Willie Nelson’s Stuffed Armadillo Returned Safely

Written by Liz Giegerich.

The stuffed armadillo that a woman allegedly stole from Willie Nelson’s band after a show at the Capitol Theatre two weeks ago was returned safely to the theater last Friday, the manager there reports.

“We have Fed-Exd him back to Willie,” Capitol Theatre General Manager Tom Bailey said Monday.

The armadillo, named Ol’ Dillo, belongs to Nelson’s monitor engineer Aaron Foye, who will not be pressing charges, Bailey said.

Last week, the Cap released video footage of a woman taking Ol’ Dillo off stage after Nelson's Sept. 19 show. Since then, Cap staff “worked diligently” to compare the footage of the woman who is seen taking the toy with footage of the audience during the show to determine her identity, Bailey said. Working with the Port Chester police, they figured out who she was, but Bailey doesn’t know if she was feeling the heat from the police or the press.

“With the assistance of the Port Chester Police Department, we were able to figure out who the perpetrator was, and either because of that – or maybe the pressure from all the press — the culprit returned Ol' Dillo to us," Bailey said.

On Sept. 27, a different woman than the one identified as the culprit in the video footage returned Ol’ Dillo in a sealed box and did not identify herself.

"We worked so hard to find it because having Willie Nelson return to the Capitol Theatre is very important to us," said Capitol Theatre GM Tom Bailey, who said his offices have been inundated with calls about Ol' Dillo. 

"Anyone who plays at the Capitol is a part of our family, and we don't let bad things happen to our family." 

After receiving the news that Ol’ Dillo was on his way to his rightful owners, Nelson posted on Facebook:

Ol' Dillo is on his way home! 

Thank you to all of our friends and family for helping track him down. Thank you Capital Theater for having an amazing staff and hunting down clues. 

Lesson of the week: Only cowards steal from another person, don't be a coward!