By Tim Binnall
In an uplifting update to an unfortunate story, a beloved alien statue stolen from the yard of a 102-year-old woman in Michigan was returned to her home earlier this week. The pilfering of the prized piece made headlines late last month when Freda VanderLaan's family revealed that a sticky-fingered ne'er-do-well had taken the sizeable artwork which they had given to her for Mother's Day six years ago. Making the caper all the more heartbreaking, they explained, is that woman has Alzheimer's and 'greeting' her ET friend every morning had been an important part of her daily routine.
Fortunately, their appeal to the thief's better angels proved successful as Freda and the 'otherworldly visitor' have now been reunited. Taking to social media on Monday, her daughter-in-law Daynelle happily declared that "the alien is back home" and indicated that "it was dumped back off here last night," presumably by the remorseful miscreant who originally stole the piece. She went on to thank the community for having spread the word about the stolen statue and, looking back on the proverbial ET abduction, marveled that "the whole thing was strange and hilarious."