Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 5, 1995 TAG: 9506050043
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Jasper, who has been hanging out at Pet City on Williamson Road for 11 years, was discovered missing Saturday night.
Charlie Harvey, the pet store's owner, made a plea to the public to help find the Capuchin monkey.
A Roanoke police officer found Jasper Sunday morning wandering around a warehouse dock on Franklin Road, Harvey said.
He was unharmed.
"I guess whoever took him found out that he's not real friendly with strangers," Harvey said.
Harvey believes someone came into the store on Saturday, took the monkey from the room he stays in and left through a rear door.
He is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or people responsible for Jasper's disappearance.
Calls can be made to the Roanoke Police Department, or to Pet City at 366-7010.
He can't stay away
If Jimmy Carter spends any more time in Roanoke this year, he may have to cough up some personal property tax and $20 for a decal for his van.
The former president, who sneaked into Roanoke last weekend to dedicate a suite named for him at the Days Inn on Orange Avenue and to have some ice cream at McDonald's, stopped off for lunch in Roanoke Thursday.
Richard Beard, marketing manager for the Roanoke Valley Re-Development Partnership, spotted him in the McDonald's restaurant near the Hollins exit on Interstate 81.
"I was just sitting there eating my burger and here comes Jimmy and Rosalynn and two Secret Service agents," he said. "I was so excited I threw my burger in the trash can."
Beard said Rosalynn Carter told her husband what she wanted, and the former president stood in line.
"He was just like any other Joe," he said.
Carter said hello to a busload of school kids from Buena Vista who Beard said had no idea who he was.
Beard wasn't a big Carter fan in the 1970s, but he got the Georgian's autograph on a paper bag for a co-worker who is an avid Democrat. He also said he's since gained a lot of respect for Carter. And regardless of politics, it was a pretty remarkable experience.
"That's the first time I've ever seen a former president in a restaurant," Beard said. "Much less McDonald's."
Memo: ***CORRECTION***