!! Unbelievable,” someone wrote. “It’s not like they can easily be carried out. Someone had to have seen something. I hate this happened.”
On Saturday, Linda Nunex, the owner of the Dinosaur Park, received a tip from someone at a fraternity party telling them about Dimetrodon, Dilong, and Minmi’s whereabouts. The Bastrop County sheriff’s office and the University of Texas Police Department checked it out and recovered the statues from a UT frat house on Pearl Street, a report said, KXAN News reported.
Nunex posted on Facebook her gratitude to the media, the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Department, and the University of Texas Police Department for bringing her “dino babies” home, and gave an update on their condition.
“Minmi is intact. Dilong was sadly destroyed and missing pieces. Dimetrodon needs major reconstruction and might not be salvageable,” Nunex said. “But, we’re happy to have them home and grateful for the support and kind words from all of you.”
News of their safe return brought some relief to the concerned visitors of the park, but many wanted to know which fraternity was involved and if anyone was arrested.
"Sorry to hear about the damage, but glad they are home," said one person.
"I hope you press charges. Destruction of property is not a joke and not funny," another person wrote.
The fraternity was not named, a report said.
A spokesperson from the University of Texas told Inside Edition Digital that "the Office of the Dean of Students was notified of the incident and is gathering information."
