A four-foot orange penguin statue that was stolen from a St. Louis hotel's art exhibit has been successfully recovered in southern Missouri, thanks to a GPS tracking device installed in the sculpture. The distinctive statue was reported missing on Sunday, prompting a search that led authorities nearly 90 miles south of the city.

Madison County Sheriff Nic Adams announced that his office safely recovered the penguin statue on Monday after the GPS tracker was pinged in Madison County, located in southern Missouri. The sheriff's department was able to identify suspects in connection with the theft and has forwarded all relevant information to the St. Louis police for further investigation. At this time, no charges are pending against the suspects, and the penguin statue will be returned to its rightful location at the hotel.

This marks the second time the same penguin statue has been stolen from the St. Louis hotel. According to a spokesperson for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the statue was previously reported stolen in October 2024. In that earlier incident, the stolen penguin was eventually located in Gaffney, South Carolina, demonstrating a pattern of thefts involving this particular piece of art.

In the most recent theft, hotel management contacted the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department on Sunday to report that the penguin statue was missing and had last been seen on September 11. Police investigators used GPS tracking records to pinpoint the statue's location near Fredericktown, Missouri, which enabled the successful recovery operation.

Despite the recovery of the stolen artwork and the identification of suspects in both cases, police have not made any arrests related to either theft incident. No charges have been filed in connection with either the recent theft or the previous incident from last year. Additionally, authorities have not disclosed the name of the specific St. Louis hotel from which the penguin statue was taken, though it was confirmed to be part of the establishment's art exhibit collection.