ST. LOUIS — A historic, heavy church bell, stolen earlier this month from the yard of the rectory next to Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in St. Louis’ Soulard neighborhood, was returned Wednesday afternoon.
Editor's note: The video was originally broadcast on Nov. 4, 2023.
Pastor Bruce Forman said St. Louis police detectives helped return the bell to his church Wednesday afternoon.
"They have been working to locate the bell since it was stolen Halloween night. The investigation is ongoing, so I don’t know where it was found or who is responsible," he said.
Forman said he thinks news coverage and social media made it impossible for the thieves to sell the bell, and their only choice was to "dump it somewhere."
In an early November interview, Forman said the crime may have required two attempts, as if the thieves didn’t realize they were going to need equipment to remove the bell from the property. Prior to its return, neighborhood residents showed 5 On Your Side where the bell usually sits, in front of the rectory along 7th Street.
“It’s the first church bell from the first church, going back to 1849,” Forman said. “Somebody may be suspicious if they see it ... or somebody tries to sell it.”
The pastor posted photos of the bell, and the thieves in action, on Facebook in early November. Neighborhood resident Paul Mondaine said he believes he may have heard it happen.
“I noticed the back-up beep sound of a utility vehicle,” Mondaine said. “It lasted about half an hour. It woke me up a little after 4 a.m.”
Forman said security video showed the thieves cut the bell from its base, but it sat there on the ground for a couple of days before thieves removed it.
“They knocked the top of the light pole off the pole,” Forman said. “I think they were trying to work under cover of dark, to get rid of the light source and do their business.”
Neighborhood resident Will Mundt speculated on a motive.
“You got to melt it down. It’s obvious what it is,” he said. “A salvage yard shouldn’t pick up on that? Figure it out; call the cops.”
Mundt confirmed the bell sat in the yard for a couple of days, unhinged from its frame, before it disappeared.
Foreman said police were checking neighbors’ security video to see if any cameras captured a license plate number.
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