'Kidnapped' Gnome Returned to Canada After Apparent 8-Month Trip to Mexico and US
After missing for months, the gnome reappeared with a photo book of its travels.
— -- A gnome "kidnapped" from its Canada home nearly eight months ago is now back with its owner, who said the lawn ornament was returned along with a photo book of its apparent travels to the U.S. and Mexico.
The gnome, which went missing in December of last year, reappeared this Tuesday in a bag left on the driveway of its owner, Bev York of Highlands, British Columbia — a rural town in southwestern Canada, CTV News reported.
"I opened up the bag, and it had a beautiful book and story, and it just brought a smile to my face," York told CTV News. "It was so cute."
Whoever returned the small statue, named Leopold, appears to have put together a travelogue filled with photos of the gnome's adventures, such as along U.S. Route 66, at the Grand Canyon and on the beaches of Mexico.
York told CTV News that she has no idea who was behind Leopold's trip through North America. The only hint she got was a photo showing a toddler cuddling with the gnome, but she said, "I don't recognize the little boy at all."
And though Leopold came back a little more worn looking than when he left, York said she wasn't upset.
"He had, it looks like, a big margarita, so he might've been damaged after that," she joked.
She added with a laugh that perhaps "they could've taken me instead of the gnome."
York did not immediately respond to ABC News' requests for additional comment.