Three people have been arrested for allegedly stealing a 64-pound, solid silver statue of former President Abraham Lincoln from the Houmas House Estate and Gardens in Ascension Parish.
Houmas House owner Kevin Kelly says unfortunately the suspects cut up the statue in several pieces and sold parts at a pawn shop and a gold and silver shop in Metairie.
“All we know is three people were arrested and they don’t know where the rest of it is, well if those are the only three involved and if they stole it, they know where the rest of its,” Kelly said.
Kelly credits the pawn shop owner for recognizing the solen statue from Kelly’s Facebook post and calling the authorities.
The three people arrested are 28-year-old Steve Coronado of Raceland, 20-year-old Alma Fontenot of New Iberia and 49-year-old Bruce Shelvin of Avondale. Kelly believes more people were involved.
“They don’t look like the people who would pay an entrance fee to go look at beautiful things, they surely don’t appreciate beautiful things that they cut it up and sold it off in pieces, so I would love to know how they became aware that Houmas House even exists,” Kelly said.
The statue’s value is estimated at $166,000. Detectives say the thieves broke a window and grabbed the statue, without setting off the motion detectors in the historic mansion.
Kelly says many of his guests called the statue of Abraham Lincoln their favorite item on the tour. He says he’ll try to put it on display again, but he doesn’t have Lincoln’s head.
“I’m talking to an artist who creates a metal framework where the pieces I have can be placed in this metal framework and be abstract piece of art, showing what it was,” Kelly said.
Kelly says he also appreciates the work of the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office. But he says these are career criminals that committed this robbery and they have been behind bars before the statue was stolen on the night on September 6.