EAST MACHIAS, Maine (AP) — With help from its Ohio creator, a mechanical gorilla stolen from its longtime location outside a flea market-style store has been located — two states away.

The abduction of the 8-foot-tall gorilla happened over Labor Day weekend, when the primate was swiped in broad daylight from Sandy’s Sales in this city in eastern Maine. Lowell Miller and his wife Sandy marveled at how the big ape with a heavy base was taken without attracting attention.

With police investigating and a $500 reward posted, the kidnapper dumped the gorilla in a cornfield in Swanton, Vt., after posting a video confession on YouTube.com.

The video shows a hooded abductor with a sock puppet demanding a $1 million ransom, then apologizing for causing a flap. He said, “I didn’t know it’d be such a big deal.”

The kidnapper’s video raised the ire of Sandy Miller, who intends to press charges.

“What really upset me was the YouTube video. He was so nonchalant,” she said Tuesday. “You don’t steal other people’s property and take it out of state.”

The gorilla theft made news around the country and beyond.

The gorilla’s maker, Ken Booth from the Gorilla Robot Factory in Akron, Ohio, got into the act by posting the YouTube video seeking the gorilla’s return.

The gorilla’s name is “Seemore,” as in “See More at Sandy’s Sales.” He was named during a contest and has been around for 20 years, Sandy Miller said. During sunny weather, the Millers haul him outside the store, where his arms move and his body swivels back and forth.

Although there’s a happy ending, there’s still the problem of getting the gorilla back home.

Sandy Miller said her husband’s old truck was in no shape to make the 750-mile roundtrip to St. Albans, Vt., where the gorilla was being held by state police. But she said offers were pouring in from people willing to assist.

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YouTube video plea http://www.youtube.com/watch?v

DMljYsfjUg0

YouTube response http://www.youtube.com/watch?v

Cp5uKaXjDE8&watch—response

 

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