CNN
Orlando, FL - "Shock, kind of the same, the questions you're asking. Where did that come from, how did you get it here?"
That was the first reaction this guy ryan had when he surprisingly stumbled across an 800 pound gorilla.
He says he was just walking his dog when he started growling.
So how in the world did this giant bronze statue get here?
"Our only thought is somebody has a pickup, came flying back with a pickup, and just slammed on the brakes to slide it off. Unless there were multiple people or they were big, because like I said, it's heavy."
So with the help of a friend - he says they pulled it out.
"Just grabbed it, grabbed two ends, and just started sliding it and sliding it across, it was pretty easy to slide on the leaves and everything."
And just like that, with the help of a dolly, he says they dragged it here, to a friend's apartment not far away at the towns of southgate complex.
"I came home and a gorilla was at my front doorstep (laughs.)"
That friend was Giovani Alba who says it wasn't until three weeks later that he realized it had been stolen.
"I woke up this morning and I went online and I went to gorillas stolen in the area, nothing came up and went to bronze gorillas and next thing you know, it was on Channel 6."
And that's when he called police.
It's $5,000 you know, people may call me stupid for not going to a scrap yard and getting $2,000 or whatnot for it, but in this case, it just belongs back to the hotel.
And as for the timing of it all -- on this Christmas day?
"Of all the days to get it back of all the days to have him find him on Christmas day, so that's cool."
Hotel workers were planning to pick up the statue today (Wednesday) to take it back to the hotel.
There's no formal reward for finding the gorilla.
But a bartender at the hotel has promised a round of drinks.
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WKMG via CNN Newssource