内容摘要：A small horn shark named Miss Helen has been safely rescued after a trio of ambitious shark thieves

A small horn shark named Miss Helen has been safely rescued after a trio of ambitious shark thieves whisked away their victim from the San Antonio Aquarium in a baby stroller.

On Saturday afternoon, the three suspects arrived at the aquarium, apparently with a plan. According to the aquarium, which provided footage of the abduction, the suspects had staked out the tide pool exhibit for more than an hour. One of them, a woman with an infant, pushed a baby stroller a small distance from the pool. The two others, both men, loitered closer to the pool.

Eventually, the pool attendant turned away. The time was right. The two men sprang into action, quickly scooping up Miss Helen and wrapping her in a wet blanket. At this point, the men hurried out of the camera frame, dripping water. The woman with a baby followed with her stroller.

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They were headed, according to the aquarium, into a filter room, where they had located a bucket filled with bleach solution that employees would use to disinfect tools. They dumped that bucket at least partially over the cold water exhibit filtration system, stashed Miss Helen in the bucket, nestled the bucket in the now-dripping stroller, and headed up the stairs to the parking lot.

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Luckily, the aquarium employees had caught on quickly. One employee noticed the three being suspicious, and while some employees went into containment mode to protect the other animals from the bleach solution, managers called the police and rushed out to the parking lot to confront the trio of thieves.

According to the aquarium, the general manager asked the suspected sharknappers to take a look inside the truck, but one of the men refused, saying his son was sick and he needed to leave immediately, according to KSAT 12. Then, the man got into his truck and drove away, leaving his two companions behind. The aquarium employees, however, had gotten a good look at his license plate number.

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Soon enough, police were involved, though, the Leon Valley police chief told KSAT, they at first thought the call was a Shark Week prank. But it still took time: Using information about the truck, they tracked the shark to a man’s home Monday night. There, the police chief told NBC5, they found a “home filled with fish tanks and other marine life.”

BREAKING: Here's a first look at the shark that was stolen @News4SA @KABBFOX29 pic.twitter.com/OrAHKfdWop

— Renee Santos (@RSantosTV) July 31, 2018

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After Miss Helen’s kidnapping, authorities had said it was unlikely she would survive, particularly given the bleach in the bucket she had been smuggled away in. But they didn’t need to worry so much about the thieves’ ability to care for her, it turned out.

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“The individual obviously had some knowledge on how to deal with these types of animals,” the police chief told KSAT after the bust. “And when we got into the garage and into the house, it looked like almost a mock-up of [the aquarium]. … [He] very much knew what he was doing—kept that animal alive and was able to continue to see that animal thrive, which was pretty shocking to all of us.”

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The man allowed the police to enter, pointed them to Miss Helen, and tried to show them a doctored receipt for the shark, KSAT reported. “He had had one of these in the past,” the police chief said. “Obviously he likes those types of animals.”

Soon, the two men involved had confessed, and, according to CNN, one of the men has been charged with theft, while the charges for his co-conspirators are pending. Miss Helen, for her part, is being carefully monitored as she is reintroduced to her tank. Miss Helen’s fans, who had grown in numbers over the course of her kidnapping, were pleased.

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