MIDDLEBURY, Conn. — The elusive Lake Quassapaug sea monster has resurfaced after disappearing nearly 40 years ago.

The sea monster, also known as a hippocampus among carousel enthusiasts, was stolen from Quassy Amusement Park here on Nov. 16, 1985, and its whereabouts unknown until late December of last year.

Now the rare hand-carved figurine is back in the hands of the family-owned lakeside property thanks to a handful of collectors who have kept a watchful eye out for the missing artifact all these years. 

“We have gotten a priceless piece of our history back,” an ecstatic Quassy President Eric Anderson said of the saga.

“It was the lead figurine on the carousel – one everybody wanted to ride,” added the park’s George Frantzis II.

Red Flag Went Up
The stolen figurine was the largest and most ornate of three sea monsters on the antique E. Joy Morris carousel (circa 1902), which operated at the park for more than 70 years.

Roland “Rock” Hopkins, a historian and broker of antique carousel figurines, alerted Anderson and Frantzis just before Christmas that he had located the sea monster in Florida.

“I got a phone call from a guy who bought a collection of circus and carnival stuff in a Florida warehouse,” Hopkins said during a telephone interview from his business in Pasadena, Calif. “He sent me a photo of the item he wanted to list with me and I said, ‘that’s an E. Joy Morris sea monster!'”

Hopkins posted a number of submitted photos online as well as an asking price of $25,000 for the rare piece.

“Then I got an email from an old customer who said he thought it was the sea monster stolen from Quassy in ’85,” Hopkins reflected. “I pulled up the old photos I had in my files and said, ‘that’s it.'”

He authenticated the Quassy piece through the unique bat-winged saddle, detailed trappings and paint, then immediately called the amusement park to inform Anderson and Frantzis of the sea monster’s whereabouts.

“He’s a good guy and wanted to do the right thing,” Hopkins said of the unsuspecting man who purchased the cache of memorabilia. “I coached everybody and got things rolling from there.”

Back For Restoration
Since the theft occurred so long ago and authorities had no solid leads to pursue the case, Anderson and Frantzis moved quickly to forge a deal to get the relic back. They agreed to purchase the sea monster for an undisclosed amount, and in doing so avoided any litigation with the Florida owner, who did not want to be identified.

“He is a retired firefighter and had no idea he had bought our stolen hippocampus,” Frantzis asserted. “We felt it was in the best interest of both parties to broker a fair agreement.”

Quassy will turn the hippocampus over to William “Bill” Finkenstein at WRF Designs in nearby Plainville, Conn., for complete restoration. Finkenstein is an expert in carousel restoration, repair and production and made a replacement figurine when the original Quassy sea monster was taken.

“I’ve been watching for it all these years – hoping someday it would be found,” Finkenstein said of the recovered piece. “Even though I made the replacement, you really don’t capture what it really was. When I saw the glitter paint in the online photos, it was a giveaway that Quassy’s missing hippocampus had been recovered.”

Finkenstein also acquired a number of scenery pieces from Quassy’s E. Joy Morris carousel when the ride was auctioned in October of 1989. He has kept one in his personal collection.

Quassy’s owners have four of the original Morris menagerie figurines as well as the replacement hippocampus in their private collections.

All of the other carousel figurines, scenery and mechanical mechanism were sold separately during the 1989 auction. The lone lion on the ride fetched $60,000 and the single tiger was bought for $45,000. The two original hippocampuses sold for $20,000 and $15,000 respectively.

In summing up the sea monster’s return, Frantzis said, “For me, it’s more about getting back my dad’s (late George Frantzis) favorite piece on the E. Joy Morris carousel. He frequently referred to that particular hippocampus as his most treasured.”

And when Finkenstein’s restoration is complete, the classic sea monster will likely find a prominent place to be displayed in the park, perhaps as a timely reminder that “what goes around, comes around,” at least in this fascinating story.

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