The community rallied, the police investigated and after almost a week, the statue of a beloved young hero has been returned to his family.
Almost a week after it was stolen from the park that bears his name, the statue of Jake “Jakey” Orlando Duque was recovered and returned to the Duque family. The statue of the five-year-old was stolen on Aug. 8 from the park on the west side of Miami Lakes.
On Aug. 13, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office confirmed the arrest of two men in connection with the case, 25-year-old Damian De Los Santos and 27-year-old Derick Coca. The investigation remains ongoing.
Lt. Jorge Casiano of the Sheriff’s Office’s Miami Lakes District wrote in an email that the Sheriff’s Office believes the theft occurred between 6:30 p.m. on August 7 and 12:30 p.m. on August 8.
The bronze statue was erected in 2021 following Jakey’s death from a rare form of brain cancer.
The pocket park was renamed for Jakey by former Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid, and the statue was paid for through donations.
Karen Duque, Jakey’s mom, said that it was her mother-in-law who was driving by had noticed that the statue was not on its ivy-covered base on the morning of August 8.
“She called us and we told her you need to go back and FaceTime us, there is no way,” Duque said.
Duque said that her mother-in-law had spent Friday afternoon in the park and then on Saturday when the family was going to breakfast, they noticed Jakey was gone.
We’re still processing the fact that this even happened,” Duque said before the statue was recovered. “I think my four-year-old said it best: ‘Who steals a statue? Who stole my brother?’”
Duque said that the family does not intend to press charges and said that they don’t judge the person who did it.
“We understand that we all make mistakes and that’s why we have been adamant from day one we don’t want to press any charges,” Duque said.
“This is a statue that belongs to the community.”
That same community showed their support on social media both in Miami Lakes and across the county. Even on the morning of August 8, Duque said she saw people driving past the park to verify that the statue had been stolen.
“While we were there when we first found this out … I don’t know how many Jakey’s Army supporters as well as Miami Lakers … drove down to the roundabout,” Duque said.
Duque counted at least 10 cars when they first got there, with more coming throughout the day.
The theft even led to the popular Instagram account Only in Dade pledging a $10,000 reward to anyone with information.
Duque, whose family now lives in Doral, is thankful for the support from not only Jakey’s Army but the Town of Miami Lakes.
“Our physical address may not be Miami Lakes currently, but Miami Lakes will always be home,” Duque said. “We’re so grateful … extremely grateful.”
Duque said the plan now is to clean up the statue and make it sturdier around its base to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
It will be a while before Jakey is returned to the park as the family makes repairs to it following the theft.
“The outpour of love and support from Miami Lakes is very typical of Miami Lakes,” Duque said.