The Colonel Sanders two-month road trip is officially over. After being stolen from a Berea, Ky., KFC restaurant in late January, a bronze bust of Colonel Harland Sanders has been recovered by police and returned to the Berea KFC.
The theft made national news after KFC offered a reward of $500 worth of Kentucky Grilled Chicken for the safe return of the statue, which was sculpted in 1955 by Colonel Sanders' daughter Margaret and purchased in the early 1970s by former KFC franchisees Les and Jean Anderson.
"I had given up on getting him back," said Jean Anderson, who along with her husband Les, has operated the Berea KFC for 36 years. "A lot of people did a lot of work to get 'the Colonel' back. I can assure you we're going to have a big party for the police who helped us recover the bust."
The bust was recovered in Independence, Ky., more than 100 miles north of the restaurant. The Independence Police Department received a tip from a person who knew the statue's whereabouts. After recovering the bust, the Independence P.D. contacted detectives at the Berea Police Department, who drove to Independence, picked up "the Colonel" and brought him home.
The individual who provided information leading to the bust's recovery wouldn't accept any reward, citing only a desire to do the right thing in alerting authorities to the statue's whereabouts. But the $500 worth of Kentucky Grilled Chicken is going to feed members of both the Berea Police Department and the Independence Police Department to thank them for their efforts in tracking down the statue, which will soon be returned home.
