Babe's Cowboy Dummy Is Back Where It Belongs
CARROLLTON, Texas (CBS11) - A staple at a North Texas restaurant goes missing and more than a week later, mysteriously reappears back at work.
"Rick the Cowboy" has spent the last decade greeting and sitting with customers at Babe's Chicken in Carrollton.
"Very quiet but you'd be surprised how much fun he has," said Patrick Sinclair, General Manager at Babe's Chicken.
Sinclair said he is quite the lady's man, too.
"He's a perfect gentleman," said Sinclair. "He listens to everything they have to say. He doesn't talk back."
But Rick, who is technically a dummy who served in medical classes in his previous life, recently vanished.
"Maybe he ran away and was gone for good?" questioned Sinclair. "We were wondering if he was ever going to come back or was he happy where he was?"
After reviewing their security cameras, Sinclair realized Rick was taken.
Surveillance video shows two men working together to sneak Rick out the side door where one then carries Rick to a Dodge Challenger.
"I was surprised how they were able to get him out without anyone seeing," said Sinclair.
A week went by and Sinclair heard nothing.
"We were worried," said Sinclair. "Was he having a good time? We didn't know where he was or was he being abused? We didn't know."
Carrollton Police eventually posted about Rick's disappearance on Facebook.
A few hours later, Sinclair's phone rang and the beloved Cowboy reappeared.
"They just kind of apologized for the prank and said we left it out there, we just wanted to have some fun," said Sinclair.
No one knows exactly where Rick went on his little adventure and if you ask him…he's not talking.
Rick returned missing his signature cowboy hat but returned with a lei around his neck.
"You think he went to Hawaii?" joked Teresa Caldwell, a Babe's customer. "Maybe I should have been hanging out with Rick a little more!"
To whoever took Rick, Sinclair is not interested in pressing charges.
"Our main interest is we just wanted to get him back. No harm, no foul," said Sinclair.
His travels remain a mystery.
"Maybe some things are best left unknown," said Sinclair.
Rick is smiling and that is all that matters.
