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News of the Weird: Week of 12/05/24

A traveling cat, a carwash voyeur, and a creepy clown.

Great News

Two months after Rayne Beau, a Siamese cat owned by Benny and Susanne Anguiano of Salinas, California, went missing during a trip to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, the 2-year-old cat was reported found by the Placer SPCA shelter in Roseville, California — some 800 miles from where the cat had gone missing. USA Today reported that the Anguianos had tried for several days to locate Rayne Beau, but were finally forced to leave the cat behind when their reservation ran out on June 8. But on Aug. 3, a voicemail from the shelter claimed that the cat had been located and identified via microchip, and the Anguianos were reunited with Rayne Beau. “He was really little, all skin and bones. He was in starvation mode,” Benny said, but the cat recovered quickly. [USA Today, 9/19/2024]

Great Art?

A work of art at the LAM museum in Lisse, the Netherlands, was mistakenly thrown away by an elevator technician in late September, CNN reported. All the good times we spent together by French artist Alexandre Lavet appears to be two empty beer cans, but, the museum said, it is really “meticulously hand-painted with acrylics, with each detail painstakingly replicated.” The work was displayed in the facility’s glass elevator shaft, and when a technician came in to work on the lift, he helpfully pitched it in the trash. “He was just doing his job in good faith,” said Sietske van Zanten, the museum director. The cans were later recovered, cleaned, and returned to display, albeit in a different location. [CNN, 10/8/2024]

What’s My Fetish?

Jesse Johnson, 28, was arrested on Sept. 24 in Gilbert, Arizona, after three instances in which he allegedly spied on women’s feet as they vacuumed their cars, AZFamily reported. Police said Johnson’s M.O. at the Super Star Car Wash in Gilbert was to park next to a woman’s car at the vacuum station, then slide underneath her car for a few minutes before climbing back out. One victim said she felt “very violated and I’ve been having nightmares.” It’s not the first time Johnson has been caught lusting after feet: Court documents revealed that he had been cited at least four times in Nebraska, and that he had touched a woman’s ankle in a grocery store. He admitted to authorities there that he “is sexually attracted to women’s feet” and “at times, can’t control his sexual desires.” Johnson was charged with three counts of voyeurism and three counts of disorderly conduct and held on $10,000 bond. [AZFamily, 9/26/2024]

Creepy

In late September, Derek Johnson, owner of JVI Secret Gardens in Donelson, Tennessee, was alerted by an employee that someone was walking around the garden center wearing a clown mask, WTVF-TV reported. But Johnson was not about to physically confront the creepy clown, whom he could see on surveillance video. Johnson clicked on his security system’s speaker, but before he could say anything, the clown backed off: “I’m leaving.” He left behind a propane tank and a saw blade that he had picked up to steal. “This is a sweet little garden center,” Johnson said incredulously. Police are investigating. [WTVF, 9/27/2024]

We Regret To Inform You …

Tizi Hodson, 70, of Lincolnshire, England, sent off an application in January 1976, hoping to become a motorcycle stunt rider, the BBC reported on Oct. 5. Recently, the letter was returned to her with a note: “Late delivery by Staines Post Office. Found behind a draw(er). Only about 50 years late.” “How they found me when I’ve moved house 50-odd times, and even moved countries four or five times, is a mystery,” Hodson said. “I was so disappointed because I really, really wanted to be a stunt rider on a motorcycle.” Instead, her life’s work has included being a snake handler, horse whisperer, aerobatic pilot, and flying instructor. “It means so much to me to get it back all this time later,” she said. [BBC, 10/5/2024]

Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.

NEWS OF THE WEIRD
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