KSHB 41 reporter Claire Bradshaw covers eastern Jackson County, including Blue Springs and Independence. Share your story idea with Claire.
For months, Calvin Hamilton has brought joy to his Grain Valley community with an unusual front yard display featuring life-sized dinosaur statues that he would re-position weekly, creating scenes that delighted neighbors and sparked social media buzz.
But a few weeks ago, Hamilton discovered his beloved triceratops and T-Rex had vanished.
"I went to work one day. They were there. I came home, they were gone," Hamilton said.
It wasn't a meteor that took out Hamilton's prehistoric friends, but the culprit remains at large.
Hamilton found the dinosaur statues during winter and decided to place them in his front yard to make people smile. He would move them once a week, creating different poses that got people sharing and talking on Facebook.
"There were some good ones. I had the T-Rex up on the roof, and then I had them stationed on the edge of the roof there, but someone decided to take them," Hamilton said.
Community members began wondering where their beloved dinosaurs had gone, with one fondly nicknamed Cera becoming a particular favorite. A wanted poster even circulated online.
Then came an unexpected twist.
"Some lady came and texted me on Facebook and said that I have a surprise for you," Hamilton said.
Sarah Eikel had been following the story and decided to take action. She scoured Facebook Marketplace to ensure her community could still enjoy the dinosaur display.
"It's happened to me before with Christmas decorations outside where somebody comes and snatches them, and it's not a good feeling," Eikel said. "I started searching for this dinosaur, and sure enough, I found one out in Smithville, and so I messaged the lady and met her the next day."
The replacement triceratops, dubbed Cera 2.0, now stands in Hamilton's yard. Hamilton confirmed it's different from the original because the stolen triceratops was missing a horn, while the new one has both horns intact.
"We are now whole," Eikel said.
Hamilton has taken precautions to prevent future thefts.
"We got air tags in them now," Hamilton said.
As for who took the original dinosaurs, Hamilton doesn't have any leads and decided the incident wasn't worth filing a police report over.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
