The owners of the missing 121/2-foot inflatable Frosty the Snowman don't want to press charges - they just want to get him back.
By SHANNON TAN
Published December 2, 2003
LARGO - Have you seen this man?
He's a portly male with a light complexion, last seen wearing a red and green striped scarf, red gloves and a top hat. He had a broom in his left hand and a big grin on his face.
They called him "Frosty."
Friday night, the 121/2-foot inflatable snowman was next to Sandy Brown's front door. The next morning, he went missing. Brown, 36, called the Sheriff's Office. She wanted them to put out an APB for Frosty.
"We don't want to press charges," Brown said. "We just want whoever has him to return him."
She suspects it was a prank. Whoever pilfered Frosty left two toy soldier sculptures behind.
The theft was the first of its kind this year, said Sheriff's Office spokesman Tim Goodman.
"Every time you have a holiday like this," Goodman said, "somebody goes around stealing holiday decorations for one reason or other."
Brown's daughter, 22-month-old Kasey, loves snowmen. She was in awe of Frosty, whose black top hat nearly reached the roof of their home.
"You're looking for Frosty?" Brown asked Kasey, as she wandered over to the empty spot where Frosty once stood. "He's not there."
Sometime between 3 and 7 a.m. Saturday, Brown said, her brother heard the sound of Frosty being deflated, then a car speeding off.
Brown, who bought the illuminated snowman for around $110 from Lowe's, refuses to buy a new one.
She plans to circulate a flyer in her Lakeside Estates neighborhood asking residents if they saw or heard anything.
But even if sheriff's deputies find a Frosty, Brown would have a tough time picking him out of a line-up.
"It would be hard to prove," she said. "He's not the only (Frosty)."
