A prank took a prehistoric turn in Bozeman on Saturday, November 1, 2025. At around 3:30 a.m., the green fiberglass Sinclair dinosaur statue was stolen from the Sinclair gas station on Bridger Drive. Surveillance video shared with MTN News shows several people carrying the green mascot away in the middle of the night.
Now comes the rest of the story - how the 270-pound dino made it back home.
Cassidy Powers reports - watch the video here:
“I got a text about 7:30 in the morning with a picture of the dino at the top of the M,” said Stacy Huntley.
Stacy and her husband Dave own the Sinclair Gas Station off Bridger Drive. If you’ve ever visited, you know the station has something of a mascot—a large green dinosaur.
But on Halloween night, that dino went on quite the unexpected adventure.
The dinosaur had been hauled to the top of the M in the middle of the night.
“I was surprised by how quickly it spread. There were several people who specifically hiked the M just to take their picture with the dinosaur,” Stacy said.
Security footage revealed the culprits in action— people sneaking around the gas station and cutting the cable securing the dino.
“Two of them just picked him up, then you can watch them walk across the parking lot,” Stacy said.
The next morning, the dino witnessed the best sunrise of his life. But the Huntleys knew they couldn’t leave him at the top of the M forever.
“It kind of just evolved into, ‘Alright, let’s figure out how to bring our dinosaur home,’” Stacy said.
She called in some help—her son, Oliver.
“They called me Saturday morning, and then I reached out to a couple of my buddies,” Oliver said. “They were kind of just confused, but then they saw the Facebook post and were like, ‘OK, let’s do it.’”
Oliver and his crew set out to hike the M, where they found the dinosaur—and even met another hiker who offered to help.
“We brought some straps up, wrapped each one of its legs, and kind of slung it over our shoulder,” Oliver said.
“I walked behind and took pictures and video,” Dave added.
Hikers cheered them on as they made their way down, joined by Bridger Aerospace, which captured aerial footage of the rescue mission from a plane.
At the bottom of the trail, the dinosaur’s “chariot” was waiting.
“Instead of putting it in the back of a truck, which we totally could’ve done, we led it into a horse trailer—just being silly,” Dave said.
The dinosaur was brought home safe with no damage.
The community celebrated the return, honking and snapping photos in the days that followed.
Stacy said they replaced the chains securing the dino, but she does not plan to press charges against the pranksters.
“What it did for our community that weekend? It turned into something wonderful and just kind of brought everyone together,” Stacy said. “I mean, how can you not enjoy that?”
Bridger Aerospace said they enjoyed the scenario so much, they’ve invited the entire rescue crew to tour their hangar.
