Baby Jesus stolen from courthouse Nativity scene --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A key figure is missing from Baxter County's Christmas Nativity scene on the courthouse lawn. Someone has stolen baby Jesus.
Marjorie Roller of Mountain Home said she and relatives visited the Nativity scene with relatives last week, and her 10-month-old great-granddaughter, Lilly Grace Rasmussen, was photographed at the Nativity scene. The Christ child was gone when Roller and her daughter, Leslie Rasmussen of Branson, Mo., visited the square to take in the Christmas scenes Tuesday night.
"I said, 'Well, for heaven's sakes the baby's gone!'" she said.
Roller called the non-emergency 911 telephone number to report the incident. A dispatcher heard Roller's report, but neither the Mountain Home Police Department nor the Baxter County Sheriff's Department were investigating Thursday.
County Judge Sue Newton said anyone with information about the theft should contact the Sheriff's Department.
The scene is situated right outside the window of the office of Baxter County Treasurer Nelda Speaks. "I'd better lock up good. What else will they take?" said Speaks.
"We thought it might be hidden somewhere close by, and we looked in storm drains and all over and can't find it anywhere," said Carl Henson, supervisor of the Baxter County Maintenance Department.
The Nativity scene was a gift to the county in 1992 from Rick Spencer and his late wife, Coralee.
Originally published December 17, 2004
No doubt you'll (yule?) be seeing the kid in one of your client's homes...