Life-Sized Statue of Betty Boop Beheaded
Sun Jul 24, 2:33 AM


VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Her ebony hair perfectly parted and saucer-like eyes perpetually staring, the life-size Betty Boop statue became a local landmark on the city's Shore Drive. But Sunday morning, a patron discovered the $1,600 figure a block away from its home in front of Cool & Eclectic Furniture and Fashion - without its head.

Six days later, the head remained missing.

"Without it, she's nothing," said store owner Larry Estes, who filed a police report Friday.

Estes collected Boop's body and placed it in a storeroom. Then he began searching up and down Shore Drive.

He is offering a free store item to anyone who comes forward with Boop's head.

"She's made a lot of people smile," he said of the mascot. "Who would do this?"

Betty has had run-ins before. Two years ago, Hurricane Isabel's winds tossed the statue down Shore Drive, severing limbs and crushing her head.

"From heel to head, I had to reconstruct her," Estes said.