Police find statue of Osage Indian woman stolen from Chouteau Heritage Fountain in KC
Update: A man has been arrested and charged with a felony after the statue was recovered cut into pieces
Police have found a 400-pound, 7-foot-tall bronze sculpture of an Osage Indian woman that was stolen earlier this week from the François Chouteau & Native American Heritage Fountain in Kansas City, North.
Heidi Markle, spokeswoman for Kansas City Park and Recreation, confirmed Friday that police had found the sculpture, but were waiting for more details. The condition of the artwork was not immediately known.
The $80,000 statue disappeared from the bluff where she stood with two others — an Osage Indian man and French fur-trader François Chouteau.
The theft is believed to have happened sometime between Tuesday and Wednesday morning, when it was discovered missing.
“It’s very heavy and its on top of a 12-foot bluff so it’s not an easy thing to take,” said Mark McHenry, co-chair with the Chouteau Fountain Founders organization and former director of Kansas City’s Park and Recreation on Wednesday. “It’s not a snatch and grab or whatever.”
The sculptures were installed in April 2020 near Northeast Chouteau Trafficway and Northeast Parvin Road in Chouteau Greenway Park. They were the site of a celebration commemorating Missouri’s Bicentennial on July 24.
Chouteau, who came up the Missouri River and set up a fur trading post in the area in 1821 is considered to be the founder of Kansas City, McHenry said.
The three sculptures by Kwan Wu depict Chouteau trading for furs with the two Osage Indians. During the bicentennial celebration, the Chouteau Fountain Founders also unveiled another sculpture — a Kanza Indian hunting near the bluff.
This story was originally published August 6, 2021 at 1:55 PM.
