# What are the chances that the person who returned this monkey isn't the one who stole it to start?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-chances-that-the-person-who-returned-this-monkey-isnt-the-one-who-stole-it-to-start/608041>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [January 1, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-chances-that-the-person-who-returned-this-monkey-isnt-the-one-who-stole-it-to-start/608041 "2012-01-01T15:09:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-chances-that-the-person-who-returned-this-monkey-isnt-the-one-who-stole-it-to-start/608041/1 "2012-01-01T15:09:57Z")

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This article on CNN regarding the monkey that was stolen from a CA zoo has me chuckling mainly because it seems obvious, to me at least, that the person who returned the monkey is the one who stole it to begin with due to this improbably part of the story [here](http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/01/us/california-missing-monkey/index.html?hpt=hp_t3) :

> [@](#):
>
> The monkey was found Saturday night – a day after he disappeared from the zoo – at a park by a passer-by who spotted the primate in the bushes, the San Francisco Police Department said in a statement.  
> The passer-by coaxed the monkey from the bushes into his backpack, and then called the authorities, according to the statement.

Uh huh. He just “spotted the primate in the bushes” and, the random passer-by, just took it upon himself to “coax the monkey into his backpack and take it to the cops”.

:rolleyes:

I think the guy that stole the monkey got scared after all the news coverage and decided to make up a story to return it.

Does anyone actually believe this story?

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**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-chances-that-the-person-who-returned-this-monkey-isnt-the-one-who-stole-it-to-start/608041/2 "2012-01-01T15:15:04Z")

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I don’t think it’s that out there.

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**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-chances-that-the-person-who-returned-this-monkey-isnt-the-one-who-stole-it-to-start/608041/3 "2012-01-01T15:38:13Z")

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He just wanted the monkey off his back(pack).

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**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-chances-that-the-person-who-returned-this-monkey-isnt-the-one-who-stole-it-to-start/608041/4 "2012-01-01T15:55:12Z")

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:Hits **runner pat** with old banana peel: