“Coco is all I’ve got,” said the monkey's owner, Zaurice Steward, 25. “I feel like I failed as a parent.”
Have you seen this monkey? She answers by the name Coco Chanel and is from the Capuchin family. She was last seen at a grocery store in the Minnesota area before she was stolen, officials said.
The 1-1/2-year-old monkey has an all-white-face surrounded by white fur, and big brown eyes. And, and according to her owner, Zaurice Steward, 25, she is very “loving and cuddly,” the Star Tribune reported.
Maplewood Police were called to the “Cub Food” parking lot on theft from an auto report on Tuesday night. Officials said the monkey was left inside a vehicle in a pink carrier in the parking lot at 2390 White Bear Avenue North Maplewood. When the owner of the vehicle returned the monkey and carrier were gone, according to a press release by the Maplewood Police Department.
Maplewood Police Lt. Joe Steiner told Inside Edition Digital the monkey has not yet been found.
“We have had some leads but nothing substantial. We are hopeful that the stolen monkey being publicized will bring the monkey back or someone who knows where it is will help us out,” Steiner said.
Steward told the Star Tribune she had her friend care for Coco while she was moving from Texas to Wisconsin. When she returned from her trip she learned the devastating news that Coco had been stolen and was missing, the Star Tribune reported.
“Coco is all I’ve got,” Steward, 25. “I feel like I failed as a parent.”
Police are asking anyone who noticed suspicious activity Tuesday night between 8 and 8:30 p.m. in that area to contact them.
“People are inquiring about the status of the monkey. They are interested in the monkey’s safety,” Steiner said, who told Inside Edition Digital that this was “the first stolen monkey report I have ever dealt with.”
Anyone who has information on Coco’s whereabouts is asked to call Lt. Joe Steiner at 651-249-2608 or email him at joe.steiner@maplewoodmn.gov.
