3rd suspect charged in 'Pioneer Woman' theft

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- A third suspect has been charged with stealing a 6-foot bronze statue from outside the National Frontier Trails Museum in suburban Kansas City, Mo., and trying to sell it as scrap.

The Examiner newspaper in Independence reported 29-year-old Randy V. Perez of Independence is charged with stealing property valued at $25,000 or more. The statue originally cost about $35,000. Bond was set at $75,000 cash only.

Police say Perez and two others stole the statue, called "Pioneer Woman." It was chopped up and beaten into scraps. Police said the trio then took the scraps to a recycler but were turned away when a worker noticed a portion of the statue's hand. The scrap value would have been $578.