The Calhoun County Fair queen had her bunny stolen. Here's how she got it back
Emilee Ryan felt sorry for the mangy rabbit with a funny toe.
That's why she said she purchased her pet Netherland dwarf bunny, "Bogey," on Easter 2020 from the Hillsdale animal auction. He cost $12.
Ryan, a 2022 Harper Creek High School graduate now studying nursing at Kellogg Community College, showed Bogey during the 173rd Calhoun County Fair in Marshall, taking care of the rabbit and her five chickens during a busy week in which she was crowned fair queen.
"He had a really rough coat when we first got him, pretty mangy and splotchy and you could kind of tell he didn't have good nutrition and that he wasn't taken care of," Ryan said. "He's a lot better now and has a full coat now. He's not to standard, so he's not even a really good show rabbit, I just use him for showmanship because he's a nice rabbit."
On the evening of Aug. 20, Ryan and her boyfriend left the demolition derby at the fair to check on Bogey and make sure he had enough food and water before going home the following day, only to find his cage empty. A day later, she reported the bunny stolen.
"It was the end of fair week so (Bogey) was probably done with fair and we went to check and he wasn't there," Ryan recalled. "Looked around the barn for a little bit; it was a long week and I was tired. Maybe someone took him out. The cage was latched, but I leave the cage open all the time when taking care of him, so no way he would have jump out by himself."
A little over a week after he went missing, Ryan and her beloved rabbit were reunited, thanks to help from officers from the Calhoun County Sheriff's Office, fairgrounds staff and concerned community members.
Hairy situation
The Calhoun County Fairgrounds has volunteer supervisors watch over the barn animals during fair week. However, Bogey went missing sometime after 8 p.m., when the barn is typically empty of people until the fair closes. The cages are not locked.
"My rabbit is gone," Ryan recalled. "The barn superintendent tore apart the barn. We looked through the dumpsters and trash cans, other tents, the duck pond, everywhere. He wasn't there."
Cathy Combs, manager for the Calhoun County Fair, found out about the missing rabbit the following morning, when there was growing suspicion that the rabbit had been taken.
"Everybody felt horrible," Combs said. "I had office staff that was almost in tears. We all worked together and watch out for each other and we talked about having more security measures in place for next year... We have the Sheriff posse here and everything. It's small enough that it was easily taken."
Community responds
Brenda Waterman, Ryan's mother, reported the missing rabbit to the fairgrounds office on Aug. 23, and upon recommendation from the barn supervisor, filed a police report. She then created a Facebook post pleading for the person or people who took Bogey to return the rabbit to one of six locations, "no questions asked."
The public post, which has since been updated, would eventually surpass 1,700 shares.
"By 6:30 that evening, people were messaging me, 'We might know where your rabbit is,'" Waterman said.
According to Waterman, a woman came into the barn where Bogey was around 4 p.m. on Aug. 20 and approached a family watching over the animals to ask if the Netherland dwarf bunny was for sale, claiming to be a judge from Kalamazoo. Then around 9:15 p.m., a witness said they saw a dark-haired man leaving the fairgrounds with a rabbit in a cage.
Waterman shared that information and additional tips from witnesses with investigating officers from the Calhoun County Sheriff's Office. A little over a week after going missing, police recovered a Netherland dwarf bunny believed to be Bogey and notified Waterman, but still needed Ryan to correctly identify him.
No charges have yet been filed.
Waterman, using a ruse by telling her daughter she needed her to sign papers, pulled into the campus of Kellogg Community College on Aug. 30 with police − and Bogey − following in a cruiser.
"I saw the cops pull in behind her, didn't think anything of it," Ryan said. "I was talking to her and she kept looking at the cops. Then they said, 'What would you say if we have your rabbit?' 'I will be extremely grateful if you have my rabbit.'"
Ryan then told the officers that Bogey had a disfigured toe on his bottom right foot. "'This is my rabbit,'" she said. "I took him out of the cage, I picked him up like I normally do, and they were like, 'Yeah, that is your rabbit.'"
Ryan and her family can now only speculate as to why anyone would steal the 2-pound rabbit, given the breed can be easily purchased online or through auctions throughout the state at a moderate price.
In any case, Ryan and her family are just happy to have the pet rabbit back on their Ceresco farm again.
"We definitely thought he was gone forever," Waterman said. "He's happy to be home."
Contact reporter Nick Buckley at nbuckley@battlecreekenquirer.com or 269-966-0652. Follow him on Twitter:@NickJBuckley
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: The fair queen had her bunny stolen. Here's how she got it back
