Sea to Sky Ford dealership general manager Enzo Milia had written him off for good, but this week his 50-foot tall gorilla, which went missing more than two years ago, returned.
"It's inflated in my driveway here," laughed Milia on Monday (Aug. 30). "It's hilarious. Everyone's laughing at me because it's this big monstrosity."
The inflatable behemoth had towered over the dealership and Highway 99 for four years until the night of April 30, 2008 when it mysteriously disappeared.
"The dealership's inflatable gorilla was kidnapped!" stated a company news release at the time.
release at the time.
Losing it felt "like losing a family member" for the employees, said general sales manager Bob Hewitt at the time.
The RCMP was called in to investigate the theft of the $5,000 item, and the business offered a $1,000 for the return of the beast, but no clues ever surfaced.
Milia speculated it may have been a grad class prank, or perhaps someone stole it with the intent of selling it in Vancouver, but for years, the fate of the gorilla remained a mystery that is until this weekend.
That's when Milia received a call from a friend who thought he'd come across it while out on a walk.
"He said 'Are you guys still missing the gorilla?' and I said 'Yeah, and I think there's still a ransom for it,'" said Milia.
"He was walking through Hospital Hill, one of the trails, and he saw what he thought was a tarp, kicked it and thought 'This is heavier than a tarp.' And sure enough it was this big gorilla that had been deflated."
By Monday morning, Milia, his wife, son and two sets of grandparents with a video camera in tow had taken over the neighbourhood cul-de-sac and giddily began blowing it up.
"I was just nervous about it because I wasn't sure if it was damaged. Sure enough it's inflated in my driveway here," said Milia.
"It's a pretty rugged beast."
Locals won't be seeing the gorilla's permanent return to its highway location since the dealership's new owners don't own the promotional item.
But it's sure to make a reappearance at some point.
"We might just [raise it] for novelty, I might just keep it for special events, maybe rent it," said Milia.
Either way he said he's pleased the mystery has been solved.
"We've been always laughing about where the gorilla went, so I'm pretty happy to have it land in my neighbourhood again."
