The owner of a missing 28-foot statue in Florida said he received a letter purporting to be from the thieves along with a piece of fiberglass.

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Elmer Tabor said he received a letter Wednesday, the seventh day since Big John's disappearance, purporting to be from the abductors of the statue, which had stood at Rotary Park in Cape Coral since 1966, the Fort Myers News-Press reported Thursday.

"Ignore the pretenders. We have him; part of his shirt is attached. Hesitate and he will become a boat. Instructions to follow," the note read.

Tabor said he remains hopeful the statue will be returned.

"As far as I am concerned, despite what his possible abductor might say, Big John is on vacation. He just didn't bother to tell me where he was going. It is hard for me to believe that someone would get away with stealing Big John," he said.