A 24-year-old mystery came to a close earlier this month when a missing painting of Reveille I was returned to Texas A&M.
The painting vanished in the 1990s from campus, and its disappearance remained a mystery until UPD received a tip in late 2014. The painting was eventually recovered in San Antonio and was returned to campus at an unveiling celebration at the Sanders Corps of Cadets Center Wednesday.
Brig. Gen. Joe Ramirez Jr., commandant of the Corps of Cadets, said the painting is a piece of Aggie history and the Corps was glad to see it restored to Aggieland.
Ramirez said the story of Reveille I — a roadside mutt’s rise to become a popular five-diamond university mascot — is an important part of Aggie history that still resonates with all Aggies.
Ramirez said the painting went missing sometime in the 1990s during renovations to the military sciences building, where the painting previously hung.
Ramirez said although it is not clear the circumstances of the disappearance or exact time, the painting simply vanished and was not seen again for 24 years until university police received a call.
Mike Johnson, assistant chief of the University Police Department, said UPD officer Russell Rogers received a call on Dec. 2 with information on how to find the painting.
“From the valuable information provided by the caller, Officer Rogers was able to contact the former roommate of the person thought to be in possession of the painting,” Johnson said. “This former roommate provided contact information for this individual, who was working out of the country at the time.”
Johnson said Rogers — with the help of two UPD communications officers — contacted many of the leads he received about the case and reached out to the person who was thought to have the painting on Dec. 5.
“Several hours later, Rogers received a call from that individual who stated that he was in possession of the painting and that it was in a storage facility,” Johnson said. “Officer Rogers and our communications officers went through several more weeks of following up on the case to try to validate all the information they were receiving.”
On Dec. 30, Johnson said Rogers received a call from the individual who had the painting and made arrangements to meet.
Rogers said the case was the most interesting case in his 10-year service for the UPD.
“A lot of the people I dealt with happen to be former students and they were extremely helpful and extremely cooperative, and they wanted it back just as much as I did,” Rogers said. “I was glad to be a part of this investigation. It’s not everyday you get to investigate something that happened when you were 10, much less a painting that is probably worth more than my annual salary.”
Rogers confirmed the painting was found in a storage unit in San Antonio, but said he can’t say much more on the matter other than no charges have been filed and everyone was extremely cooperative.
“It is remarkable that we were able to recover an item that had been missing for over 24 years,” Johnson said.
Ryan Kreider, handler of Reveille VIII and sport management sophomore, said it means a lot to the Corps and Company E2 to have the painting returned.
“It’s definitely, I mean any kind of artifact that connects us back to the past history of Texas A&M is huge, because it reminds us where we come from and the achievements that we have had and it’s a beautiful thing, it just means a lot to me,” Kreider said.