Portland Pickles Missing Mascot Prompts Reward Offers

PORtLAND, OR —"Just to clarify for the 33rd time, this is not a joke. Dillon was stolen from our office."

That's the Portland Pickles talking about the great missing pickle caper. Their mascot, Dillon T. Pickle, was stolen from their office by a porch pirate. They want him back.

The team doesn't necessarily relish having to admit this but they acknowledge that they've used Dillon as the center of pranks before. That said, they say this is serious.

Backing up the reality of this less than i-dill situation is the fact that Portland Police confirm that there's a police report. Filing a false report is a crime and the Pickles, as fun-loving as they may be, are not going to commit a crime for a few laughs.

On Thursday, reward offers started coming in.

They include a $50 gift card from Lardo, six pickle-themed books from Powell's, pizza from Atlas pizza, multiple offers of tickets to go see the Trailblazers, a bottle of Bunside Bourbon and more.

There's even now a hashtag #FindDillon.

Mascots and teams from other cities have also offered rewards and/or publicized Pickle's plight including: the Burlington Sock Puppets, the Idaho Falls Chukars, the Madison Mallards, the Las Vegas Aviators, and the Carolina Disco Turkeys.

In an unexpected twist, it turns out that Dillon was pickle napped just as he became a father.

Adventist Hospital tweeted out a swaddled jar of pickle slices.

"Dillon's sweet babies have arrived, and his family is heartbroken he's not here with them," the hospital tweeted.

"Picklenapper, do the right thing and drop Dillon off at a police station, the Pickles porch, or our ER 24/7. No questions aske!"

The Pickles say that Dillon had been in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic for a series of games. He flew back on Delta, headed to JFK in New York and then back to Portland.

Somewhere along the way, the bag containing Dillon went missing.

By Tuesday, Delta found the bag, let the Pickles know and said it would drop him off at their headquarters — what seems to be a home on Southeast 92nd Avenue.

Ring video from the Pickles shows the bag was dropped off at 7:15 p.m.

Another Ring video later shows the bag being stolen by a backpack-wearing man whose face is covered and is also wearing headphones.